Roman Camp (Cawburn) mine

Parish:

Uphall, Linlithgowshire

Local authority:

West Lothian

Seams worked:

Pumpherston Shale

Opened:

Opencast working and No. 1 Pit probably active in late 1860's. Cawburn Mine apparently active during the 1890's

Current status of site:

Works yard and derelict land

Regional overview:

Mines in the Broxburn area

Opencast (and vertical shaft?)

Serving Roman Camp Shale Oil Works

BGS plan LSP44 (see below) shows workings associated with Roman Camp Shale Oil Works. The plan, probably dating from c. 1868, shows area of opencasting along the outcrops of the various Pumpherston Shales, and shows a shaft labelled "No. 1 Pit" at a location that coincides with pithead buildings shown on the 1896 OS map and labelled "Cawburn mine".

No information has been located on the history of this pit, although it is possible that it was worked as part of Roman Camp No. 2 (North) mine, which seems to be marked as "old mine" on the 1896 OS map. Confusingly, Roman Camp No.2 north mine was sometimes referred to as "Cawburn mine".

Shale-field: Roman Camp shale-field.

Mapped by the Ordnance Survey of c.1897 showing surface buildings labelled "Cawburn Mine".

Location of Roman Camp (Cawburn) mine

Detailed maps

Roman Camp (Cawburn) Mine - 25" OS map c.1897, courtesy National Library of Scotland

Roman Camp (Cawburn) Mine - 25" OS map c.1916, courtesy National Library of Scotland

Roman Camp (Cawburn) Mine - 1:2,500 OS map c.1955, courtesy National Library of Scotland

Roman Camp (Cawburn) Mine - Aerial, courtesy National Library of Scotland

Drawings

Section of a drawing titled "plan of shale workings in Strathbrock Estate under portion leased to Messrs Wm Fraser & Son, near the line of the Edinburgh and Bathgate railway" - undated but likely to date from the late 1860's. It appears to show areas of quarry workings following the outcrop of the seams of Pumpherston Shales. It also shows a shaft labelled "No. 1" at the location of the surface buildings shown as Cawburn Mine in (1) (courtesy British Geological Survey LSP 44 - 15652-01).

Recent images

Site of "Cawburn Mine", centre of image, behind the tree. Looking east March 2012.

Quarried area. March 2012.

Irregular ground adjacent to quarry area. March 2012.

Pond formed in quarried area. March 2012.