History of Coatbridge
Encyclopedia
The history of Coatbridge, Scotland, is one of dramatic change. The town transformed from an obscure group of 18th century Lanarkshire
hamlets strung out on the road between Glasgow
and Airdrie
to a world leading centre of iron production in the 19th century. Development took off at an incredible rate in the 19th century and led to massive changes to the landscape and an explosion in the population.
Country Park) which had a crannog. A crannog was an Iron Age
dwelling house built on an artificial island. People continued to live in Crannogs up until about AD 1450.
A bronze age
cemetery has been found on the stretch of land between Drumpellier and Bargeddie
. There are thought to be the remains of a Roman
road on the fringes of the town at the site of the modern day M8 motorway. Roman coins have been unearthed in Coatbridge
. The main Celtic tribes in the Lanarkshire environs during roman times were named the Damnonii
and Selgovae
by the Romans.
in 1162. The Monks were the first to mine coal in the area. In the 15th century a visiting dignitary witnessed "black stones" being distributed to the poor as alms. In the 16th century these stones had become known as "black gold". The monks cleared part of the forest which covered the area at the time. They cultivated the land extensively and by the 16th century had leased most of the lands to farmers. The local tracks established by the monks were used as part of the main road between Edinburgh and Glasgow until the early 19th century
The town was on the stage coach route between the two cities
In 1602 Sir Thos. Hamilton of Binning took possession, the Clellands of Monklands subsequently took possession in 1633. A few years later in 1639 James, Marquis of Hamilton, was the owener. Monklands subsequently passed into the hands of the college of Glasgow after being bought from Anne, duchess of Hamilton in the reign of.
In 1641 the parish of Monklands
was divided between New Monkland (present day Airdrie
) and Old Monkland (present day Coatbridge
). Drumpellier
was called the “Grange” in a charter of Alexander II in 1240.
In 1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Jacobite
army seized Coatbridge
on their march to Edinburgh
in an action described as the "Canter of Coatbridge".
to transport coal from deposits in Coatbridge to Glasgow proved to be the spark which set fire to the town's population explosion. The invention of the hot blast furnace in 1828 by James Beaumont Neilson meant that Coatbridge's rich ironstone
deposits could be fully exploited by the canal link. By the mid-19th century there were numerous hot blast furnaces in operation in Coatbridge.
In this period fortunes could be quickly made “with a rapidity only equalled by the princely gains of some of the adventurers who accompanied Pizarro to Peru.” noted one observer. Amongst the most notable success stories at this time were the six sons of Coatbridge farmer Alexander Baird. The Bairds’ were a local farming family in the late 18th century. They became buccaneering capitalists when they leased a coalfield near Coatdyke. They then moved into iron production in late 1820s. Ruthlessly exploiting James Beaumont Neilson's invention of the furnace process to produce iron they were forced to pay substantial damages in a court action. It was reported that upon losing the court action they were able to simply write a cheque. They had used the patent without paying any royalties. After a nine-day trial they were forced to pay out around ten thousand pounds, it was estimated though they had however realised a profit of £250,000 by exploitation of the patent. The Baird family owned a number of the foundries that sprung up and gave the town its then nickname of 'the Iron Burgh'. Each of the sons was reputed to have become a millionaire. James Baird was responsible for erecting sixteen blast-furnaces in Coatbridge
between 1830 and 1842. George "Squire Abingdon" Baird was a direct descedant of the Baird's.
The Baird family exerted a strong influence over Coatbridge in the 19th century. They were responsible for the lay out of present day central Coatbridge town centre. Land for the town hall and the land which later came to form Dunbeth Park were gifted to the town by the Bairds. Gartsherrie church was built by the Baird family for them and their employees.
At stage the population of Coatbridge grew by 600%. Cheap unskilled labour was in large demand and Coatbridge became a popular destination for vast numbers of laregly unskilled Irish
workers arriving in Scotland
.
There have been centuries of coal workings across the area. In 1791 there was disaster at Coats Pit when the canal burst and six miners were drowned. A large part of modern day Coatbridge has been undermined by underground coal workings. The modern day car parks skirting both sides of the South Circular Road are so undermined that no sizable buildings can be built. Dick’s Pond in Carnbroe
consists of the hollow left by an ironstone working.
The Clyde Valley plan of 1949 described Coatbridge as "situated over a flooded coalfield" Tenements in Coatbridge were not built to same high as Glasgow tenements due to danger of subsidence
There were serious cholera outbreaks in the town in 1832 and 1848. Population growth strained every natural resource in the town and the canal's stagnant waters were a breeding ground for disease. Andrew Miller noted that locals used the canal water for drinking and in times of dry weather even used the muddy dregs found at the bottom of the Monkland Canal
.
