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Shotts is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located almost halfway between Glasgow () and Edinburgh (). 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 give the
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
("steep slopes") as the real source of the name. Shotts is the home of the 2015 world champion pipe band,
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 The ...
.


History

Until 1457 Shotts was part of the Lanarkshire 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, was sometimes called Shotts but officially it was known as Bertram Shotts. In 1831 the
Duke of Hamilton Duke of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in April 1643. It is the senior dukedom in that peerage (except for the Dukedom of Rothesay held by the Sovereign's eldest son), and as such its holder is the premier peer of Sco ...
owned most of the land. Shotts was known for its mining and
ironworks An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''. Ironworks succeeded bloomeri ...
. 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 An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''. Ironworks succeeded bloomeri ...
had grown to the extent that the village slogan was "Shotts lights the world", as gas lamp standards made here were exported throughout the British Empire and beyond. In the years leading up to World War II there were 22 coal mines in the area, but Northfield Colliery, the last of these, closed in the 1960s.


Geography

Shotts is south of the M8 in North Lanarkshire between Wishaw 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 wa ...
, 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. Shotts has an overall population of approximately 8,570. Torbothie has a mixture of properties including council-letted accommodations and private dwellings, a Salvation Army Corp ...
; all growing up around the old coach roads between Glasgow and Edinburgh 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

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. Dykehead Football Club was a football club based in the Dykehead area of Shotts, playing their home games at Parkside.D. Pickering, ''The Cassell Soccer Companion'', London: Cassell, 1995, p. 98 The club were members of the Scottish Football Lea ...
*
Torbothie Rose Torbothie is a small area in the town of Shotts, North Lanarkshire. Shotts has an overall population of approximately 8,570. Torbothie has a mixture of properties including council-letted accommodations and private dwellings, a Salvation Army Co ...
* Shotts Albion * Shotts Thistle


HMP Shotts

HMP Shotts HM Prison Shotts is a prison near Shotts, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is a prison holding male prisoners with maximum security classification. Shotts exclusively holds prisoners serving a term of 5 years or longer, with some prisoners being ...
, 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 between Glasgow and Edinburgh.


Schools Within Shotts

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


Notable Shotts people

*
Mick McGahey Michael McGahey (29 May 1925 – 30 January 1999) was a Scottish miners' leader and Communist. He had a distinctive gravelly voice, and described himself as "a product of my class and my movement". Early life His father, John McGahey, worked ...
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 manse ...
anatomist *
Michelle Barr Michelle Barr (born 19 October 1978) is a Scottish football coach and former player who is the head coach of Old Dominion Monarchs college soccer team. She formerly played in the Scottish Women's Premier League for both Celtic and Rangers. Sh ...
, 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 Gavin Hamilton may refer to: * Gavin Hamilton (archbishop of St Andrews) (died 1571), archbishop of St Andrews * Gavin Hamilton (bishop of Galloway) (1561–1612), bishop of Galloway * Gavin Hamilton (artist) (1723–1798), Scottish artist * Gavin ...
* Margaret Herbison, Member of Parliament * Andrew Keir, actor * George MacBeth, writer * Col Donald James MacKintosh
FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...
, soldier and physician * Louise Murphy Councillor *
Catriona Shearer Catriona Shearer is a Scottish broadcast journalist and producer, who was a presenter on BBC Scotland's national news programme ''Reporting Scotland''. Early life Shearer graduated from Edinburgh Napier University with a BA (Hons) degree in ...
, 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