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Shotts

Coordinates: 55°49′23″N 3°48′14″W / 55.823°N 3.804°W / 55.823; -3.804
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For the town in Australia, see Shotts, Western Australia.

Shotts
Metalworker statue in town centre.
Shotts is located in North Lanarkshire
Shotts
Shotts
Location within North Lanarkshire
Population8,630 (2022)[1]
Council area
Lieutenancy area
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townShotts
Postcode districtML7
Dialling code01501
PoliceScotland
FireScottish
AmbulanceScottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament
List of places
UK
Scotland
55°49′23″N 3°48′14″W / 55.823°N 3.804°W / 55.823; -3.804

Shotts is a small town[2] in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located almost halfway between Glasgow (17 miles or 27 kilometres) and Edinburgh (26 miles or 42 kilometres). The town has a population of about 8,840.[3][4] A local story has Shotts being named after the legendary giant highwayman Bertram de Shotts,[5][6] though toponymists give the Anglo-Saxon scēots ("steep slopes") as the real source of the name.[7] Shotts is the home of the world famous Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band, 16-time winners of World Pipe Band Championships.[8]

Industrial History

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Until 1457[9] Shotts was part of the Lanarkshire parish of Bothwell under the designation of "Bothwell-muir".[6][10] Groome related that the pre-reformation church of Bertramshotts is mentioned in a papal bull in 1476.[11] The parish, one of the largest in Lowland Scotland at 10 miles long and 8 miles wide, was sometimes called Shotts[12] but officially it was known as Bertram Shotts.[13]

In 1830s the principal owners of the land were the Duke of Hamilton,[14] Sir Thomas Inglis Cochrane of Murdoston MP, the Right Honourable Dowager Lady Torphichen, and Robert Carrick Buchanan Esquire of Drumpellier.[6]

Shotts was known for its mining and ironworks. 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.[15][16] These were developed when transport by canal and railway became possible.[17] By the late 1800s the ironworks 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.[18] 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.

In 1956 Cummins Engine Company Ltd opened a factory in Shotts, occupying a former textile mill. It was referred to as the Wren's Nest and was their first manufacturing facility outside of the United States, specialising in high-speed diesel engines and a new type of engine used in railway passenger trains.[19] The factory was expanded again in 1980 in a rationalist/ functionalist design by Ahrends, Burton & Koralek so distinctive that it was Category A listed. In its Statement of Special Interest Historic Environment Scotland state that is it is "considered to be one of most significant and important examples of large industrial buildings in later 20th century Britain".[20] The factory closed in 1996 with the loss of 700 jobs.[21]

Between 1964 and 1980 Timpo Toys employed around a thousand people at its factory in Torbothie Road[22] in the production of plastic toys and figurines such as cowboys, indians and soldiers. In the late 70s turnover began to decline and by December 1980 the Factory had closed.[23]

Shotts has also been home to a number of large food producters:

Started in 1897, when Pietro Campopiano moved from Montecasino near Rome to Shotts and opened a cafe, Camp Brothers became of the largest independent ice-cream makers in Scotland. Five generations of the family had run the firm until 2003 when it went into receivership.[24]

In the 1930s the Bell family established a bakery in Shotts and Wishaw along with catering vans. In the 1950s they began developing a wholesale business producing pre-prepared puff pastry, and over the next few decades they became well known for their range of pies, bridies, sausage rolls. The company also acquired Kirriemuir Gingerbread Ltd. By the 1990s the business had outgrown its Dykehead premises and built a second larger baking facility and headquarters on Torbothie Road, the Hawthorn Bakery, which remains open to this day.[25] Bells products can still be found in most supermarkets and they are reported to make 16 million pies a year.[26]

Run by the Davidson brothers Davidsons Animal Feeds also occupy a site on Gray Street behind the former iron works and have been operating since the 1980s[27] making food for cows and sheep. It now claims to be the largest manufacture of feed in Scotland.[28]

Geography

[edit]
Blaeu's map[29] based on Pont's original[30] "Glasgow and the county of Lanark" map c.1596 depicting Schots (Shotts), Falas (Fauldhouse), Torbrecks (Tarbrax), Allentoun (Allanton) etc.

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, and Stane.[31] Shotts parish was originally made up of five villages: Dykehead,[32] Calderside, Stane, Springhill and Torbothie; 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.[33]

Nearby is Kirk o' Shotts transmitting station.

Knowhoble Hill

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Knowhoble Hill, lying beside Teilling Burn, was the site of a dwelling belonging to the Cleland (Clevland) family.