In 1885 Coatbridge was granted burgh status. Local industrialist's had put off burgh status to avoid falling foul of air pollution legislation. Special provisions were made in the burgh bill to allow the blast furnaces to continue polluting undisturbed.
Irish people
began to come to arrive Coatbridge in the mid-19th century, many of them because of The Great Hunger in the mid-19th century. The 1851 census recorded that Irish people born in Coatbridge constituted 35.8% of the population. Although while a significant proportion of these emigrants were Protestant the majority were Catholic
. Serious sectarian strife arose in Coatbridge throughout the 19th century. The New York Times reported on serious "riots" between local Catholics and Orangemen
during 1883. Orangeism in Coatbridge (60% catholic) was said to have inflated the local conservative and unionist vote and representation on the council.
By end of World War I
only five ironworks were left in Coatbridge – Langloan, Calder, Carnbroe, Summerlee and Gartsherrie. Four of the ironworks were closed by the time of 1929. In 1934 there was a mass exodus to Corby
, England
when the 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 Clydeside shipbuilding in the 1950s meant the demand for iron finally collapsed.
In the 1920s-1930s Coatbridge Town Council constructed new housing estates at Cliftonville, Cliftonhall, Rosehall, Barrowfield and Espieside. As late as 1936 however Coatbridge was the most overcrowded place in Scotland. After World War II
Townhead, Kirkwood, Kirkshaws, Shawhead, Summerlee and Sikeside followed. The high rises which can seen on the present day Coatbridge skyline were constructed in this same period.
As recently as 1961 the birth rate in Coatbridge was a third higher than the Scottish average.
Since the 1970s there have been various initiatives to attempt to regenerate Coatbridge. Urban Aid, European Union
grants and most recently Social Inclusion Partnerships have attempted to breathe new life into Coatbridge. In the 1970s the Tannoy
company relocated their headquarters to Coatbridge.
Lanarkshire
Lanarkshire or the County of Lanark ) is a Lieutenancy area, registration county and former local government county in the central Lowlands of Scotland...
hamlets strung out on the road between Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and Airdrie
Airdrie, North Lanarkshire
Airdrie is a town within North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It lies on a plateau roughly 400 ft above sea level, and is approximately 12 miles east of Glasgow city centre. Airdrie forms part of a conurbation with its neighbour Coatbridge, in the former district known as the Monklands. As of 2006,...
to a world leading centre of iron production in the 19th century. Development took off at an incredible rate in the 19th century and led to massive changes to the landscape and an explosion in the population.
Early history
The earliest evidence of human habitation in the Coatbridge area can be traced back to Woodend Loch (now part of modern day DrumpellierDrumpellier
Drumpellier is a country park situated within North Lanarkshire Council, to the west of Coatbridge. The park was formerly a private estate. The land was given over to the Burgh of Coatbridge for use as a public park in 1919, and was designated as a country park in 1984 by the then Monklands...
Country Park) which had a crannog. A crannog was an Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
dwelling house built on an artificial island. People continued to live in Crannogs up until about AD 1450.
A bronze age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
cemetery has been found on the stretch of land between Drumpellier and Bargeddie
Bargeddie
Bargeddie is a village in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, just outside the suburban fringe of Glasgow, east of the city centre, and close to the junction of the M73 and M8 motorways. The nearest major town is Coatbridge, to the east...
. There are thought to be the remains of a Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
road on the fringes of the town at the site of the modern day M8 motorway. Roman coins have been unearthed in Coatbridge
Coatbridge
Coatbridge is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. The town, with neighbouring Airdrie, is part of the Greater Glasgow urban area. The first settlement of the area stretches back to the Stone Age era...
. The main Celtic tribes in the Lanarkshire environs during roman times were named the Damnonii
Damnonii
The Damnonii were a people of the late 2nd century who lived in what is now southern Scotland. They are mentioned briefly in Ptolemy's Geography, where he uses both of the terms "Damnonii" and "Damnii" to describe them, and there is no other historical record of them. Their cultural and...
and Selgovae
Selgovae
The Selgovae were a people of the late 2nd century who lived in what is now the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright and Dumfriesshire, on the southern coast of Scotland. They are mentioned briefly in Ptolemy's Geography, and there is no other historical record of them...
by the Romans.
