Shotts

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Shotts
Shotts - Metal worker statue.JPG
Metalworker statue in town centre.
Scotland location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Shotts
Location within Scotland
Population8,630 (mid-2020 est.) [1]
Council area
Lieutenancy area
Country Scotland
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Shotts
Postcode district ML7
Police Scotland
Fire Scottish
Ambulance Scottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament
List of places
UK
Scotland
55°49′23″N3°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]

Contents

History

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.

Geography

Blaeu's map based on Pont's original "Glasgow and the county of Lanark" map c.1596 depicting Schots (Shotts), Falas (Fauldhouse), Torbrecks (Tarbrax), Allentoun (Allanton) etc. Blaeu - Atlas of Scotland 1654 - GLOTTIANA PRAEFECTVRA INFERIOR - Shotts.png
Blaeu's map based on Pont's original "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. [21] Shotts parish was originally made up of five villages: Dykehead, [22] 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. [23]

Nearby is Kirk o' Shotts transmitting station.

Knowhoble Hill

Shotts Iron Works Shotts Iron Works - geograph.org.uk - 1533059.jpg
Shotts Iron Works
Shotts Calderhead- Erskine Parish Church Shotts Calderhead- Erskine Parish Church - geograph.org.uk - 1533078.jpg
Shotts Calderhead- Erskine Parish Church

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

Sport

Hannah Park Hannah Park - geograph-465002.jpg
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. [24] On the first Saturday in June each year, Shotts hosts its own Highland Games in Hannah Park. [25]

Football Teams

Notable Footballers from Shotts

HMP Shotts

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

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

Schools within Shotts

Theatre

The Henderson Theatre is a 147 seater black box theatre built in 1982 within the Shotts Community Education Centre. [28] It is named after Archibald James Henderson, a coal miner who later became a member of the Scottish National Theatre Society, the Scottish National Players and formed several local drama groups - the YMCA Players, Shotts Labour Party Drama Team, Shotts Miners' Welfare Players, Shotts Bertram Players and was active in Shotts Community Drama Association. [29]

Music

Notable bands

Notable Shotts people

Grossart Street Salsburgh named after the surgeon and historian William Grossart Grossart Street - geograph.org.uk - 1255016.jpg
Grossart Street Salsburgh named after the surgeon and historian William Grossart

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References

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