Coatbridge (, ) is a town in

North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the north-east of the Glasgow City council area and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns, and villages. It also borders East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk (co ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the

central Lowlands The Central Lowlands, sometimes called the Midland Valley or Central Valley, is a geologically defined area of relatively low-lying land in southern Scotland. It consists of a rift valley between the Highland Boundary Fault to the north and ...

. 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 Greater Glasgow is an urban settlement in Scotland consisting of all localities which are physically attached to the city of Glasgow, forming with it a single contiguous urban area (or conurbation). It does not relate to municipal government ...

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 A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...

into the town of Coatbridge. The town's development and growth have been intimately connected with the technological advances of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

, 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' 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 Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, 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".

History

Coatbridge owes its name to a bridge that carried the old Edinburgh-Glasgow road over the Gartsherrie Burn, at what is now Coatbridge Cross. This first appears on Roy's survey of 1755 as ''Cottbrig'', one of a number of places on the wider Coats estate. The name Coats most likely comes from the Scots word ''cot(t)'', meaning "cottage", although an alternative theory links it to the name of the Colt family, who owned land here as early as the 13th century.

Early history: from Bronze Age to Middle Ages

Settlement of the Coatbridge area dates back 3000 years to the

Mesolithic Age The Mesolithic ( Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonym ...

. A circle of

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

stone coffins was found on the Drumpellier estate in 1852. A number of other Bronze Age urns and relics have been found in Coatbridge. An

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

wood and thatch

crannog A crannog (; ; ) is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually constructed in lakes, bogs and estuary, estuarine waters of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Unlike the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, which were built ...

dwelling was sited in the loch at the present day Drumpellier Country Park. Dependent upon the water level in the loch, the remains can still be seen. Roman 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.

Middle Ages to late 18th century

The Monklands area inherited its name after the area was granted to the

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

monks of Newbattle AbbeyScottish Burgh and County Heraldry – RM Urqhuart. Heraldry Today (1973); pg. 188 by King Malcolm IV in 1162. In 1323, the Monklands name appeared for the first time on Stewards' charter. The monks mined coal and farmed the land until the time of the

reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

when the land was taken from them and given to private landowners. In 1641, the parish of Monklands was divided between New Monkland (present day Airdrie) and Old Monkland (present day Coatbridge).Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland (1994) Eds. J & J Keay, HarperCollinsPublishers, pg. 175 Old Monkland was described in the 1799 Statistical Account as an "immense garden" with "extensive orchards" and "luxurious crops", where "rivers abound with salmon".

19th century

The

Monkland Canal The Monkland Canal was a canal designed to bring coal from the mining areas of Monklands to Glasgow in Scotland. In the course of a long and difficult construction process, it was opened progressively as short sections were completed, from 177 ...

was constructed at the end of the 18th century initially to transport coal to Glasgow from the rich local deposits. The invention of the hot blast furnace process in 1828 meant that Coatbridge's

ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be c ...

deposits could be exploited to the maximum by the canal link and hot blast process. The new advances meant that iron could be produced with two-thirds less fuel. Summerlee Iron Works was one of the first iron works to use this technology. By the mid 19th century there were numerous hot blast furnaces in operation in Coatbridge. 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 A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being supplied above atmospheric pressure. In a ...

plants. Coatbridge therefore became a popular destination for vast numbers of Irish (especially from

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

) arriving in Scotland. The iron bars and plates produced in Coatbridge iron works were the raw materials needed throughout the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

for

railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to roa ...

, 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 The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

.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%. The character of the Coatbridge area changed from a rural,

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

landscape of small hamlets and farmhouses into a crowded, polluted,

Irish Catholic Irish Catholics () are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland, defined by their adherence to Catholic Christianity and their shared Irish ethnic, linguistic, and cultural heritage.The term distinguishes Catholics of Irish descent, particul ...

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

terraced house A terrace, terraced house ( UK), or townhouse ( US) is a type of medium-density housing which first started in 16th century Europe with a row of joined houses sharing side walls. In the United States and Canada these are sometimes known as row ...

s built under the shadow of the iron works. These homes were often owned by their employers. Living conditions for most were appalling and

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

was rife. 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: Summerlee1

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. Fountaincoatbridge

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.