Middle Ages
Gillpatrice Mackerran owned the area of Coatbridge prior to the Newbattle abbey Monklands being granted the land. In 1160 parts of the Caledonian forest still remained in the area. The “Monklands” area was so called because it was granted to the monks of Newbattle AbbeyNewbattle Abbey
Newbattle Abbey was a Cistercian monastery near the village of Newbattle in Midlothian, Scotland, which has subsequently become a stately home and then an educational institution.-Monastery:...
in 1162. The Monks were the first to mine coal in the area. In the 15th century a visiting dignitary witnessed "black stones" being distributed to the poor as alms. In the 16th century these stones had become known as "black gold". The monks cleared part of the forest which covered the area at the time. They cultivated the land extensively and by the 16th century had leased most of the lands to farmers. The local tracks established by the monks were used as part of the main road between Edinburgh and Glasgow until the early 19th century
The town was on the stage coach route between the two cities
In 1602 Sir Thos. Hamilton of Binning took possession, the Clellands of Monklands subsequently took possession in 1633. A few years later in 1639 James, Marquis of Hamilton, was the owener. Monklands subsequently passed into the hands of the college of Glasgow after being bought from Anne, duchess of Hamilton in the reign of.
In 1641 the parish of Monklands
Monklands
Monklands may refer to:*Monklands was formerly a local government district in the Strathclyde region of Scotland*Monklands Hospital in the area...
was divided between New Monkland (present day Airdrie
Airdrie, North Lanarkshire
Airdrie is a town within North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It lies on a plateau roughly 400 ft above sea level, and is approximately 12 miles east of Glasgow city centre. Airdrie forms part of a conurbation with its neighbour Coatbridge, in the former district known as the Monklands. As of 2006,...
) and Old Monkland (present day Coatbridge
Coatbridge
Coatbridge is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. The town, with neighbouring Airdrie, is part of the Greater Glasgow urban area. The first settlement of the area stretches back to the Stone Age era...
). Drumpellier
Drumpellier
Drumpellier is a country park situated within North Lanarkshire Council, to the west of Coatbridge. The park was formerly a private estate. The land was given over to the Burgh of Coatbridge for use as a public park in 1919, and was designated as a country park in 1984 by the then Monklands...
was called the “Grange” in a charter of Alexander II in 1240.
In 1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Jacobite
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
army seized Coatbridge
Coatbridge
Coatbridge is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. The town, with neighbouring Airdrie, is part of the Greater Glasgow urban area. The first settlement of the area stretches back to the Stone Age era...
on their march to Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
in an action described as the "Canter of Coatbridge".
Industrial Coatbridge
By the time of the late 18th century Coatbridge was but a collection of hamlets between Glasgow and Airdrie. However the construction of the Monkland CanalMonkland Canal
The Monkland Canal was a 12.25-mile canal which connected the coal mining areas of Monklands to Glasgow in Scotland. It was opened in 1794, and included a steam-powered inclined plane at Blackhill. It was abandoned for navigation in 1942, but its culverted remains still supply water to the Forth...
to transport coal from deposits in Coatbridge to Glasgow proved to be the spark which set fire to the town's population explosion. The invention of the hot blast furnace in 1828 by James Beaumont Neilson meant that Coatbridge's rich ironstone
Ironstone
Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical repacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron compound from which iron either can be or once was smelted commercially. This term is customarily restricted to hard coarsely...
deposits could be fully exploited by the canal link. By the mid-19th century there were numerous hot blast furnaces in operation in Coatbridge.
In this period fortunes could be quickly made “with a rapidity only equalled by the princely gains of some of the adventurers who accompanied Pizarro to Peru.” noted one observer. Amongst the most notable success stories at this time were the six sons of Coatbridge farmer Alexander Baird. The Bairds’ were a local farming family in the late 18th century. They became buccaneering capitalists when they leased a coalfield near Coatdyke. They then moved into iron production in late 1820s. Ruthlessly exploiting James Beaumont Neilson's invention of the furnace process to produce iron they were forced to pay substantial damages in a court action. It was reported that upon losing the court action they were able to simply write a cheque. They had used the patent without paying any royalties. After a nine-day trial they were forced to pay out around ten thousand pounds, it was estimated though they had however realised a profit of £250,000 by exploitation of the patent. The Baird family owned a number of the foundries that sprung up and gave the town its then nickname of 'the Iron Burgh'. Each of the sons was reputed to have become a millionaire. James Baird was responsible for erecting sixteen blast-furnaces in Coatbridge
Coatbridge
Coatbridge is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. The town, with neighbouring Airdrie, is part of the Greater Glasgow urban area. The first settlement of the area stretches back to the Stone Age era...
between 1830 and 1842. George "Squire Abingdon" Baird was a direct descedant of the Baird's.
The Baird family exerted a strong influence over Coatbridge in the 19th century. They were responsible for the lay out of present day central Coatbridge town centre. Land for the town hall and the land which later came to form Dunbeth Park were gifted to the town by the Bairds. Gartsherrie church was built by the Baird family for them and their employees.
