Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Coatbridge is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about 8.5 miles east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. The town, with neighbouring Airdrie, is part of the Greater Glasgow urban area. While the earliest known settlement of the area dates back to the Stone Age era, the founding of the town can be traced to the 12th century, when a Royal Charter was granted to the monks of Newbattle Abbey by King Malcolm IV. Coatbridge, along with its neighbour Airdrie, forms the area known as the Monklands.

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' 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'.

Economy 21st century Coatbridge is the site of Scotland's inland container base; it was chosen as the site in part due to the proximity of various rail and motorway networks. Makers of PA systems and loudspeakers Tannoy Ltd. are headquartered in the town. Lees of Scotland is a local confectionery and bakery products company and are the manufacturers of the Lees Macaroon bar, and has been operating in Coatbridge since 1931. William Lawson's Scotch Whisky distillery has been located in the town since 1967. It was home to one of the first B&Q Depots, which was closed in 2006 and moved to the new retail park. The oldest family business in Coatbridge and Airdrie is funeral directors Donald McLaren Ltd, which was founded in 1912.

In terms of housing, property prices in Coatbridge have undergone rapid growth since 2000. In 2005, house prices rose by 35%, reportedly the largest such increase in Scotland.