Shotts is a town in

North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire ( sco, North Lanrikshire; gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Tuath) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It als ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. It is located almost halfway between

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

() and

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

(). The village has a population of about 8,840. A local story has Shotts being named after the legendary giant highwayman

Bertram de Shotts Bertram de Shotts is known locally as a legendary giant that roamed the then village of Shotts, Scotland in the 15th Century. Shotts was then a dreary moorland place on the Great Road of the Shire. The road was an important route for tradesmen car ...

, though

toponymists Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' ( proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

give the Anglo-Saxon ("steep slopes") as the real source of the name. Shotts is the home of the 2015

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

pipe band A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term pipes and drums, used by military pipe bands is also common. The most common form of pipe band consists of a section of pipers playing the Great Highland bagpipe, a ...

Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band The Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band is a grade 1 pipe band from Shotts, in the North Lanarkshire region of Scotland. The band has won the World Pipe Band Championships sixteen times. The current pipe major is Emmett Conway. History Th ...

History

Until 1457 Shotts was part of the

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotl ...

parish of Bothwell. Groome related that the pre-reformation church of Bertramshotts is mentioned in a Papal bull in 1476. The parish, one of the largest in

Lowland Scotland The Lowlands ( sco, Lallans or ; gd, a' Ghalldachd, , place of the foreigners, ) is a cultural and historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Lowlands and the Highlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lo ...

, was sometimes called Shotts but officially it was known as Bertram Shotts. In 1831 the Duke of Hamilton owned most of the land. Shotts was known for its

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

and ironworks. The Shotts Iron Company was first established in 1801 and provided employment for Shotts and the surrounding area for 150 years, and was eventually wound up in 1952. These were developed when transport by canal and railway became possible. By the late 1800s the ironworks had grown to the extent that the village slogan was "Shotts lights the world", as

gas lamp Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, such as hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, coal gas (town gas) or natural gas. The light is produced either directly ...

standards made here were exported throughout the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

and beyond. In the years leading up to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

there were 22 coal mines in the area, but Northfield Colliery, the last of these, closed in the 1960s.

Geography

Blaeu - Atlas of Scotland 1654 - GLOTTIANA PRÆFECTVRA INFERIOR - Shotts

Shotts is south of the M8 in North Lanarkshire between

Wishaw Wishaw ( sco, Wishae or Wisha ; gd, Camas Neachdain) is a large town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, on the edge of the Clyde Valley, south-east of Glasgow city centre. The Burgh of Wishaw was formed in 1855 within Lanarkshire. it form ...

and Harthill. Historically the Shotts Iron Works were between Calderhead, source of the

South Calder Water The South Calder Water, known locally as "The Cawder", or simply "Calder", is a river in Scotland. It runs west from the high plateau between Shotts and Fauldhouse to its joining with the much larger River Clyde. The high plateau is also the w ...

, and Stane. Shotts parish was originally made up of five villages: Dykehead, Calderside, Stane, Springhill and

Torbothie Torbothie is a small area in the town of Shotts, North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire ( sco, North Lanrikshire; gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Tuath) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the northeast of the City of Glasgow and conta ...

; all growing up around the old coach roads between

and

that expanded and merged during the 18th and 19th centuries following the growth in mining. Nearby is

Kirk o' Shotts transmitting station The Kirk o' Shotts transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications site at The Hirst which lies just outside the village of Salsburgh which is near the town of Shotts in North Lanarkshire central Scotland. (Kirk o' Shotts means 'Chur ...

Knowhoble Hill

Shotts Calderhead- Erskine Parish Church - geograph

Knowhoble Hill, lying beside Teilling Burn, was the site of adwelling belonging to the Cleland (Clevland) family.

Sport

Shotts has a number of sports facilitated in the local community. Shotts Golf Club, an 18-hole course founded in 1895, is to the North-East of the village. On the first Saturday in June each year, Shotts hosts its own Highland Games in Hannah Park.

Football Teams

* AFC Hartwood * Shotts Bon Accord *Shotts Vics *Shotts YMCA *Springhill AFC * Dykehead F.C. * Torbothie Rose * Shotts Albion * Shotts Thistle

HMP Shotts

HMP Shotts, a high security prison holding male prisoners with maximum security classification, is located between Shotts and

Salsburgh Salsburgh is a semi-rural former coal mining village in greenbelt farmland within the district of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The closest major towns to the village are Shotts, southeast, and Airdrie northwest. Salsburgh is perhaps best kn ...

. It opened in 1978 and provided a new source of employment after the closure of the mines.

Transport

The village is served by

Shotts railway station Shotts railway station is a railway station serving Shotts in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located on the Shotts Line, 20½ miles (33 km) east of towards . It was opened by the Caledonian Railway in 1869 as one of the principal ...

, which is connected on the

Shotts Line The Shotts Line is a suburban railway line linking and via in Scotland. It is one of the four rail links between the two cities. Between Glasgow Central and , the line is shared with the West Coast Main Line (WCML), before branching off tow ...

between Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Schools Within Shotts

*St.Patrick's Primary *Stane Primary *Dykehead Primary *Calderhead High School

Notable Shotts people

* Mick McGahey Scottish miners' leader *

Matthew Baillie Matthew Baillie FRS (27 October 1761 – 23 September 1823) was a British physician and pathologist, credited with first identifying transposition of the great vessels (TGV) and situs inversus. Early life and education He was born in the mans ...

anatomist * Michelle Barr, Scotland women's international footballer. *

Hugh Dallas Hugh Dallas MBE (born 26 October 1957) is a Scottish former football referee. He officiated at two FIFA World Cup tournaments, in 1998 and 2002; he was appointed fourth official for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Final. Dallas also officiated at th ...

Scottish and international football referee *William Grossart, Esq., Surgeon. — wrote "Historic Notices and Domestic History of the Parish of Shotts" in 1880. * Gavin Hamilton *

Margaret Herbison Margaret McCrorie Herbison (11 March 1907 – 29 December 1996) was a Scottish Labour politician who was Minister of Social Security from 1964 to 1967. Early life Herbison was born on 11 March 1907 in Shotts, Lanarkshire to Maria Jane McCr ...

, Member of Parliament *

Andrew Keir Andrew Keir ( né Buggy, 3 April 19265 October 1997) was a Scottish actor who appeared in a number of films made by Hammer Film Productions in the 1960s. He was also active in television, and especially in the theatre, in a professional career ...

, actor *

George MacBeth George Mann MacBeth (19 January 1932 – 16 February 1992) was a Scottish poet and novelist. Biography George MacBeth was born in Shotts, Lanarkshire, Scotland. When he was three, his family moved to Sheffield in England. He was educated in Sh ...

, writer * Col

Donald James MacKintosh Colonel Donald James MacKintosh (13 January 1862 – 12 June 1947) was a Scottish physician, soldier and public health expert. Life He was born in Shotts in 1862 the son of Donald MacKintosh, the local schoolmaster. He was educated locally at the ...

FRSE, soldier and physician * Louise Murphy Councillor * Catriona Shearer, newsreader, journalist and television presenter.

References

External links

*
Shotts Bon Accord FC

Shotts History Group

A brief history of Shotts

Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band

Video footage of Shotts railway station.

Video footage of the Fortissat or Covenanters' Stone.
{{authority control Villages in North Lanarkshire Mining communities in Scotland