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Coatbridge (, ) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. Along with neighbouring town Airdrie, Coatbridge forms the area known as the Monklands (population approximately 90,000 including outlying settlements), often considered to be part of the Greater Glasgow urban area – although officially they have not been included in population figures since 2016 due to small gaps between the Monklands and Glasgow built-up areas.
In the last years of the 18th century, the area developed from a loose collection of hamlets into the town of Coatbridge. The town's development and growth have been intimately connected with the technological advances of the Industrial Revolution, and in particular with the hot blast process. Coatbridge was a major Scottish centre for iron works and coal mining during the 19th century and was then described as 'the industrial heartland of Scotland'Coatbridge (Images of Scotland) By Helen Moir. The History Press (2001). and the 'Iron Burgh'.
Coatbridge also had a notorious reputation for air pollution and the worst excesses of industry. However, by the 1920s, coal seams were exhausted and the iron industry in Coatbridge was in rapid decline. After the Great Depression, the Gartsherrie ironwork was the last remaining iron works in the town. One publication has commented that in modern-day Coatbridge "coal, iron and steel have all been consigned to the heritage scrap heap".Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland (1994) Eds. J & J Keay, HarperCollins Publishers, p.175
Ancient Rome coins have been unearthed in Coatbridge, and there are the remains of a Roman road on the fringes of the town near the M8 motorway.
The prosperous industry which had sprung up around the new iron industry required vast numbers of largely unskilled workers to mine ironstone and work in the blast furnace plants. Coatbridge therefore became a popular destination for vast numbers of Irish people (especially from County Donegal in Ulster) arriving in Scotland. The iron bars and plates produced in Coatbridge iron works were the raw materials needed throughout the British Empire for railways, construction, bridge building and shipbuilding. One example of uses Coatbridge iron was put to included armour plating for British ships fighting in the Crimean War.Miller, Thomas Roland (1958) The Monkland Tradition; Thomas Nelson and Sons, pg. 36
Over the course of the following forty years, the population of Coatbridge grew by 600%. Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland (1994) Eds. J & J Keay, Harper Collins Publishers, pg. 175 The character of the Coatbridge area changed from a rural, Presbyterian landscape of small hamlets and farmhouses into a crowded, polluted, Irish Catholic industrial town. In 1840, Rev William Park wrote that:
One contemporary observer at this time noted that Coatbridge is "not famous for its sylvan beauties of its charming scenery" and "offers the visitor no inducements to loiter long". However, "a visit to the large Gartsherrie works is one of the sights of a lifetime".Historical, Biographical and Literary Sketches of Glasgow and Lanarkshire, Part 1&2. Hamilton Herald Printing and Publishing. 1904. p26
Most of the town's population lived in tight rows of built under the shadow of the iron works. These homes were often owned by their employers. Living conditions for most were appalling and tuberculosis was rife.Peden, Allan (1992) The Monklands: Illustrated Architectural Guide, Edinburgh: RIAS; pg. 38
For a fortunate few though, fortunes could be won "with a rapidity only equalled by the princely gains of some of the adventurers who accompanied Pizarro to Peru", noted one observer. Among the most notable success stories were the six sons of Coatbridge farmer Alexander Baird. The Baird family had become involved in coal mining but opened an iron foundry in order to exploit the new hot blast process of iron smelting invented by James Beaumont Neilson. The Bairds subsequently constructed numerous iron foundries in Coatbridge including the famous Gartsherrie iron works.Coatbridge: Three Centuries of Change – Peter Drummond and James Smith, Monkland Library Services, 1982 The waste heap or 'bing' from the Baird's Gartsherrie works was said to be as large as the great pyramid in Egypt. One son, James Baird, was responsible for erecting 16 blast-furnaces in Coatbridge between 1830 and 1842. Each of the six sons of Alexander Baird was reputed to have become a millionaire.
