Shotts is a small town in

North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the north-east of the Glasgow City council area and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns, and villages. It also borders East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk (co ...

, Scotland. It is located almost halfway between

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

() and

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

(). The town has a population of about 8,840. A local story has Shotts being named after the legendary giant highwayman

Bertram de Shotts Bertram de Shotts is known locally as a legendary giant that roamed the then village of Shotts, Scotland in the 15th century. Shotts was then a dreary moorland place on the Great Road of the Shire. The road was an important route for tradesmen c ...

, though

toponymists Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for a proper nam ...

give the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

("steep slopes") as the real source of the name. Shotts is the home of the world famous

Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band The Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band is a grade 1 pipe band from Shotts, in the North Lanarkshire region of Scotland. The band has won the World Pipe Band Championships sixteen times. The current pipe major is Emmett Conway. Histo ...

, 16-time winners of

World Pipe Band Championships The World Pipe Band Championships is a pipe band competition held in Glasgow, Scotland. Overview The World Pipe Band Championships have been staged since 1947, although the Grade 1 Pipe Band Competition winners at the annual Cowal Highland Gat ...

Industrial history

Until 1457 Shotts was part of the

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark (; ), is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland. The county is no l ...

parish of Bothwell under the designation of "Bothwell-muir". Groome related that the pre-reformation church of Bertramshotts is mentioned in a

papal bull A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden Seal (emblem), seal (''bulla (seal), bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal ...

in 1476. The parish, one of the largest in

Lowland Scotland The Lowlands ( or , ; , ) is a cultural and historical region of Scotland. The region is characterised by its relatively flat or gently rolling terrain as opposed to the mountainous landscapes of the Scottish Highlands. This area includes ci ...

at 10 miles long and 8 miles wide, was sometimes called Shotts but officially it was known as Bertram Shotts. In 1830s the principal owners of the land were the

Duke of Hamilton Duke of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in April 1643. It is the senior dukedom in that peerage (except for the Duke of Rothesay, Dukedom of Rothesay held by the sovereign's eldest son), and as such its holder is the pr ...

, Sir Thomas Inglis Cochrane of Murdoston MP, the Right Honourable Dowager Lady Torphichen, and Robert Carrick Buchanan Esquire of Drumpellier. Shotts was known for its

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

and

ironworks An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''. Ironworks succeeded bloome ...

. 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. These were developed when transport by canal and railway became possible. By the late 1800s the

had grown to the extent that the village slogan was "Shotts lights the world", as

gas lamp Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a fuel gas such as methane, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, coal gas (town gas) or natural gas. The light is produced either directly by ...

standards made here were exported throughout the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

and beyond. In the years leading up to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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. The factory was expanded again in 1980 in a rationalist/ functionalist design by Ahrends, Burton & Koralek so distinctive that it was

Category A listed Category, plural categories, may refer to: General uses *Classification, the general act of allocating things to classes/categories Philosophy * Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) * Category (Kant) * Categories (Peirce) * Category ( ...

. In its Statement of Special Interest

Historic Environment Scotland Historic Environment Scotland (HES) () is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the merger of government agency Historic Sc ...

state that is it is ''"considered to be one of most significant and important examples of large industrial buildings in later 20th century Britain".'' The factory closed in 1996 with the loss of 700 jobs. Between 1964 and 1980

Timpo Timpo Toys Ltd. was a British toy company created in 1938 by Salomon "Sally" Gawrylovitz (born in Frankfurt 1907, died September 28, 2000, in Zug (city), Zug, Switzerland), also known as Ally Gee. History A History of the Jews in Germany, Je ...

Toys employed around a thousand people at its factory in Torbothie Road 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. 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. 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 Puff pastry, also known as , is a light, flaky pastry, its base dough () composed of wheat flour and water. Butter or other solid fat () is then layered into the dough. The dough is repeatedly rolled and folded, rested, re-rolled and folded, encas ...

, and over the next few decades they became well known for their range of

pies A pie is a Baking, baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweetness, sweet or Savoury taste, savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts (pecan pie) ...

bridie A bridie or Forfar bridie is a Scottish meat pasty that originates from Forfar, Scotland. History and preparation Bridies are said "to have been 'invented' by a Forfar baker in the 1850s".Gow, Rosalie. ''Modern Ways with Traditional Scotti ...

sausage roll A sausage roll is a savoury dish, popular in current and former Commonwealth nations, consisting of sausage meat wrapped in puff pastry. Although variations are known throughout Europe and in other regions, the sausage roll is most closely assoc ...

s. 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. Bells products can still be found in most supermarkets and they are reported to make 16 million pies a year. 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 making food for cows and sheep. It now claims to be the largest manufacture of feed in Scotland.

