Hunterston
Encyclopedia
Hunterston, by the Firth of Clyde
, is a coastal area in Ayrshire
, Scotland
, which is the seat and estate
of the Hunter family
. As an area of flat land adjacent to deep natural water, it has been the site of considerable actual and proposed industrial development in the 20th century. The nearest town is West Kilbride
. The Hunterston Brooch
was found there.
Actual or proposed developments on this site have included:
Firth of Clyde
The Firth of Clyde forms a large area of coastal water, sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre peninsula which encloses the outer firth in Argyll and Ayrshire, Scotland. The Kilbrannan Sound is a large arm of the Firth of Clyde, separating the Kintyre Peninsula from the Isle of Arran.At...
, is a coastal area in Ayrshire
Ayrshire
Ayrshire is a registration county, and former administrative county in south-west Scotland, United Kingdom, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. The town of Troon on the coast has hosted the British Open Golf Championship twice in the...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, which is the seat and estate
Estate (house)
An estate comprises the houses and outbuildings and supporting farmland and woods that surround the gardens and grounds of a very large property, such as a country house or mansion. It is the modern term for a manor, but lacks the latter's now abolished jurisdictional authority...
of the Hunter family
Clan Hunter
Clan Hunter is a Scottish clan which has its seat at Hunterston in Ayrshire. It has historical connections with both the 'Highlands' and 'Lowlands' of Scotland due to several centuries of operation in some of the formerly Gaelic speaking Scottish Islands including Arran, Bute and the Cumbraes...
. As an area of flat land adjacent to deep natural water, it has been the site of considerable actual and proposed industrial development in the 20th century. The nearest town is West Kilbride
West Kilbride
West Kilbride is a village in North Ayrshire, on the west coast of Scotland by the Firth of Clyde, looking across the water to Goat Fell and the Isle of Arran...
. The Hunterston Brooch
Hunterston Brooch
The Hunterston Brooch is a highly important Celtic brooch of "pseudo-penannular" type found near Hunterston, North Ayrshire, Scotland, in either, according to one account, 1826 by two men from West Kilbride, who were digging drains at the foot of Goldenberry Hill, or in 1830. It is now in the Royal...
was found there.
Actual or proposed developments on this site have included:
- Hunterston A nuclear power stationHunterston A nuclear power stationHunterston A nuclear power station was a Magnox power station located at Hunterston in Ayrshire, Scotland, adjacent to Hunterston B and is currently being decommissioned.-History:...
, the closed Magnox power station - Hunterston B nuclear power stationHunterston B nuclear power stationHunterston B Power Station is a nuclear power station in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It is located about 9 km south of Largs and about 4 km north-west of West Kilbride. It is operated by EDF Energy...
, the Advanced gas-cooled reactor power station - Hunterston TerminalHunterston TerminalHunterston Terminal, in North Ayrshire, Scotland, is a coal-handling port located at Fairlie on the Firth of Clyde, and operated by Clydeport. It lies adjacent to Hunterston estate, site of Hunterston Castle....
, the deep-water ore terminal and associated railhead built by British Steel - A construction yard, used to build oil platformOil platformAn oil platform, also referred to as an offshore platform or, somewhat incorrectly, oil rig, is a lаrge structure with facilities to drill wells, to extract and process oil and natural gas, and to temporarily store product until it can be brought to shore for refining and marketing...
s between 1978 and 1983, a TridentUK Trident programmeThe UK Trident programme is the United Kingdom's Trident missile-based nuclear weapons programme. Under the programme, the Royal Navy operates 58 nuclear-armed Trident II D-5 submarine-launched ballistic missiles and around 200 nuclear warheads on 4 Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarines from...
dry dock between 1988 and 1993 and a Gravity base Tank between 1993 and 1996. - A proposed Oil Refinery by Chevron in 1969 and 1973
- An integrated direct-reductionDirect reduced ironDirect-reduced iron , also called sponge iron, is produced from direct reduction of iron ore by a reducing gas produced from natural gas or coal. The reducing gas is a mixture majority of hydrogen and carbon monoxide which acts as reducing agent...
steel blast furnaceBlast furnaceA blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron.In a blast furnace, fuel and ore and flux are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical reactions...
built by British SteelBritish SteelBritish Steel was a major British steel producer. It originated as a nationalised industry, the British Steel Corporation , formed in 1967. This was converted to a public limited company, British Steel PLC, and privatised in 1988. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index...
. This was unused as its gas and fuel requirements were too great. The plant was moved to Mobile, AlabamaMobile, AlabamaMobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
, in 1998. - A 'clean coalClean coalHistorically used to refer to technologies for reducing emissions of ash, sulfur, and heavy metals from coal combustion; the term is now commonly used to refer to carbon capture and storage technology...
' power station has been proposed for the site. Peel energy is the main partner in the proposal. However, the plan was said to have "collapsed" in 2009 after financial backing from DONG EnergyDONG Energy-History:The Danish state company Dansk Naturgas A/S was founded in 1972 to manage resources in the Danish sector of the North Sea. After some years, the company was renamed to Dansk Olie og Naturgas A/S . At the beginning of 2000s, DONG started to extend itself into the electricity market by...
was withdrawn.