Roman Camp No. 5 Mine

Overview

A shale mine south of Broxburn opened in 1917 to work the Camps Shale for Roman Camp Oil Works, which ran into a whin dyke and a deep trough in the 1920s and closed in 1934.

History

Roman Camp No. 5 Mine was opened in 1917 to work reserves of Camps Shale lying north-west of its entrance, for the Roman Camp Oil Works near Broxburn. The larger part of the Camps Shale in this area was worked from Pumpherston No. 4 Mine. Work at No. 5 was discontinued in October 1919 and recommenced on 17 February 1920; it employed 30 that year, 59 in 1923 and 48 in 1933.

Scottish Oils' monthly reports to its board describe hard going. In May 1924 several places on the north side, approaching a whin dyke, were in very poor condition and a number were being stopped, and in June there were further difficulties near the dyke. In January 1925 the seam was still lying steeply, with no sign of the flat ground expected by then. By June 1925 the seam had turned from 35 degrees to vertical; the dook was carried on at 35 degrees and found the shale rising again at 30, showing that a very deep trough had been crossed. The workings in the Camps Shale were abandoned in 1934. The mine's waste bing survives on waste ground beside the Edinburgh to Bathgate railway.

Geology

The Camps Shale of the Pumpherston shale-field, steeply folded into a deep trough and cut on the north side by a whin dyke.

Workings

An inclined adit; a dook driven at 35 degrees across a trough where the seam turned vertical.

Closure

Workings in the Camps Shale abandoned in 1934.

What remains

Waste ground.

The mine's waste bing beside the Edinburgh to Bathgate railway, and a concrete foundation to its south-west.

Related mines

• Pumpherston No. 4 Mine — Pumpherston No. 4 worked the larger part of the same Camps Shale seam that Roman Camp No. 5 reached from the north.
• Roman Camp No. 6 Mine — Both were Scottish Oils mines in the Camps Shale serving Roman Camp Oil Works; No. 6 opened in 1936, two years after No. 5 closed.

Recorded claims

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

• Roman Camp No. 5 was opened in 1917 to work Camps Shale north-west of its entrance. ¹
• No. 5 employed 30 in 1920, 59 in 1923 and 48 in 1933. ²
• In 1925 the seam turned from 35 degrees to vertical, and the dook crossed a very deep trough. ¹
• The workings in the Camps Shale were abandoned in 1934. ^1,3

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Roman Camp No.5 mine (Scottish Shale, Museum of the Scottish Shale Oil Industry) — Almond Valley Heritage Trust
2. (primary) Roman Camp (Oil Shale) (Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) BGS mine plan: ROMAN CAMP NO.5, Camps seam, abandoned 1934 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

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