The town was vividly described by Robert Baird in 1845:
is sited here.]] In the 19th century, the Baird family wielded a pervasive influence over Coatbridge. They were responsible for the design of the lay out of present-day Coatbridge town centre. The land for the Town Hall and the land which later came to form Dunbeth Park was given to the town by the Bairds. Gartsherrie church was built by the Baird family, the oldest and most significant landmark in the town. Despite being Protestant, the Bairds donated the site on the Main Street for the erection of St Patrick's Catholic Church.
Daniel (Dane) Sinclair, an engineer with the National Telephone Company, based in Glasgow, patented the automatic telephone switchboard. This system was installed in Coatbridge in 1886 and became the world's first automatic telephone exchange.
George Orwell's book The Road to Wigan Pier was illustrated by a photograph of homes in the Rosehall area of Coatbridge.Coatbridge: Three Centuries of Change – Peter Drummond and James Smith, Monkland Library Services, 1982; p.39 In 1934, there was an exodus to Corby in England when the local Union Plant relocated. This had the effect of a hammer blow impact on the town's iron industry and ushered in the end of serious iron production. The decline of the Clydeside shipbuilding industry in the 1950s meant the demand for iron finally collapsed. A legacy of 'devastating' The Oxford Companion to Scottish History, Michael Lynch (ed.) OUP Oxford (2007); pg. 394 unemployment, appalling housing conditions and some of the worst overcrowding in Scotland left its stamp on the Coatbridge of the early 1930s. The Monklands: Illustrated Architectural Guide by Peden, Allan (pg. 38), RIAS, Edinburgh; 1992 As late as 1936, Coatbridge was the most overcrowded place in Scotland.
In the 1930s and 1950s, however, massive state-sponsored programmes saw thousands of new homes built in Coatbridge and some of the worst examples of slum housing were cleared away. By the early 1980s, 85% of homes in Coatbridge were part of local authority housing stock.Coatbridge: Three Centuries of Change – Peter Drummond and James Smith, Monkland Library Services, 1982; pg. 42
The last of the blast furnaces, William Baird's famous Gartsherrie works, closed in 1967.
Since the 1970s, there have been various initiatives to attempt to regenerate Coatbridge. Urban Aid grants, European Union grants and, more recently, Social Inclusion Partnerships have attempted to breathe new life into Coatbridge. Despite these efforts the town's population has continued to fall and, in recent years, the town has been dubbed the "most dismal in Scotland".
Mark Millar is a Coatbridge comic book writer whose Wanted comic book series has been translated into a feature film starring Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman, as well as the highly successful graphic novel Kickass which was adapted into the successful film of the same name in 2010. Coatbridge-born Dame Laurentia McLachlan was the Benedictine abbess of the Stanbrook Community whose correspondence with George Bernard Shaw and Sydney Cockerell was the subject of the film The Best of Friends.
Coatbridge is also home to the annual Deep Fried Film Festival. Local filmmakers Duncan and Wilma Finnigan have been described by The List as "the John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands of Coatbridge".
The most obvious manifestation of these links can be seen in the annual St Patrick's Day Festival. The festival is sponsored by the Irish Government and Guinness. The festival runs for over a fortnight and includes lectures, film shows, dance/Gaelic football competitions and music performances. The festival is the largest Irish celebration in Scotland.
Coatbridge CC a local amateur football club founded in 1976 became Scottish Champions in 1986 and again in 1988. Coatbridge CC became the first amateur football club to win the Scottish Cup and the West of Scotland cup in the same season.
Coatbridge Bowling Club (founded 1849) celebrates its 175th anniversary in 2024 and is the oldest sports club in the town. It is situated in Bowling Street, in the Blairhill area of Coatbridge.
The Coatbridge Indoor bowling club hosted the World Indoor Bowls Championships from 1979 until 1987.
Drumpellier Cricket Club has been in continuous existence for over 150 years and the club has a ground in the Drumpellier area.
