During King Robert the Bruce's resettlement plans, Kingscavil was granted to Sir James Douglas which was witnessed by Edward Bruce as part of "omnes terras de Kincauill" as well as the village of East Calder.

[3] Kingscavil later became a hub for shale oil extraction, with the village being built up with workers going to live there.

[6] This came after an inquiry into conditions in the village was set up by the Department of Health, the first to have been held under the Housing (Scotland) Act 1930.

The inquiry was commissioned following West Lothian County Council receiving reports from their inspectors about the sanitary conditions in the new housing.

The inquiry found in 1937 that the housing was inadequate and should be demolished with the residents being re-homed in nearby Bridgend.