20th/21st centuries

By 1885, the once plentiful Monklands ironstone deposits had been largely exhausted. It became increasingly expensive to produce iron in Coatbridge as raw materials had to be imported from as far afield as

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. The growth of the steel industry (in nearby

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

) had also led to a start of a decline in demand for the pig iron Coatbridge produced. Living conditions remained grim. In the 1920s,

Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. A Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, he was known for leadi ...

's "Coal and Power" report described the living conditions in the Rosehall area of Coatbridge:

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

's book ''

The Road to Wigan Pier ''The Road to Wigan Pier'' is a book by the English writer George Orwell, first published in 1937. Its first half documents his sociological investigations of the bleak living conditions among the working class in Lancashire and Yorkshire in the ...

'' was illustrated by a photograph of homes in the Rosehall area of Coatbridge. In 1934, there was an exodus to

Corby Corby is a town and civil parish in the North Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England, northeast of Northampton. In 2021 it had a population of 68,164. From 1974 to 2021, it was the administrative headquarters of the Borough of ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

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' unemployment, appalling housing conditions and some of the worst overcrowding in Scotland left its stamp on the Coatbridge of the early 1930s. 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. 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 The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

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".

Geography

At (55.861°, -4.047°), Coatbridge is situated in Scotland's

Central Lowlands The Central Lowlands, sometimes called the Midland Valley or Central Valley, is a geologically defined area of relatively low-lying land in southern Scotland. It consists of a rift valley between the Highland Boundary Fault to the north and ...

. The town lies above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

, east of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, south of

Cumbernauld Cumbernauld (; ) is a large town in the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, most-populous locality in Scotl ...

and west of Airdrie. Although Coatbridge has no major river running through it, the North Calder Water runs east–west to the south and the now defunct

used to run straight through the centre of the town toward Glasgow. The canal route through Coatbridge can still be seen today. Several smaller

burns Burns may refer to: Astronomy * 2708 Burns, an asteroid * Burns (crater), on Mercury People * Burns (surname), list of people and characters named Burns ** Burns (musician), Scottish record producer Places in the United States * Burns, ...

run through Coatbridge, most of which drain into the North Calder Water. Coatbridge has four significant public parks: Dunbeth Park, West End Park, Whifflet park and Drumpellier Country Park. Lochend Loch (locally known as Drumpellier Loch) and Woodend Loch are situated on the north-west edge of Coatbridge.

Topography

The

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...

of Coatbridge was an important feature in the town's development during the

. Coatbridge rests 60 metres below the " Slamannan plateau" and neighbouring Airdrie sits on its edge. The low-lying flat ground of Coatbridge was a vital factor in the siting of the town's blast furnaces and the

route. Although Airdrie was an already established town and had local supplies of ironstone, the Monkland Canal link did not extend into Airdrie because of its higher elevation. The

Clyde Valley The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the second longest in Scotland after the River Tay. It runs through the city of Glasgow. T ...

plan of 1949 described Coatbridge as 'situated over a flooded coalfield'. Tenement buildings in Coatbridge were not built to the same level as Glasgow tenements due to danger of local subsidence from centuries of local mining.

Geology

Dunbeth Hill where the present local authority municipal buildings stand is a wedge of rock which was probably squeezed upwards by the force of two (now-extinct) fault lines. There are the remains of spreads of glacial sands along the crest of Drumpellier, the west bank of Gartsherrie Burn and along modern day Bank Street. Kirkwood, Kirkshaws and Shawhead sit on a sandstone capped ridge looking south over the Clyde Valley. The vital Coatbridge black band coal field extended from Langloan to beyond the eastern edge of the town. Coatbridgeskyline

Climate

Like much of the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

, Coatbridge experiences a

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

maritime climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring ...

with relatively cool summers and mild winters. The prevailing wind is from the west. Regular but generally light precipitation occurs throughout the year.

