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Polkemmet Country Park is located west of the town of Whitburn in West Lothian, Scotland. 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.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Countryside and Wildlife )〕 ==History== The 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. The house was a two-storey structure in the Scots Baronial style. The exterior was the result of rebuilding and extensions in 1822, 1878 and 1912, although with the 17th-century mansion of the Baillies at its core. It was demolished in the 1960s, although the block of stables and offices survives. This included stable staff accommodation, stables, tack room, horse-driven mill, fodder store and carriages accommodation, arranged around a courtyard. Three of the original staff dwelling houses remain part of this block and are occupied to this day. The NCB however retained ownership of one of the dwelling houses when the estate was sold to the Council. The only other part of the park not owned by the Council is the area around the Baillie family mausoleum. The house was located at .〔 In 1978, West Lothian District Council purchased the Polkemmet House estate for £70,000 from the NCB, with a 75% grant from the Countryside Commission for Scotland. The stable block was redeveloped as visitor and staff facilities, and a golf course was created in the grounds. The redeveloped estate was opened to the public on 26 June 1981 by Councillor Bert Gamble. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Polkemmet Country Park」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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