Churches

[edit]
Shotts Calderhead- Erskine Parish Church

The town has a number of churches.

  • Calderhead-Erskine Parish Church, a Church of Scotland congregation.[34]
  • St Patricks Catholic Church
  • Shotts EU Congregational Church
  • Shotts Salvation Army
  • Dykehead Mission Hall
  • Kingdom Hall Of Jehovah's Witnesses

A couple of miles north of Shotts is the Kirk O'Shotts Parish Church (although this covers the community of Salsburgh and other nearby communities).

Sport

[edit]
Hannah Park

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 town.[35] Between 1950[36] and 2022,[37] Shotts hosted its own Highland Games in Hannah Park.[38]

Football Teams

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Notable Footballers from Shotts

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HMP Shotts

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HMP Shotts, a high security prison holding male prisoners with maximum security classification, is located between Shotts and Salsburgh. It opened in 1978 and provided a new source of employment after the closure of the mines.

Transport

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The town is served by Shotts railway station, which is connected on the Shotts Line between Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Schools within Shotts

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

Theatre

[edit]

The Henderson Theatre is a 147-seater black box theatre built in 1982 within the Shotts Community Education Centre.[43] It is named after Archibald James Henderson, a coal miner who later became a member of the Scottish National Theatre Society and the Scottish National Players and formed several local drama groups: the YMCA Players, Shotts Labour Party Drama Team, Shotts Miners' Welfare Players, and Shotts Bertram Players. He was also active in Shotts Community Drama Association.[44]

Music

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Shotts Iron Works

Notable bands

Notable Shotts people

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Grossart Street Salsburgh named after the surgeon and historian William Grossart

