Polkemmet Country Park

Story

Polkemmet Country Park is located west of the town of Whitburn in West Lothian, Scotland and is a 3 star Visitor Attraction (Visitscotland). It is adjacent to the M8 motorway, east of the "Heart of Scotland" services at Harthill. It was developed on the estate of Polkemmet House, a country house which was demolished in the 1960s. The estate was bought by West Lothian District Council in 1978, and the country park was opened to the public in 1981. The park covers, and is managed by West Lothian Council.HistoryThe family of Baillie purchased the Polkemmet estate in 1620, and built a country house here. In 1823, William Baillie was created a baronet, and extended the house. It remained in the Baillie family until the 1950s, although from the 1930s it was not occupied, after Sir Adrian Baillie, the 6th Baronet, moved his main residence to Leeds Castle in Kent. During the Second World War Polkemmet House was requisitioned, and used both as a war hospital and accommodation for Polish soldiers who had fled Nazi-occupied Poland to fight for Britain. Sir Adrian Baillie died in 1947 and was interred in the mausoleum within the estate.Following the war, Polkemmet House became a Trefoil School, run by the Girl Guides movement. It was officially opened as the Trefoil School on 25 September 1945 by HRH The Princess Elizabeth (now HM The Queen), who later became the school's patron. In 1951 the Trefoil School moved to Gogarburn outside Edinburgh. Polkemmet House was used by the Scottish Police College from 1951 until 1960, when the college moved to Tulliallan Castle in Fife. The house and estate were then sold to the National Coal Board (NCB), who operated extensive opencast mines in the surrounding area.