Roman Camp (north) No.2 mine

Inclined adit

Serving Roman Camp Oil Works (perhaps)

Roman Camp No. 2 Mine, (latterly referred to as Roman Camp No. 2 (North) Mine), worked the steep inclined seams of Pumpherston Shales in the eastern arm of the Pumpherston anticline. It was latterly worked in association with Roman Camp No. 2 (South) Mine. The early history of shale working in the Roman Camp / Drumshoreland area remains unclear (see Roman Camp Cawburn Mine for further discussion).

Roman Camp No. 2 Mine is listed as abandoned in 1893; the year that the Broxburn Oil Company's new Roman Camp Oil Works came into full production. It might be assumed that the mine had been in operation for some time previously; perhaps supplying shale to Broxburn Oil Works? The 1896 OS map shows an "old mine" on the site of Roman Camp No. 2 (North), with a structure suggesting an eastward-facing adit, in line with the outcrop of the Pumpherston Shales.

The 1916 map shows Roman Camp No. 2 (North) back in operation apparently using the same adit. The three new waste tips suggest a substantial scale of operation, probably linked to a new mine at Roman Camp No. 2 (South).

Both the 1896 and 1916 maps show pithead structures labelled (in 1896) " Cawburn Shale Mine". It is unclear whether this pit was associated with the workings of Roman Camp No. 2 Mine.

The site was subsequently redeveloped for the construction of Roman Camp No. 6 Mine.

Shale-field: Pumpherston shale-field.

Mapped by the Ordnance Survey of c.1897 showing "old mine" on the site Roman Camp No. 2 (North) Mine, and an adjacent "Cawburn Shale Mine", apparently in operation.

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