Ingliston No. 33 Pit

Also known as	Lennie Pit
Location	Ingliston, west of Edinburgh, West Lothian — 55.9546, -3.3621 (exact)
Commodity	Oil Shale
Type	Mineral
Worked	1892–1894
Maximum depth	177 feet (shaft to the Dunnet Shale).
Operators	Young's Paraffin Light and Mineral Oil Company (1892–1894)

Overview

The Lennie shale pit, sunk by Young's Paraffin Company in 1892 to the Dunnet Shale at 177 feet near Ingliston, west of Edinburgh, and abandoned within two years for unstable ground; its site is inside Edinburgh Airport.

History

Ingliston No. 33 Pit, known locally as the Lennie Pit, was Young's Paraffin Light and Mineral Oil Company's first working in the Ingliston shale-field west of Edinburgh. After years of boring the company began a shaft at the east end of the parish in 1892. By May that year shale had been reached at 177 feet in the Dunnet seam, but water broke in and work stopped until a pumping engine arrived; the sinkers, under the contractor Mr Gray of Broxburn, were paid off.

In 1893 the company planned to spend £3,000 on a second shaft, to meet the Mines Act, and on a line to the North British Railway's Queensferry branch, so that the shale could go to the retorts at Uphall. The railway from the Lennie pits was nearly finished in November 1893, crossing the Linlithgow road near Boathouse Bridge. Ingliston workings employed 44 people in 1894. The pit was short-lived: it was abandoned in 1894 because of unstable ground, and later Ingliston working moved to No. 36. The site now lies within the boundary of Edinburgh Airport.

Geology

The Dunnet Shale of the Ingliston and Newliston shale-field.

Workings

A vertical shaft 177 ft deep to the Dunnet Shale, with a second shaft planned in 1893; a branch railway to the Queensferry line for the Uphall retorts.

Closure

Abandoned in 1894 because of unstable ground.

What remains

Within the perimeter of Edinburgh Airport; no visible trace.

None.

Nearby mines

Dalmeny No. 2 and 3 Pits — 1.8 miles (2.9 km) N
Duddingston No. 1 and 2 Mines — 3.9 miles (6.2 km) NW
Broxburn Oil Works — 4.4 miles (7.1 km) W
Fairykirk Quarry — 5.0 miles (8.0 km) N, Fife
Prestonhill Quarry — 5.2 miles (8.3 km) N, Fife

Straight-line distance, within 9 miles (15 km). Show on the map.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

Ingliston No. 33 (the Lennie pit) was sunk in 1892 to the Dunnet Shale at 177 feet. ^1,2
In May 1892 work stopped after water broke in, until a pumping engine arrived. ²
A branch railway from the Lennie pits to the Queensferry line was nearly complete in November 1893. ²
The pit was abandoned in 1894 because of unstable ground. ²

Photographs & further reading

Ingliston No.33 pit (Scottish Shale) (reference)

The Museum of the Scottish Shale Oil Industry's page for this mine, with maps, plans, photographs of the site and newspaper extracts.

View source

Sources

(primary) Ingliston (Oil Shale) (Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum
(secondary) Ingliston No.33 pit (Scottish Shale, Museum of the Scottish Shale Oil Industry) — Almond Valley Heritage Trust

Record created: 25 October 2026 · Last researched: 25 October 2026