Roman Camp No. 6 Mine

Overview

One of the new shale mines sunk by Scottish Oils at Broxburn in 1936 to keep the Roman Camp crude works supplied, which worked the Camps Shale of the Learielaw basin until 1956.

History

At the end of 1935 Scottish Oils announced that it would sink two new shale mines at Drumshoreland, Broxburn, east of its Roman Camp crude oil works. The aim was not to take on more men but to keep work for those at Newliston and Roman Camp No. 3, where the shale was worked out. Roman Camp No. 6 Mine opened in 1936 on the site of the old Roman Camp No. 2 North and Cawburn mines, and worked the Camps Shale in the Learielaw basin.

It employed 64 in 1937, 152 in 1940, 134 in 1948 and 160 in 1954. Its workings in the Camps Shale were abandoned in 1956. The site is derelict, but some of the mine buildings survive, some still in use, along with concrete foundations or a loading bank, a firebrick-lined structure that may have been a flue, and the tarmac road to the Roman Camp oil works.

Geology

The Camps Shale of the Learielaw basin, in the Pumpherston shale-field.

Workings

An inclined adit on the site of the earlier Roman Camp No. 2 North and Cawburn mines, linked by road to the Roman Camp crude oil works.

Closure

Workings in the Camps Shale abandoned in 1956.

What remains

Derelict; some buildings remain in use.

Mine buildings, concrete foundations or a loading bank, a firebrick-lined structure, a mass concrete retaining wall and the road to the oil works.

Recorded claims

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

• Scottish Oils announced in December 1935 that it would sink two shale mines at Drumshoreland, east of the Roman Camp crude works, to keep work for men whose mines were worked out. ¹
• Roman Camp No. 6 Mine opened in 1936 and worked the Camps Shale of the Learielaw basin. ¹
• It employed 152 people in 1940 and 160 in 1954. ²
• Its workings were abandoned in 1956. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Roman Camp No.6 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

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