| Coatbridge | |
|---|---|
 The Fountain at Bank Street | |
  Coatbridge Location within North Lanarkshire | |
| Area | 6.818 sq mi (17.66 km2) |
| Population | 43,950 (2022)[3] |
| • Density | 6,038/sq mi (2,331/km2) |
| OS grid reference | NS730651 |
| • Edinburgh | 33 mi (53 km) ENE |
| • London | 341 mi (549 km) SSE |
| Council area | |
| Lieutenancy area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | COATBRIDGE |
| Postcode district | ML5 |
| Dialling code | 01236 |
| Police | Scotland |
| Fire | Scottish |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| UK Parliament | |
| Scottish Parliament | |
Coatbridge (Scots: Cotbrig or Coatbrig, locally /ˌkoʊtˈbrɪdʒ/[4]) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about 8+1⁄2 miles (14 kilometres) east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. Along with neighbouring town Airdrie, Coatbridge forms the area known as the Monklands (population approximately 90,000 including outlying settlements),[5] often considered to be part of the Greater Glasgow 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 into the town of Coatbridge. The town's development and growth have been intimately connected with the technological advances of the Industrial Revolution, 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'[6] 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 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".[7]
- ^ "The Online Scots Dictionary". Archived from the original on 2 July 2013. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
- ^ Scottish Place Names in Scots Scots Language Centre
- ^ "Mid-2020 Population Estimates for Settlements and Localities in Scotland". National Records of Scotland. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
- ^ Wells, John C. (2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.). Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.
- ^ "Locality and settlement population 2016". North Lanarkshire Council. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
- ^ Coatbridge (Images of Scotland) By Helen Moir. The History Press (2001). ISBN 0-7524-2132-8
- ^ Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland (1994) Eds. J & J Keay, HarperCollins Publishers, p.175