Culture

Coatbridge is the home of one of Scotland's most visited museums, Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life, which contains an insight into the lives of working people in the West of Scotland. A miners' row of 1900s–1980s houses, a working tramway and a reconstruction coal mine can all be experienced on site. The museum is situated on the remains of one of Coatbridge's historic blast furnaces, now a Scheduled Monument.

Literature, Theatre and Film

Janet Hamilton, the nineteenth century poet and essayist, died in Langloan in 1873. Present-day writers

Anne Donovan Anne Theresa Donovan (November 1, 1961 – June 13, 2018) was an American women's basketball player and coach. From 2013 to 2015, she was the head coach of the Connecticut Sun. In her playing career, Donovan won a national championship with Ol ...

(Orange prize winner), Brian Conaghan (the award-winning author of several novels) Award-winning author Des Dillon are all from Coatbridge. Coatbridge has regularly featured in Des Dillon's work. Two of his books about Coatbridge have been turned into plays.

Mark Millar Mark Millar (; born 24 December 1969) is a Scottish comic book writer who first came to prominence with a run on the superhero series ''The Authority (comics), The Authority'', published by DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint. Millar has written ext ...

is a Coatbridge comic book writer whose '' Wanted'' comic book series has been translated into a feature film starring

Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie ( ; born Angelina Jolie Voight, , June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Angelina Jolie, numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards ...

and

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, producer, and narrator. In a career spanning six decades, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as a nomination for a Tony ...

, 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 The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

abbess of the Stanbrook Community whose correspondence with

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...

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".

Music

Thomas McAleese (alias Dean Ford) was the lead singer of

The Marmalade Marmalade are a Scottish pop rock band originating from the east end of Glasgow, originally formed in 1961 as The Gaylords, and then later billed as Dean Ford and the Gaylords, recording four singles for Columbia Graphophone Company, Columbia ( ...

who had a UK number one single in 1969 with a cover of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' " Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" and co-wrote " Reflections of My Life", Marmalade's biggest worldwide success. Coatbridge brothers Greg Kane and Pat Kane are the band Hue and Cry. Coatbridge born Alan Frew is the ex-pat lead singer of

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

group Glass Tiger. "My Town" was written by Glass Tiger bandmates Alan Frew, Alan Connelly and Wayne Parker, as well as Jim Cregan, who co-wrote two of Rod Stewart's other hits. The song's lyrics are a tribute to Frew's hometown, Coatbridge, and Stewart was invited to record the song with Glass Tiger because of his Scottish ancestry. Cha Burns (deceased), Jimme O'Neill and JJ Gilmour of The Silencers are from Coatbridge. Coatbridge sisters Fran and Anna were a famous duo on the Scottish traditional music scene. Cousins Ted and Hugh McKenna, of

Tear Gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymatory agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the Mace (spray), early commercial self-defense spray, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the ey ...

and the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, and Hugh's sister, Mae McKenna, a folk singer and renowned session singer, came from the Kirkshaws area of Coatbridge.

Coatbridge and Ireland

Coatbridge is especially noted for its historical links with

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. This is largely due to large scale immigration into the town from

(especially from

) in the 19th century and throughout most of the 20th century. Indeed, the town has been called "little Ireland".The population of Monklands by Peter Drummond. Monkland District Library Services. 1985, pg. 7 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 The Government of Ireland () is the executive authority of Ireland, headed by the , the head of government. The government – also known as the cabinet – is composed of ministers, each of whom must be a member of the , which consists of ...

and

Guinness Guinness () is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at Guinness Brewery, St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic bever ...

. The festival runs for over a

fortnight A fortnight is a unit of time equal to 14 days (two weeks). The word derives from the Old English term , meaning "" (or "fourteen days", since the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights). Astronomy and tides In astronomy, a ''lunar fortnight'' is hal ...

and includes lectures, film shows, dance/Gaelic football competitions and music performances. The festival is the largest Irish celebration in Scotland.

