Ordnance Survey large scale Scottish town plans, 1847-1895
The former industrial town of Coatbridge lies in the parish
of Old Monkland, North Lanarkshire, approximately nine miles east of Glasgow
and three miles west of Airdrie. Originally a small settlement that grew up
around a bridge on the Colts estate, Coatbridge or ‘Bridge by the cottages’
rapidly developed into one of Scotland’s largest towns during the years of
industrialisation. Perfectly positioned in the industrial heartland, the town
was conveniently linked to the rest of the country by a complex and extensive
transport network that included the Monkland Canal and the railways. Seven
years prior to this survey, the population of Coatbridge was estimated to be
8,564. This was a significant increase from the 741 people who were said to
live in the town in 1831.
Town Planning
As suggested by the introduction, the town of Coatbridge
largely grew in response to the construction of the Monkland Canal and the
development of the coal and iron industries in the local area. With the influx
of workers to the area, a rapid programme of expansion in the town was
required. Wilson (1857), writing the year before this survey was completed,
noted that property in the area, ‘has, in recent times, risen amazingly in
value; and the town itself has suddenly swollen from the condition of a village
to the character and appearance of a bustling suburb of a commercial city'.
Wilson also recorded that all of the churches in the town had recently been
built.
Trade and
Industry
By the mid-nineteenth century there were around 60 blast
furnaces in the vicinity of Coatbridge. With around 80 in the whole of
Scotland, it is no exaggeration to say that Coatbridge was the hub of the iron
industry. The area around the town was home to some of the largest ironworks in
the country, including Gartsherrie, Summerlee and Calder. According to Smith
(2001), by 1869, the Gartsherrie ironworks alone employed over 3,000 workers
and produced around 100,000 tonnes of pig-iron a year. To achieve this, 1,000 tonnes
of coal were used each day, 95% of which was mined from the local area. Located
at the very centre of the Monkland coalfields, a large proportion of the
population of Coatbridge at the time of survey would have been miners working
in the surrounding area. Whilst the area was dominated by the large ironworks
and coalfields, there was also a great deal of local and retail trade in the
town itself. Many of the shops appear to have offered a wide range of items
that would normally have only been found in the large urban centres. Wilson
(1857) attributed this ‘to the reckless, spendthrift habits of many of the
miners’.
Religious Life
As mentioned previously, the appearance of churches in
Coatbridge coincided with the town’s expansion. At the time of survey there was
a Free church, a United Presbyterian church, an Episcopal chapel and a Roman
Catholic chapel, all of which had been built in recent years. St Patrick’s
church and Coats Parish church were both constructed in the decades following
the first survey of this area.
Institutions
At the time of survey, Coatbridge contained offices of the
Royal Bank of Scotland and the Union Bank, a savings’ bank and four insurance
companies. Also present in the centre of town at this time was a police
commission, a gas-light company and a mechanics’ institution. The educational
needs of the children of Coatbridge were met by several public schools.
Culture and
Society
In many cases there was a strong sense of community in
villages or towns that expanded to accommodate an industrial workforce. This
was often reflected in the societies and clubs that were formed and in the
fairs and other gatherings that were organised each year. In the mid-nineteenth
century Coatbridge had more than its fair share of such organisations, including
a curling club, bowling club, a horticultural society and several friendly
societies. Before the appearance of a public library at the beginning of the
twentieth century, the town was served by a small circulating library.
Groome, Francis H. (ed.), 1894-5. The Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland; a survey of Scottish topography,
statistical, biographical, and historical, 2nd ed., (London: William
Mackenzie)
Mackay, George, 2000. Scottish
Place Names (New Lanark: Lomond)
Smith, Robert, 2001. The
Making of Scotland: a comprehensive guide to the growth of its cities, towns
and villages (Edinburgh: Canongate)
Wilson, Rev. John Marius (ed.), 1857. The Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland or Dictionary of Scottish Topography
(Edinburgh: A. Fullarton & Co.)
Edina Website – Online Statistical Accounts of Scotland - http://edina.ac.uk/statacc/