Greyhound and speedway racing also took part in the town, using the Albion Rovers FC ground. Greyhound Racing began on 11 December 1931 and lasted until 1986. The Edinburgh Monarchs rode there in 1968–69 (as the Coatbridge Monarchs) after losing their track at Meadowbank Stadium to the developers for the 1970 Commonwealth Games. Glasgow Tigers moved from Hampden Park to Coatbridge in 1973, and stayed there until June 1977, when they were forced out by the greyhound racing.
Coatbridge was the home of former boxer Bert Gilroy, Scotland's longest-reigning champion. Coatbridge is also home to the former WBO Super-featherweight, lightweight and light-welterweight world champion Ricky Burns. Walter Donaldson, former World Snooker champion, also hailed from Coatbridge.
There are two golf courses: the municipal course bordering Drumpellier Country Park and the nearby private member's club Drumpellier Golf Course. Clare Queen, Scotland's number one female golfer on the women's European tour, is from Coatbridge.
Coatbridge has a sumo club, Clan Sumo.
Up until 1975, Coatbridge had its own Burgh Council based at Coatbridge Town Hall. Between 1975 and 1996, Coatbridge was part of Monklands District Council and Strathclyde Regional Council. During the campaign for the 1994 by-election in Monklands East of 1994, there were accusations of sectarianism and nepotism in favour of Coatbridge over neighbouring Airdrie by Monklands District Council (see Monklandsgate for more information). The fact that all seventeen Labour councillors were Roman Catholic led to Coatbridge being seen as a "Catholic town". Subsequent inquiries showed no evidence of sectarianism, but allegations of nepotism were shown to be true.Bruce, et al; Sectarianism in Scotland, Edinburgh University Press: 2004
Coatbridge is presently part of the burgh constituency of Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill, electing one member of parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Before the constituency's creation in 2005, Coatbridge lay in the Coatbridge and Chryston constituency. Frank McNally of the Labour Party has been MP since the 2024 General Election. For the purposes of the Scottish Parliament, Coatbridge forms part of the Coatbridge and Cryston constituency, which is represented by Fulton MacGregor of the Scottish National Party. Coatbridge is further represented by seven regional MSPs from the Central Scotland electoral region. A small part of the eastern fringes of the town forms part of the Airdrie and Shotts constituency which is represented by Alex Neil in the Scottish Parliament and Neil Gray in the Westminster Parliament, both of the SNP.
Notable politicians from Coatbridge include: Helen Liddell, a former member of parliament (MP) who was formerly both Secretary of State for Scotland and Britain's High Commissioner in Australia, and Lord Reid, also a former MP who was the former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and Home Secretary. Lord Reid is a former chairman of Celtic.
| + Coatbridge compared according to UK Census 2001 |
| + Historic population of CoatbridgeOld Coatbridge. Stenlake Publishing (2000) Oliver Van Helden. p3Coatbridge: Three Centuries of Change – Peter Drummond and James Smith (Monkland Library Services, 1982) p.44 | |
| 1755 | 1,813 |
| 1831 | 9,580 |
| 1851 | 27,333 |
| 1901 | 36,991 |
| 1911 | 43,286 |
| 1921 | 43,909 |
| 1931 | 43,056 |
| 1951 | 47,685 |
| 1961 | 54,262 |
| 1971 | 51,493 |
| 1981 | 48,445 |
| 2001 | 41,170 |
The place of birth of the town's residents was as follows: 98.7% United Kingdom (including 96% from Scotland), 0.32% Republic of Ireland, 0.30% from other European Union countries, and 0.72% from elsewhere in the world. The economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 39.3% in full-time employment, 9.4% in part-time employment, 3.6% self-employed, 5.3% unemployed, 2.5% students with jobs, 3.2% students without jobs, 13.4% retired, 5.7% looking after home or family, 12.0% permanently sick or disabled, and 5.7% economically inactive for other reasons. Compared with the average demographics of Scotland, Coatbridge has low proportions of people born outside the United Kingdom, and people over 75 years of age.
