Specific locations around the coast of Scotland were developed for construction sites to build oil rig platforms.

Land was purchased for the whole development by the Government for the construction yard and adjacent village that was built between 1975 and 1977, to house up to 500 workers.

In July 2009 Agents of Change,[8] an artistic collective, came to Polphail knowing that the site was due for demolition later that year.

[9] They created a graffiti art gallery with paintings of figures, faces, abstract designs and haunting images.

The village was finally demolished by December 2016,[10] at a cost of £300,000, with a planning application submitted for a craft distillery on the site.