History of Coatbridge facts for kids
The history of Coatbridge in Scotland is a story of big changes! This town started as a few small villages in the 1700s. It was located on the road between Glasgow and Airdrie. But in the 1800s, Coatbridge became a world leader in making iron. The town grew incredibly fast, changing the land and making the population explode.
Though Coatbridge is a most interesting seat of industry, it is anything but beautiful. Dense clouds of smoke roll over it incessantly, and impart to all the buildings a peculiarly dingy aspect. A coat of black dust overlies everything, and in a few hours the visitor finds his complexion considerably deteriorated by the flakes of soot which fill the air, and settle on his face. To experience Coatbridge it must be visited at night when it presents a most extraordinary spectacle.... From the steeple of the parish church the flames of no fewer than fifty blast furnaces may be seen.... The flames have a positively fascinating effect. Now they shoot far upward, and breaking off short, expire among the smoke; again spreading outward, they curl over the lips of the furnace, and dart through the doorways, as if determined to annihilate the bounds within which they are confined; then they sink low into the crater, and come forth with renewed strength in the shape of great tongues of fire, which sway backward and forward, as if seeking with a fierce eagerness something to devour.
The Scotsman, 1869
Contents
Early History of Coatbridge
The oldest signs of people living in the Coatbridge area are from a crannog in Drumpellier Loch. A crannog was a special house built on an artificial island, usually in a loch or lake. People lived in crannogs from the Iron Age until about the year 1450.
A Bronze Age burial ground was found between Drumpellier and Bargeddie. People also think there are remains of a Roman road near the modern M8 motorway. Roman coins have even been dug up in Coatbridge. The main Celtic tribes living in the Lanarkshire area during Roman times were called the Damnonii and Selgovae.
Coatbridge in the Middle Ages
Before the monks of Newbattle Abbey got the land, Gillpatrice Mackerran owned the Coatbridge area. In 1160, parts of the Caledonian Forest still covered the area. The "Monklands" area got its name because it was given to the monks of Newbattle Abbey in 1162.
The monks were the first to dig for coal in the area. In the 1400s, a visitor saw "black stones" being given to poor people. By the 1500s, these stones were known as "black gold." The monks cleared some of the forest and farmed the land. By the 1500s, they had rented most of their land to farmers. Many local place names, like Whifflet (from 'wheat flats') and Ryefield, come from names the monks used. The paths made by the monks were used as the main road between Edinburgh and Glasgow until the early 1800s. Coatbridge was a stop on the stagecoach route between these two big cities.
Later, different families owned the land. In 1602, Sir Thomas Hamilton took over. Then the Clellands of Monklands owned it in 1633. A few years later, in 1639, James, Marquis of Hamilton, was the owner. Eventually, the College of Glasgow bought Monklands from Anne, Duchess of Hamilton.
In 1641, the parish of Monklands was split into New Monkland (which is now Airdrie) and Old Monkland (which is now Coatbridge). The area called Drumpellier was known as the 'Grange' in a document from 1240.
In 1745, Bonnie Prince Charlie's army was thought to have taken Coatbridge on their way to Edinburgh. This event was called the 'Canter of Coatbridge'. However, this was a mistake! The true story is about 'The Canter of Coltsbridge', which is a suburb in the west of Edinburgh.
Industrial Growth in Coatbridge
By the late 1700s, Coatbridge was just a few small villages. But then, the Monkland Canal was built. This canal was made to carry coal from Coatbridge to Glasgow. This was the start of Coatbridge's huge population boom!
In 1828, James Beaumont Neilson invented the hot blast furnace. This invention meant that Coatbridge's rich ironstone (rock containing iron) could be fully used, thanks to the canal. By the mid-1800s, many hot blast furnaces were working in Coatbridge.
During this time, people could get rich very quickly. One example was the six sons of Alexander Baird, a farmer from Coatbridge. The Baird family started by renting a coalfield. Then, in the late 1820s, they began making iron. They used James Beaumont Neilson's new furnace process. They became very rich, even though they had to pay a large fine for using the invention without permission. It was said they made a profit of £250,000 from using the patent! The Baird family owned many of the iron factories that appeared, giving the town its nickname: 'the Iron Burgh'. Each of the Baird sons was said to have become a millionaire. James Baird built sixteen blast furnaces in Coatbridge between 1830 and 1842.
The Baird family had a strong influence on Coatbridge in the 1800s. They helped plan the center of Coatbridge town. They also gave land for the town hall and for what became Dunbeth Park. The Gartsherrie church was built by the Baird family for themselves and their workers.
At one point, the population of Coatbridge grew by 600%! There was a huge need for workers, especially those without special skills. So, many Irish people came to Scotland and settled in Coatbridge.
There have been coal mines all over the area for centuries. In 1791, there was a terrible accident at Coats Pit when the canal burst, and six miners drowned. A large part of modern-day Coatbridge has tunnels underneath from old coal mines. Some car parks today cannot have big buildings on them because the ground is unstable. Dick's Pond in Carnbroe is a hollow left by an old ironstone mine.
The Clyde Valley plan in 1949 said Coatbridge was "situated over a flooded coalfield." Buildings in Coatbridge were not built as tall as those in Glasgow because of the risk of the ground sinking.
There were serious outbreaks of cholera, a disease, in the town in 1832 and 1848. The fast growth of the population put a strain on all the town's natural resources. The still water in the canal was a place where diseases could spread. People even drank the canal water, and when it was dry, they used the muddy water from the bottom.
In 1885, Coatbridge became a burgh, which means it got its own local government. Local factory owners had avoided this for a while to prevent new laws about air pollution. Special rules were made so the blast furnaces could keep polluting without problems.
Many Irish people started arriving in Coatbridge in the mid-1800s, often because of The Great Hunger (a famine) in Ireland. In 1851, the census showed that 35.8% of Coatbridge's population was born in Ireland. Most of these immigrants were Catholic. As more people moved to Coatbridge, there were sometimes disagreements between different groups.
Coatbridge in the 20th & 21st Century
By 1901, the number of Irish-born people in Coatbridge had dropped to about 15%. However, this was still the highest percentage in any major town in Scotland.
By the end of World War I, only five ironworks were left in Coatbridge. Four of these closed by 1929. In 1934, many people moved to Corby, England, when the Union Plant factory moved there. This was a huge blow to Coatbridge's iron industry and marked the end of major iron production. The decline of shipbuilding on Clydeside in the 1950s meant the demand for iron finally disappeared.
In the 1920s and 1930s, Coatbridge Town Council built new housing areas. These included Cliftonville, Cliftonhall, Rosehall, Barrowfield, and Espieside. But even in 1936, Coatbridge was the most crowded place in Scotland. After World War II, more housing estates were built, like Townhead, Kirkwood, Kirkshaws, Shawhead, Summerlee, and Sikeside. The tall high-rise buildings you see in Coatbridge today were also built during this time.
As recently as 1961, the birth rate in Coatbridge was a third higher than the average for Scotland.
Since the 1970s, there have been many projects to try and improve Coatbridge. Programs like Urban Aid, European Union grants, and Social Inclusion Partnerships have tried to bring new life to the town. In the 1970s, the Tannoy company moved its main office to Coatbridge.
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