During the 19th century, Irish people began to arrive in large numbers in Coatbridge. The 1851 UK Census recorded that Irish people constituted 35.8% of the local population. A significant proportion of these immigrants were Protestant, but the majority were Catholic. By 1901 UK Census, the percentage of Irish-born people in Coatbridge had fallen to around 15%, but remained the highest of all the major towns in Scotland. The Irish in Scotland by James Handley, 1962 In the 2001 UK Census, Irish ethnicity was recorded at just over 1%, although just over half the population claimed their religious denomination as Roman Catholicism. In 1985, 56% of the population of Coatbridge were Roman Catholic.
In 2006, Coatbridge (along with Port Glasgow and Clydebank) was identified as "the least Scottish town in Scotland" due to having the highest percentage of Irish names in the country. Reportedly more than 28% of adults in Coatbridge had names with Irish origins.
Other immigrants to Coatbridge have included in the 1880s a small number of Lithuanians."The Raddler" – The Journal of Monklands Historical Society. Vol. 4, September 1999 (pg. 21) In 1905, part of a "wave" of immigrants from Monte Cassino in Italy settled in Coatbridge. A small number of Polish people had stayed in Coatbridge after a Polish tank regiment was stationed in the town during World War II.
In terms of housing, property prices in Coatbridge have undergone rapid growth since 2000. In 2005, house prices rose by 35%, reportedly the largest such increase in Scotland.
In 2007, Coatbridge was awarded Prospect architecture magazine's carbuncle award for being the 'most dismal town in Scotland'. The town was also described by Scottish comedian Frankie Boyle as 'like Bladerunner... without the special effects'.
Drumpellier Country Park is set around Lochend Loch (more commonly known to locals as 'Drumpellier Loch'). There are extensive woodlands, a visitor centre and a butterfly house. Monkland Canal runs through a section of the park.
The Time Capsule is a multi-purpose leisure centre containing a swimming pool, an adventure pool set in a prehistoric environment, an ice skating facility, sauna/steam room and a sports complex with gym halls and other facilities. The Showcase Leisure Park contains a 14-screen cinema, a 10-pin bowling complex and numerous restaurants.
Landmarks in Coatbridge include:
Due to the number of rail lines running through Coatbridge, it was once dubbed the "Crewe of the North". There are six railway stations on the four railway lines that bisect the town: Motherwell-Cumbernauld Line; Argyle Line; Whifflet Line; and North Clyde Line. The six stations within Coatbridge and on these lines are: ; ; ; ; ; and .
Coatbridge has had additional passenger stations, such as and Calder Station (Greenend); these stations have been closed for many years.
McGill's Buses are responsible for most of the bus services in the town, after buying out most of the smaller local companies. The buses are all in Go Zone 8 on the McGill's network. The buses link all the major neighbourhoods with the 212 continuing on to Airdrie, Plains and Caldercruix.
The present day neighbourhoods of Coatbridge are Barrowfield, Blairhill, Brownshill, Carnbroe, Cliftonhill, Cliftonville, Coatbank, Coatdyke, Cuparhead, Drumpellier, Dunbeth, Dundyvan, Espieside, Gartsherrie, Greenhill, Greenend, Kirkshaws, Kirkwood, Langloan, Old Monkland, Rosehall, Shawhead, Sikeside, Summerlee, Sunnyside, Townhead and Whifflet. The Blairhill and Dunbeth neighbourhoods are part of the Blairhill and Dunbeth conservation area.
The Whitelaw Fountain (named in honour of Alexander Whitelaw, an industrialist and MP) is situated in the town centre on the corner of Main Street and South Circular Road, but was formerly about 50 m west, at what is now the centre of a roundabout. Neighbourhoods and landmarks of Coatbridge Google Maps
St Ambrose High School Our School, St.Ambrose High School (which opened a new building in 2013), St Andrew's High School Home, St Andrew's High School (which opened in 2006 following a merger of the defunct Columba H.S. and St Patrick's H.S.) and Coatbridge High School About Us, Coatbridge High School (new building opened in 2008 on the site of St Patrick's previous campus – Coatbridge's old campus is now occupied by Greenhill Primary and Drumpark Primary) are the main secondary schools serving the town. The first two are Roman Catholic; it is one of few places in Scotland where the number of denominational schools is greater than non-denominational. St Ambrose was the subject of an HMI follow-up assessment visit in January 2009. Sports journalist and broadcaster Bob Crampsey was formerly headmaster of St Ambrose, prominent football referee Willie Collum taught religious education at the school in the early 2000s, and singer/television presenter Michelle McManus is among the former pupils. Rosehall H.S. was a previous school in the town, whose pupils now typically attend Coatbridge.