Coatbridge accent

The Coatbridge accent has been categorised as making less use of the Scots tongue and exhibiting a tendency to stress the "a" vowel differently from general Scots usage. Examples of this are seen in the pronunciation of the words stair ("sterr"), hair ("herr"), fair ("ferr") and chair ("cherr"). This different enunciation has been attributed to the impact of successive influxes of Ulster Catholic immigrants into Coatbridge. However, the distinctiveness of the Coatbridge accent and pronunciation has diminished as the various surrounding populations (especially Glasgow) have mingled with that of Coatbridge.

Sports

Coatbridge's local football team is Albion Rovers. Albion Rovers play in the Lowland Football League having been relegated from

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foo ...

following the 2022–23 season. Cliftonhill is where they play their home games. The "Wee Rovers" were founded in 1882 when two local Coatbridge clubs, Rovers and Albion, amalgamated to form the club bearing the name. 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 Meadowbank Stadium (officially the Meadowbank Sports Centre) is a multi-purpose sports facility located in the Meadowbank, Edinburgh, Meadowbank area of Edinburgh, Scotland. Built on the site of the earlier New Meadowbank and Old Meadowbank spo ...

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 Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around an oval track. The sport originates from Hare coursing, coursing. Track racing uses an artificial lure (usually a form of windsock) that travels ahead of th ...

. 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 Ricky Burns (born 13 April 1983) is a Scottish professional boxer who held the WBO super-featherweight title from 2010 to 2011, the WBO lightweight title from 2012 to 2014, and the WBA light welterweight title from 2016 to 2017. At regional ...

. 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 is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by th ...

club, Clan Sumo.

Coat of Arms

Coatbridge was given

burgh A burgh ( ) is an Autonomy, autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots language, Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when David I of Scotland, King David I created ...

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". 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. The

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

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 The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

, whose monks came to Monklands in the 12th century.

Local Government

Coatbridge is represented by three tiers of elected government. North Lanarkshire Council, the unitary

local authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

for Coatbridge, is based at

, and is the

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

deliberative Deliberative may refer to: *Deliberative agent *Deliberative assembly *Deliberative Council of Princes and Ministers *Deliberative democracy *Deliberative mood *Deliberative opinion poll *Deliberative planning *Deliberative process privilege *Deli ...

and

legislative A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers ...

body responsible for local governance. The

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

is responsible for devolved matters such as

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

and

justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

, while reserved matters are dealt with by the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

. 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 The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

led to Coatbridge being seen as a "Catholic town". Subsequent inquiries showed no evidence of

sectarianism Sectarianism is a debated concept. Some scholars and journalists define it as pre-existing fixed communal categories in society, and use it to explain political, cultural, or Religious violence, religious conflicts between groups. Others conceiv ...

, but allegations of

nepotism Nepotism is the act of granting an In-group favoritism, advantage, privilege, or position to Kinship, relatives in an occupation or field. These fields can include business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, religion or health care. In ...

were shown to be true. Coatbridge is presently part of the burgh constituency of Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill, electing one member of parliament (MP) to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Before the constituency's creation in 2005, Coatbridge lay in the Coatbridge and Chryston constituency. Steven Bonnar of the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...

has been the MP since the 2019 general election. For the purposes of the

, Coatbridge forms part of the Coatbridge and Cryston constituency, which is represented by Fulton MacGregor of the

. 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: Baroness Liddell, a former member of parliament (MP) who was formerly both

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland (; ), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Scotland Office. The incum ...

and Britain's High Commissioner in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and Lord Reid, also a former MP who was the former

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland The secretary of state for Northern Ireland (; ), also referred to as Northern Ireland Secretary or SoSNI, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the Northern Ireland Office. The offi ...

and

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

. Lord Reid is a former chairman of

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

Wards

Since the most recent major reorganisation in 2006, Coatbridge is divided into three wards for local administrative purposes by North Lanarkshire Council, each electing three or four councillors: * Coatbridge North (2019 population 15,146): Townhead, Greenhill, Sunnyside, Dunbeth, Blairhill, Drumpellier, Clinftonville, town centre * Coatbridge South (2019 population 16,889): Greenend, Sikeside, Whifflet, Kirkshaws, Shawhead and Carnbroe * Coatbridge West (2019 population 14,910): Kirkwood, Dundyvan, Langloan, Old Monkland, Barrowfield plus

Bargeddie Bargeddie (; ) is a village in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, just inside 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. Histo ...

