Lewis Chemical Works

The remains of a Victorian industrial experiment located to the west of the A859 road, 1¼ miles (2 km) west of Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides, the short-lived Lewis Chemical Works was a bold scheme instituted in 1852 at a cost of £33,000 by Sir James Matheson to produce lamp oil (paraffin) from peat. Matheson had bought the Isle of Lewis in 1844 and set about trying to improve the lot of the people through the development of new industries.

Matheson brought in industrial chemist Dr Benjamin Horatio Paul to perfect the process of distilling oil from the peat. The peat was heated in a retort, with the gas which was one of the products being used in the heating. Paul left and his successor brought the scheme to its knees due to embezzlement. The plant closed in 1874.

Marked by a monument, the site of the plant can be identified at the end of the route of a former railway which brought the peat from extensive cuttings to the west.

Use the tabs on the right of this page to see other parts of this entry