Almondell Past & Present
History
The Park is split into two main areas: Almondell, which comprises the old Almondell estate, originally belonging to the Erskine family of Broxburn, and Calderwood which once belonged to the Barons of Torphichen.
Henry Erskine was a notable Scottish lawyer who was appointed twice as the Lord Advocate for Scotland. He bought the Almondell Estate and designed and built Almondell House which was finished in 1812. Sadly, Henry died at Almondell on the 17th of November 1823 from pneumonia, caught on a sea voyage. He was 72 years of age, and was interred in the family burying-place at Uphall.
The Almondell estate was eventually broken up and sold in 1969, with West Lothian Council acquiring the land. Almondell House itself was demolished. Apparently it was a clean, simple looking building with a symmetrical two-storey centre section flanked by pavilion-roofed wings and other offices.
In front of the existing Visitor Centre is the Earl of Buchan’s Astronomical Pillar from 1776 This was removed from Kirkhill House, Broxburn. The pillar has carved Latin inscriptions and astronomical equations, along with a belltower and cross. Other stone fragments rescued from Kirkhill by West Lothian History and Amenity Society have been built into the garden walls.
Today
The Park is a well-loved and very popular with local people, although it’s probably fair to say that it could be West Lothian’s ‘Best kept secret’. Once discovered though, people tend to keep coming back. Many will comment on the peace and beauty of the Park, and how nature and visitors tend to compliment each other so well.
River Almond
The River Almond is the lifeblood and main focal point of the Park. A good vantage point to see the river is from the top of the Nasmyth bridge where you can see the interesting rock bedding planes below. You might even catch glimpse of a kingfisher, bat or otter!
The River is 28 miles (45 km) long, rising in North Lanarkshire near Shotts and running through the middle of West Lothian. It drains into the Firth of Forth at Cramond near Edinburgh.
The river runs through the centre of Livingston before travelling through Almondell and Calderwood Country Park where it picks up the Calder and Murieston Waters. It then passes over a weir which supplies a feeder culvert which carries water into the Union Canal. Due to the height difference where the river passes under the canal, this feeder must run for many miles eastwards before reaching the canal. By following paths through the country park and along quiet paths to the east, it is possible to follow the river and feeder all the way to the Union Canal. It then flows east under the Union Canal before turning northwards towards the Firth of Forth.
The industrial heritage of central Scotland can be observed along the length of the river with numerous weirs, remains of mills and other riverside industries of the past.
Naysmith bridge
The Naysmith stone bridge was built around 1800 by Scottish painter and inventor, Alexander Nasmyth. It has two rustic arches of differing spans with a crenellated parapet. After losing one side of the bridge (east) to decay, the bridge was restored by West Lothian Council in 1998. The Council contributed £150,000, while the remaining £600,000 came from Scottish Natural Heritage, The Heritage Lottery Fund, Historic Scotland and Lothian Enterprise.
Calderwood Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
Calderwood ancient woodland is a specially protected site near Mid Calder. Sitting on a plateau bounded by the Murieston and Linhouse waters, there has been woodland on the site for hundreds of years. The area has a long association with the local people, from trees being cut for charcoal in the 1500’s, through cattle drovers resting their cattle here in the 1700’s, to the boom-times of the shale oil industry in the 1900’s. The Forestry Commission even extracted timber for building projects during the Great War. As recently as the 1970’s, sheep were to be found grazing on the grassy plateau.
In 2005, a Forestry Commission grant was received to help West Lothian Council make improvements to the wood for the next 20 years. Some of the old and dangerous beech trees have been removed, a new bridge has been constructed, ponds have been created for frogs and newts, and invasive bracken has been controlled to help native trees establish themselves.