References

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  1. ^ "Mid-2020 Population Estimates for Settlements and Localities in Scotland". National Records of Scotland. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  2. ^ Cochrane, Thomas. "Town Status for Shotts | 38 Degrees". you.38degrees.org.uk.
  3. ^ "Key Facts 2016 - Demography". North Lanarkshire Council. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  4. ^ "Estimated population of localities by broad age groups, mid-2012" (PDF). Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  5. ^ Lewis, Samuel (1851). A topographical dictionary of Scotland, comprising the several counties, islands, cities, burgh and market towns, parishes, and principal villages, with historical and statistical descriptions: embellished with engravings of the seals and arms of the different burghs and universities. London: S. Lewis and co. pp. 125–127. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  6. ^ a b c Colvin, Reverend Walter L. (1845). "Parish of Bertram Shotts - Presbytery of Hamilton, Synod of Glasgow and Ayr". The New Statistical Account of Scotland - by the Ministers of the respective Parishes, under the superintendence of a committee of the Society for the benefit of the Sons and Daughters of the Clegy (1st ed.). William Blackwood and Sons. pp. 622 & 629 – via The Statistical Accounts of Scotland 1791-1845.
  7. ^ Mackay, George (2002). Scottish Place Names
  8. ^ "Scotland celebrates 'outstanding' World Pipe Band Championships". BBC News. 15 August 2015.
  9. ^ Pomphrey's directory of Wishaw and handbook of the parish of Cambusnethan: with Shotts supplement (3rd ed.). Wishaw: W. Pomphrey. 1893. p. 16. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  10. ^ "County Maps". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  11. ^ Groome, Francis Hindes (1882). Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland : a survey of Scottish topography, statistical, biographical, and historical (Vol 6 ed.). Edinburgh: T.C. Jack. pp. 349–351. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  12. ^ Bruce, Archibald (1791). The statistical account of Scotland. Drawn up from the communications of the ministers of the different parishes. [electronic resource] (Vol XV ed.). Edinburgh: William Creech. pp. 49–64. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  13. ^ Colvin, Walter L. (1845). The new statistical account of Scotland (Vol 6 ed.). Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons. pp. 624–635. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  14. ^ Dillion, John; Fullartoun, John (1831). Descriptions of the Sheriffdoms of Lanark and Renfrew Compiled about M.DCC.X by William Hamilton. Hutchison and Brookman.
  15. ^ Muir, Augustus (1954). The Story of Shotts. W. Heffer & Sons Ltd.
  16. ^ Bilsland, John (21 March 1952). "The Shotts Iron Company Limited". The Edinburgh Gazette.
  17. ^ Grossart, William (1880). Historic Notices and Domestic History of the Parish of Shotts. from Shotts Parish Coal & Ironworks on the Scottish Mining site. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  18. ^ "Shotts Feature Page on Undiscovered Scotland". www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  19. ^ "CUMMINS CELEBRATES 70-YEAR MILESTONE IN THE U.K". Cummins.com. 21 June 2022.
  20. ^ "SHOTTS, CALDERHEAD ROAD, CENTRELINK 5 (FORMER CUMMINS ENGINE COMPANY LTD), INCLUDING BOILER HOUSE TO NW AND ENTRANCE GATESLB50013". Historic Environment Scotland. 27 September 2024.
  21. ^ "700 Scots jobs go south Shotts closure as Cummins switches work". The Herald. 21 February 1996.
  22. ^ "Toy story: Timpo exhibition opens in Shotts". Daily Record. 4 May 2011.
  23. ^ "SHOTTS - Closed". West Lothian Courier. 26 December 1980. p. 6 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  24. ^ "Independent ice-cream maker goes into receivership". The Herald. 13 June 2003.
  25. ^ "The Story So Far". Bells food group. 27 September 2024.
  26. ^ "Lanarkshire family baker Bells boosts pie making capacity". Glasgow Times. 15 July 2023.
  27. ^ "DAVIDSON BROTHERS (SHOTTS) LIMITED". Companies House. 27 September 2024.
  28. ^ "Our History". Davidsons Feeds. 27 September 2024.
  29. ^ Blaeu, Joan. "Glottiana Praefectura Inferior". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  30. ^ "Glasgow and the county of Lanark - Pont 34". Maps of Scotland. Timothy Pont (16th century). Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  31. ^ "25 inch O.S. Map with zoom and Bing overlay". National Library of Scotland. Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  32. ^ "History of Dykehead in North Lanarkshire | Map and description". www.visionofbritain.org.uk. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  33. ^ "Shotts". VisitLanarkshire. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  34. ^ "Calderhead-Erskine Parish Church". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  35. ^ "Shotts Golf Club". Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  36. ^ "Origin of Shotts Highland Games". The Daily Record. 25 October 2013.
  37. ^ "Fears for future of Highland Games as events called off across Scotland". The National. 27 May 2022.
  38. ^ "Shotts Highland Games".
  39. ^ "Michelle Barr Bio". Dartmouth Sports. 12 May 2010. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  40. ^ "Motherwell 'Ancell Babes' legend passes away". Daily Record. 16 December 2021.
  41. ^ "John Walker". The Military Museums of Calgary Alberta.
  42. ^ "Willie McClure". In the Mad Crowd.
  43. ^ "Theatre opens to honour Archie". Wishaw Press. 9 April 1982. p. 20 – via BritishNewspaperArchive.co.uk.
  44. ^ Russell, Helen (21 April 1978). "A lifetime of theatre and drama for Archie". Wishaw Press. p. 11 – via BritishNewspaperArchive.
  45. ^ Pickering, Peter; Shaw-jones, John. "Mining Review 4th Year No. 12". British Film Industry. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  46. ^ Brian McIver (6 July 2009). "Newsreader Catriona Shearer prepares to make big time bow on Reporting Scotland". Daily Record. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  47. ^ "We Miss You Jim". The Daily Mirror. 17 January 1997. p. 38 – via BritishNewspaperArchive.co.uk.
  48. ^ "Rounding up Shotts news set Jim on the road to the top". Wishaw Press. 8 April 1994. p. 29 – via BritishNewspaperArchive.co.uk.
  49. ^ ""no title"". Wishaw Press. 6 February 1987. p. 8 – via BritishNewspapeArchive.co.uk.
  50. ^ "Edinburgh Review". The Stage. 20 August 1998. p. 24 – via BritishNewspaperArchive.co.uk.
  51. ^ "Theatre Thenew/netherbow theatre, Edinburgh". The Herald. 21 November 2001 – via HeraldandTimesArchive.
  52. ^ "Fringe Reviews". The Scotsman. 11 August 1998. p. 48 – via BritishNewspaperArchive.co.uk.
  53. ^ Mother/Daughter Monologues Volume 4: Urgent Maturity. Lulu Press inc. 2009. pp. 5–7. ISBN 978-0557093106.
  54. ^ "Our History". AG Barr. 27 September 2024.
  55. ^ "Letters to the Editor -'Muscling In'". Scotland on Sunday. 21 March 1999. p. 18.
  56. ^ "Encyclopedia TItanica - Andrew Orr Cunningham". Encyclopedia Titanica. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  57. ^ "Obituary" (PDF). British Medical Journal . 1 April 1911.
  58. ^ "Professor Alexander Fenton - Ethnologist". The Herald. 9 May 2012.
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