Demography

According to the

United Kingdom Census 2001 A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th Census in the United Kingdom, UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organise ...

, the census locality of Coatbridge had a total resident population of 41,170, or 13% of the total of North Lanarkshire. This figure, combined with an area of , provides Coatbridge with a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

figure of . The

median The median of a set of numbers is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a Sample (statistics), data sample, a statistical population, population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as the “ ...

ages of males and females living in Coatbridge were 35 and 38 years respectively, compared to 37 and 39 years in the whole of Scotland. 34% were married, 6.1% were cohabiting couples, 14.7% were single parent families and 32.5% of households were made up of individuals. 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 Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

, 0.30% from other

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 Demography () is the statistics, statistical study of human populations: their size, composition (e.g., ethnic group, age), and how they change through the interplay of fertility (births), mortality (deaths), and migration. Demographic analy ...

, Coatbridge has low proportions of people born outside the United Kingdom, and people over 75 years of age. During the 19th century,

Irish people The Irish ( or ''Na hÉireannaigh'') are an ethnic group and nation native to the island of Ireland, who share a common ancestry, history and Culture of Ireland, culture. There have been humans in Ireland for about 33,000 years, and it has be ...

began to arrive in large numbers in Coatbridge. The 1851 UK Census recorded that

constituted 35.8% of the local population. A significant proportion of these immigrants were

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

, but the majority were

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. 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. In the 2001 UK Census,

Irish ethnicity The Irish ( or ''Na hÉireannaigh'') are an ethnic group and nation native to the island of Ireland, who share a common ancestry, history and Culture of Ireland, culture. There have been humans in Ireland for about 33,000 years, and it has be ...

was recorded at just over 1%, although just over half the population claimed their religious denomination as

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. In 1985, 56% of the population of Coatbridge were

. In 2006, Coatbridge (along with

Port Glasgow Port Glasgow (, ) is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most recent census in 2011 s ...

and

Clydebank Clydebank () is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Milton beyond) to the w ...

) 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 Lithuanians () are a Balts, Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another two million make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the Lithuanian Americans, United Sta ...

. In 1905, part of a "wave" of immigrants from

Monte Cassino The Abbey of Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a Catholic Church, Catholic, Benedictines, Benedictine monastery on a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Valle Latina, Latin Valley. Located on the site of the ancient ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

settled in Coatbridge. A small number of

Polish people Polish people, or Poles, are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation who share a common History of Poland, history, Culture of Poland, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Central Europe. The preamble t ...

had stayed in Coatbridge after a Polish tank regiment was stationed in the town during World War II.

Economy

21st century Coatbridge is the site of

's inland container base; it was chosen as the site in part due to the proximity of various rail and motorway networks. Makers of PA systems and loudspeakers Tannoy Ltd. are headquartered in the town. Lees of Scotland is a local confectionery and bakery products company and are the manufacturers of the Lees Macaroon bar, and has been operating in Coatbridge since 1931. William Lawson's Scotch Whisky distillery has been located in the town since 1967. It was home to one of the first B&Q Depots, which was closed in 2006 and moved to the new retail park. The oldest family business in Coatbridge and Airdrie is funeral directors Donald McLaren Ltd, which was founded in 1912. 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.

Landmarks

The

built environment The term built environment refers to human-made conditions and is often used in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, public health, sociology, and anthropology, among others. These curated spaces provide the setting for human ac ...

around Coatbridge's town centre is a mixture of late 19th- and early 20th-century

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

buildings and late 20th-century

precast concrete Precast concrete is a construction product produced by casting concrete in a reusable molding (process), mold or "form" which is then cured in a controlled environment, transported to the construction site and maneuvered into place; examples i ...

shops. The leafy Blairhill and Dunbeth conservation areas to the west and north of the town centre comprise

detached A single-family detached home, also called a single-detached dwelling, single-family residence (SFR) or separate house is a free-standing residential building. It is defined in opposition to a multi-family residential dwelling. Definitions ...

semi-detached A semi-detached house (often abbreviated to semi) is a single-family Duplex (building), duplex dwelling that shares one common party wall, wall with its neighbour. The name distinguishes this style of construction from detached houses, with no sh ...

and terraced sandstone residential buildings. The bulk of the remaining surrounding areas consist of various 20th-century local authority housing buildings. Several high-rise flats dominate the skyline. Due to the decline of industries, several private housing estates have been built on reclaimed land. 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.

