Murraysgate Dairy farm was once situated at the west end of Whitburn, west Lothian. It was run by a family called the Fosters and was well known and remembered by many for supplying Whitburn and Surrounding areas with milk all year round. Once an Independent settlement, murraysgate has long since been Incorporated Into Whitburn’s West End.
The Murraysgate Dairy Farm
If you go to the far West End of Whitburn main street past the Big long factory on your right hand side that was Once the Levi’s Factory, you’ll see an Old building. A good Old fashioned farmhouse style of residence on the main street. The last building before Polkemmet road which rolls down the hill from where the pit once was. Directly opposite that where the newer 1960s built houses now stand was Once the Murraysgate Dairy farm.
A Rural Settlement
Up until the 1960’s, the town of Whitburn ran as far West as the houses of present day Murraysgate Crescent and the houses and Farm at Gateside. So, there would have been about a quarter of a mile of rural country road before reaching the settlement of Murraysgate which consisted of the Farm, the cottage next door and other about a Hundred yards to the east and the Big house across the road. Almost a little village of Its own.
The Dairy Farm
The Murraysgate Farm functioned as a busy Dairy farm that supplied the town and surrounding places with their daily milk all year round. The farm was run b the Fosters whose name was a long time household brand in the vicinity.
What happened to the Farm?
The farm stood on what is now the corner of West main Street and Polkemmet road. Alongside neighbouring buildings, it was regarded as a settlement of its own until the 1960’s. When West End Houses like those on Gardner crescent were built, Murraysgate became part of Whitburn.
The Overspill Connection
This was a result of Whitburn’s Western expansion to the town in the 1960’s to cater for the Glasgow Overspill. The Newtown of Livingston was planned to cater for West Lothians share of the shift. But when the British Motoring Company (The BMC, which later became the British Leyland, or BL) opened at Wester Inch near Bathgate, the people shift was massive. Hundreds of Families moved out to West Lothian for Work and a new life with peace and clean air. Livingston filled quickly but the Overspill kept pouring Into the mining towns like Whitburn.
So, this whole new wing of housing expansion came to Whitburn. The fields on the South side of the main road from Gateside farm up to Polkemmet were developed. A whole new housing scheme that some still today call ‘the Overspill’ was built. Streets like Gardner Crescent, Ireland Avenue and Allan road filled the gap that Once kept Murraysgate a separate village. The Farm and houses of Murraysgate soon just became part of the new houses of Whitburn.
Soon after, the farm closed down and the Dairy moved to the foster family’s other farm at Blackburnhall. It was demolished to make way for new houses that you can see slightly set back from the road today.