Coatbridge also has several special needs schools including Pentland School (primary school), Portland High School, Drumpark School (now primary department only), Willowbank School (high school) and Buchanan High School.
The local authority responsible for community-based service in Coatbridge is North Lanarkshire Council. The council provides local services related to education, social work, the environment, House, road maintenance and leisure. Services North Lanarkshire Council
The Latin language motto Laborare est orare translates as "to work is to pray", which originated in the writings of St Benedict and is commonly associated with the Cistercian Order, whose monks came to Monklands in the 12th century.
Transport
The Monkland Canal (completed 1791) was used in the 19th and 20th century to transport coal and iron to Glasgow. The town centre section of the canal was interred in pipe between Sikeside and Blair Road in the mid-1970s. Some sections of the Monkland Canal can still be seen today between Townhead and Drumpellier. Coatbridge is adjacent to the M8 and M73 motorways. The M74 motorway is also a short drive away. The major cities of Edinburgh, Stirling and Glasgow are all within commuting distance.
Neighbourhoods
The earliest map showing Coatbridge is by Timothy Pont, published in Johan Blaeu's Nether warde of Clyds-dail (1654). The districts of Dunpelder (Drumpellier), Gartsbary (Gartsherrie), Kanglon (Langloan), Kirkwood, Kirkshawes (Kirkshaws) and Wheetflet (Whifflet) are all evident.Coatbridge: Three Centuries of Change – Peter Drummond and James Smith, Monkland Library Services, 1982 p8
Education
Coatbridge College was built as Scotland's first college in the 1860s. As Coatbridge has moved away from the traditional heavy industries the teaching focus has shifted from traditional industry courses towards commerce, care and the arts. After resisting previous mergers, it became a campus of the multi-site New College Lanarkshire in 2014. Coatbridge Campus, New College Lanarkshire New College Lanarkshire, College Development Network
Public services
Coatbridge forms part of the Western water and sewerage regions of Scotland. Waste management is provided by the North Lanarkshire local authority. Water supplies are provided by Scottish Water, a government-owned corporation of the Scottish Government. Coatbridge's distribution network operator for electricity is Scottish Power. Coatbridge is served by Monklands Hospital, sited on the Airdrie side of the Coatbridge/Airdrie border. The NHS board is NHS Lanarkshire. Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service which operates in Coatbridge. Policing in Coatbridge is provided by the Police Scotland (Lanarkshire Division). The Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, a public body in Scotland, has direct operational responsibilities, such as supporting (and in some cases running) local bus services, and managing integrated ticketing in Coatbridge and other areas from the former Strathclyde region. Transport Scotland manages the local rail network.
Notable people
Coat of arms
Coatbridge was given burgh status in 1885, and was granted a coat of arms by the Lord Lyon in 1892. The arms have a black field and on it a flaming tower to represent a blast furnace and Coatbridge's industrial tradition. The crest is a monk holding a stone in his left hand. The stone relates to the old parish of Monklands and the legend of the "aul' kirk stane". Scottish Burgh and County Heraldry – RM Urqhuart. Heraldry Today (1973), pg. 188 The legend of the "aul' kirk stane" is that a pilgrim undertaking a penance from Glasgow carried a stone in the direction of Monklands. When he could carry the stone no further (or in another version of the legend, when an angel spoke to him) he laid the stone down. It was where the stone came to rest that he was to build a church. The church is the present-day Old Monkland Kirk, at which the alleged stone can still be seen.
Twin towns
Coatbridge is sister city with:
Further reading
External links
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