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 Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

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: * Coatbridge Leisure Centre – Peter Womersley 1970s

brutalist Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the b ...

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

cantilevered building sited on the main road into Coatbridge * The former Coatbridge Library – an

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...

-sponsored 1905 pink sandstone structure. Imposing B-listed structure sited on Academy Street * St Augustine's Church and buildings – Built in 1873 and located in the Dundyvan area. A red sandstone B-listed Rowand Anderson Gothic church Coatbridge church whitelawhill

* St Andrew's Church – 1839 early Victorian Gothic church by Scott Stephen & Gale in the Whitelaw hill area. Its steeple towers over the town centre. * Coatbridge railway bridges – The B-listed 1898 bridges span Bank Street, West Canal Street and the former

. The bridges underwent specialist restoration in 2009 * St Mary's Church – B-listed Gothic church in Whifflet designed by Pugin and Pugin in 1896. Contains an elaborate and ornate interior ceiling. * The former Cattle Market Building – erected in 1896, B-listed façade of the sandstone cattle market building, facing West Canal Street and within the Blairhill and Dunbeth conservation area * Summerlee Heritage Park 2008 extension – Spaceship style glass and metal addition to existing building by North Lanarkshire Council's in-house Design Services Team

Transport

The

(completed 1791) was used in the 19th and 20th century to transport coal and iron to

. 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 The A74(M) and M74 form a major motorway in Scotland, connecting it to England. The routes connect the M8 motorway (Scotland), M8 motorway in central Glasgow to the Scottish-English Anglo-Scottish border, border at Gretna, Scotland, Gretna. T ...

is also a short drive away. The major cities of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

and Glasgow are all within commuting distance. Due to the number of rail lines running through Coatbridge, it was once dubbed the "

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had a population of 55,318 and the built-up area had a population of 74,120. ...

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.

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. 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.

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. St Ambrose High School (which opened a new building in 2013), 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 (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.

Public services

Coatbridge forms part of the Western water and sewerage regions of Scotland.

Waste management Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment, and disposal of waste, together with monitor ...

is provided by the North Lanarkshire local authority. Water supplies are provided by Scottish Water, a

government-owned corporation A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...

of the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

. Coatbridge's

distribution network operator A distribution network operator (DNO), also known as a distribution system operator (DSO), is the operator of the electric power distribution system which delivers electricity to most end users. Each country may have many local distribution netwo ...

for electricity is Scottish Power. Coatbridge is served by Monklands Hospital, sited on the Airdrie side of the Coatbridge/Airdrie border. The

NHS board NHS Scotland, sometimes styled NHSScotland, is the Publicly-funded health care, publicly–funded healthcare system in Scotland and one of the four systems that make up the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. It operates 14 territoria ...

is NHS Lanarkshire. Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is the

statutory A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

fire and rescue service which operates in Coatbridge. Policing in Coatbridge is provided by the Police Service of 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 Strathclyde ( in Welsh language, Welsh; in Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic, meaning 'strath

alley An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, footpath, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane), or a path, w ...

of the River Clyde') was one of nine former Local government in Scotland, local government Regions and districts of Scotland, regions of Scotland cre ...

region.

Transport Scotland Transport Scotland () is the national transport agency of Scotland. It was established by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005, and began operating on 1 January 2006 as an executive agency of the Scottish Government. Transport Scotland, an execut ...

manages the local rail network. The local authority responsible for community-based service in Coatbridge is North Lanarkshire Council. The council provides local services related to

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

, the environment,

housing Housing refers to a property containing one or more Shelter (building), shelter as a living space. Housing spaces are inhabited either by individuals or a collective group of people. Housing is also referred to as a human need and right to ...