At stage the population of Coatbridge grew by 600%. Cheap unskilled labour was in large demand and Coatbridge became a popular destination for vast numbers of laregly unskilled Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
workers arriving in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
There have been centuries of coal workings across the area. In 1791 there was disaster at Coats Pit when the canal burst and six miners were drowned. A large part of modern day Coatbridge has been undermined by underground coal workings. The modern day car parks skirting both sides of the South Circular Road are so undermined that no sizable buildings can be built. Dick’s Pond in Carnbroe
Carnbroe
Carnbroe is a village in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland.A former industrial village, Carnbroe is located southeast of Coatbridge and southwest of neighbouring Airdrie. It lies above a meander of the North Calder Water, which flows around the village in a steep gorge. Once a collier...
consists of the hollow left by an ironstone working.
The Clyde Valley plan of 1949 described Coatbridge as "situated over a flooded coalfield" Tenements in Coatbridge were not built to same high as Glasgow tenements due to danger of subsidence
There were serious cholera outbreaks in the town in 1832 and 1848. Population growth strained every natural resource in the town and the canal's stagnant waters were a breeding ground for disease. Andrew Miller noted that locals used the canal water for drinking and in times of dry weather even used the muddy dregs found at the bottom of the Monkland Canal
Monkland Canal
The Monkland Canal was a 12.25-mile canal which connected the coal mining areas of Monklands to Glasgow in Scotland. It was opened in 1794, and included a steam-powered inclined plane at Blackhill. It was abandoned for navigation in 1942, but its culverted remains still supply water to the Forth...
.
In 1885 Coatbridge was granted burgh status. Local industrialist's had put off burgh status to avoid falling foul of air pollution legislation. Special provisions were made in the burgh bill to allow the blast furnaces to continue polluting undisturbed.
Irish people
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
began to come to arrive Coatbridge in the mid-19th century, many of them because of The Great Hunger in the mid-19th century. The 1851 census recorded that Irish people born in Coatbridge constituted 35.8% of the population. Although while a significant proportion of these emigrants were Protestant the majority were Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
. Serious sectarian strife arose in Coatbridge throughout the 19th century. The New York Times reported on serious "riots" between local Catholics and Orangemen
Orangemen
Orangemen can refer:*Historically, to supporters of King William III of Orange.*To members of the modern Orange Institution - a Protestant fraternal organisation.*To the former name of male sports teams of Syracuse University, now called the Orange....
during 1883. Orangeism in Coatbridge (60% catholic) was said to have inflated the local conservative and unionist vote and representation on the council.
20th & 21st century
By 1901, the percentage of Irish born people in Coatbridge had fallen to around 15%, but remained the highest of all the major towns in Scotland.By end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
only five ironworks were left in Coatbridge – Langloan, Calder, Carnbroe, Summerlee and Gartsherrie. Four of the ironworks were closed by the time of 1929. In 1934 there was a mass exodus to Corby
Corby
Corby Town is a town and borough located in the county of Northamptonshire. Corby Town is 23 miles north-east of the county town, Northampton. The borough had a population of 53,174 at the 2001 Census; the town on its own accounted for 49,222 of this figure...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
when the 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 Clydeside shipbuilding in the 1950s meant the demand for iron finally collapsed.
In the 1920s-1930s Coatbridge Town Council constructed new housing estates at Cliftonville, Cliftonhall, Rosehall, Barrowfield and Espieside. As late as 1936 however Coatbridge was the most overcrowded place in Scotland. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Townhead, Kirkwood, Kirkshaws, Shawhead, Summerlee and Sikeside followed. The high rises which can seen on the present day Coatbridge skyline were constructed in this same period.
As recently as 1961 the birth rate in Coatbridge was a third higher than the Scottish average.
Since the 1970s there have been various initiatives to attempt to regenerate Coatbridge. Urban Aid, European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
grants and most recently Social Inclusion Partnerships have attempted to breathe new life into Coatbridge. In the 1970s the Tannoy
Tannoy
Tannoy Ltd is a Scottish-based manufacturer of loudspeakers and public-address systems. The company was founded in London, England as Tulsemere Manufacturing Company in 1926, but has been based in Coatbridge, Scotland, since the 1970s...
company relocated their headquarters to Coatbridge.
Further reading
- The Rise of Coatbridge and the Surrounding Neighbourhood (Glas. 1864) by Andrew Miller
- Coatbridge: Three Centuries of Change – Peter Drummond and James Smith (Monkland Library Services, 1982)
- Old Coatbridge (Stenlake Publishing, 2000) - Oliver Van Helden
- The Population of Monklands in the 1980s. Monkland Library Services Dept. (1985) – Peter Drummond
- The Monkland Tradition. Thomas Roland Miller. Thomas Nelson and Sons. 1958
- Coatbridge (Images of Scotland) By Helen Moir . The History Press (2001). ISBN 0752421328.