Ingliston No. 36 and 37 Pits

Overview

Young's Paraffin Company's shale pits beyond Newbridge, sunk in 1897 to the Camps Shale at 366 feet, which employed over 260 in 1920 and closed in 1926; their site is now inside Edinburgh Airport.

History

After the failure of the Lennie pit, Young's Paraffin Light and Mineral Oil Company opened a new shale-field beyond Newbridge, at Ingliston, sinking two pits in 1897. At the start of 1898 they employed about thirty men in two shifts, limited by the Coal Mines Act of 1887 to twenty underground at a time until the two shafts were completed. The shafts reached the Camps Shale at 366 feet, and a powder magazine was licensed in 1904. A mineral railway worked by the North British Railway carried the shale to Uphall Oil Works, and later, under Scottish Oils, to Dalmeny.

The pits employed 172 in 1915, 262 in 1920 and 245 in 1923. In 1924 the men were moved from the poorer places to the south-west dook, where the shale was improving, though a little gas there called for special care with ventilation; by 1925 some places had reached troubled ground. The workings in the Camps Shale were abandoned in 1926. The site now lies within the boundary of Edinburgh Airport.

Geology

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

Workings

Two vertical shafts 366 feet deep to the Camps Shale, with a south-west dook; a mineral railway worked by the North British Railway.

Closure

Workings abandoned in 1926.

What remains

Within the boundary of Edinburgh Airport.

None.

Related mines

• Ingliston No. 33 Pit — Both were Young's Ingliston shale pits; Nos. 36 and 37 replaced the short-lived No. 33 (Lennie) pit.

Recorded claims

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

• Two pits were sunk at Ingliston beyond Newbridge in 1897, reaching the Camps Shale at 366 feet. ¹
• The Ingliston No. 36 workings employed 172 in 1915 and 262 in 1920. ²
• Their workings in the Camps Shale were abandoned in 1926. ¹
• The site now lies within the boundary of Edinburgh Airport. ¹
• The abandonment plan of Ingliston Nos. 36 and 37 is dated 1926. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Ingliston No.36 & 37 pits (Scottish Shale, Museum of the Scottish Shale Oil Industry) — Almond Valley Heritage Trust
2. (primary) Ingliston (Oil Shale) (Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) BGS mine plan: INGLISTON NOS.36 37, abandoned 1926 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

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