, road maintenance and

leisure Leisure (, ) has often been defined as a quality of experience or as free time. Free time is time spent away from business, Employment, work, job hunting, Housekeeping, domestic chores, and education, as well as necessary activities such as ...

Notable people

* Sandra Brown, the anti-

child sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in Human sexual activity, sexual activit ...

and

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, Suffering, hurtful teasing, comments, or threats, in order to abuse, aggression, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate, or intimidate one or more others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. On ...

activist, attended Coatbridge High School * Cha Burns (1957–2007), guitarist with the Scottish folk band, The Silencers *

, boxer, World Super Featherweight, Lightweight, Super Lightweight Champion * Bill Carroll, radio host * Sean Clark, former footballer * Jock Cunningham, miner, mutineer and Republican Brigade commander during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

* Alan Frew, songwriter and lead vocalist for Canadian band Glass Tiger * Frank Gallagher, actor ('' River City'', ''

Taggart ''Taggart'' is a Scottish detective fiction television programme created by Glenn Chandler, who wrote many of the episodes, and made by STV Studios for the ITV network. It originally ran as the miniseries ''Killer'' from 6 until 20 Septe ...

'', etc.) was born in Coatbridge * Prof James Clark Gentles, first specialist in fungal diseases of the human body * JJ Gilmour, vocalist with the Scottish folk band, The Silencers * George Graham (footballer and football manager) played with Aston Villa, Chelsea,

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

and managed Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur lived in Bargeddie * Ayesha Hazarika, Baroness Hazarika, broadcaster, journalist and political commentator, and former Labour Party political adviser, grew up in Coatbridge * Jock Kane, intelligence officer and GCHQ whistleblower * Greg and Pat Kane, brothers that formed the 1980s band Hue and Cry, are from the Blairhill area of Coatbridge * Mark Kerr, Scottish footballer, played for

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, and managed Ayr United * Joe Kissock, former New Zealand international footballer * Robert Lees, member of the

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after those o ...

* Willie McDonald, footballer for

and Coventry City * Rev William Currie McDougall, poet and subject of the Coatbridge Free Church scandal * Gerry Maher (Jurist), Professor of Criminal Law, University of Edinburgh, attended St Patrick's High School * Rev Dr Peter Marshall (27 May 1902 – 26 January 1949)

Chaplain of the United States Senate The chaplain of the United States Senate opens each session of the United States Senate with a prayer, and provides and coordinates religious programs and pastoral care support for senators, their staffs, and their families. The chaplain is appoi ...

, whose biography was the basis of the Oscar-nominated film '' A Man Called Peter'', was born in Coatbridge * Mark Meechan (Count Dankula), YouTuber and politician *

, comic book writer and creator of the Millarworld franchise * Iain Munro (footballer) St Mirren, Hibernian, Rangers,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

, Stoke and

, taught at Coatbridge High School * Hugh Murray,

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player * Joseph Parker (mining engineer), born in Coatbridge * Jamie Quinn actor and musician * Johnny Russell,

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

footballer attended Coatbridge High School * John "Jock" Stein (footballer and football manager) who led

to the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

in 1967, the first British club to win this trophy, played for Albion Rovers *

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

Sir James Stirling, first governor of Western Australia * Heather Suttie, DJ and radio presenter * Stephen Trainer, football player * Neil Walker (Jurist), Professor of Public Law and the Law of Nure and Nations, University of Edinburgh attended Coatbridge High School *

Tony Watt Anthony Paul Watt (born 29 December 1993) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Motherwell on loan from side Dundee United. He was a product of the Airdrie United youth academy before joining Celtic in 2011, ...

, former Celtic FC striker, scored for Celtic in win against

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

in 2012, now plays for

* Stephen Welsh, football player

Twin towns

Coatbridge is twinned with: * St. Denis, France * Campi Bisenzio, Italy * Gatchina, Russia

References

External links

* * Evening Times, 27 October 2008 – Article on Coatbridge's industrial past
What's On In Motherwell
{{Authority control Towns in North Lanarkshire Large burghs