Geography

Shotts is south of the M8 in North Lanarkshire between

Wishaw Wishaw (; ; ) is a large town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, on the edge of the River Clyde, Clyde Valley, south-east of Glasgow city centre. The town is part of the Motherwell and Wishaw (UK Parliament constituency), Motherwell and Wishaw c ...

and Harthill. Historically the Shotts Iron Works were between Calderhead, source of the

South Calder Water The South Calder Water, known locally as "The Cawder", or simply "Calder", is a river in Scotland. It runs west from the high plateau between Shotts and Fauldhouse to its joining with the much larger River Clyde. The high plateau is also the w ...

, and Stane. Shotts parish was originally made up of five villages: Dykehead, Calderside, Stane, Springhill and Torbothie; all growing up around the old coach roads between

and

that expanded and merged during the 18th and 19th centuries following the growth in mining. Nearby is Kirk o' Shotts transmitting station.

Knowhoble Hill

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

Churches

Shotts Calderhead- Erskine Parish Church - geograph

The town has a number of churches. * Calderhead-Erskine Parish Church, a Church of Scotland congregation. * 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 Salsburgh is a semi-rural former coal mining village in greenbelt farmland within the district of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The closest major towns to the village are Shotts, southeast, and Airdrie northwest. Salsburgh is perhaps best k ...

and other nearby communities).

Sport

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. Between 1950 and 2022, Shotts hosted its own Highland Games in Hannah Park.

Football Teams

* Shotts Bon Accord * Dykehead F.C.

Notable Footballers from Shotts

Michelle Barr Michelle Barr (born 19 October 1978) is a Scottish football coach and former player who is the head coach of Old Dominion Monarchs college soccer team. She formerly played in the Scottish Women's Premier League for both Celtic and Rangers. She h ...

, Scotland women's international footballer. *

Hugh Dallas Hugh Dallas Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 26 October 1957) is a Scottish former association football, football Referee (association football), referee. He officiated at two FIFA World Cup tournaments, in 1998 FIFA World Cup, 1998 and 20 ...

(referee) * Jim McCluskey (referee) * John McSeveney * William McSeveney, footballer and Captain of Motherwell Football Club - Ancell Babes * John Walker *

William Watson William, Willie, Bill or Billy Watson may refer to: Arts * William Watson (songwriter) (1794–1840), English concert hall singer and songwriter * William Watson (poet) (1858–1935), English poet * William J. Watson (author) (1865-1948), Scott ...

* Willie Orr * Alex King *

Sam Booth Samuel Stewart Booth (20 April 1926 – 25 September 1968) is a Scottish former professional association football, footballer who played as a wing half. Career Born in Shotts, Booth played for Derry City F.C., Derry City, Exeter City F.C., Exete ...

* James McKee * Philip Watson * Cameron Duncan * Willie Hannah * Archibald Hastie *

Hugh May Hugh May (1621 – 21 February 1684) was an English architect in the period after the Restoration of King Charles II. He worked in the era which fell between the first introduction of Palladianism into England by Inigo Jones, and the full flo ...

* John May * John Waugh * Jocky Whiteford * Willie Telfer * Patrick Slavin * Davie Russell * Charlie Rennox * John Prentice *

Jack Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

* Hugh Goldie *Wiliam McClure * John Mulhall * Ricki Lamie *Bobby Hunter

HMP Shotts

HMP Shotts, a high security prison holding male prisoners with maximum security classification, is located between Shotts and

. 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 Shotts railway station is a railway station serving Shotts in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located on the Shotts Line, 20½ miles (33 km) east of towards . It was opened by the Caledonian Railway in 1869 as one of the principa ...

, which is connected on the

Shotts Line The Shotts Line is a suburban railway line in Scotland linking and via . It is one of the four rail links between the two cities. Between Glasgow Central and , the line is shared with the West Coast Main Line (WCML), before branching off to ...

between Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Schools within Shotts

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

Theatre

The Henderson Theatre is a 147-seater black box theatre built in 1982 within the Shotts Community Education Centre. 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 Scottish National Players, founded in Glasgow c.1920 by figures such as playwright John Brandane, was a non-professional touring theatre company which had the aim to pioneer the establishment of a Scottish National Theatre along the lines of the ...

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.

Music

Notable bands * Octopus (Scottish band) *

Notable Shotts people

* Mick McGahey, Scottish miners' leader *

Matthew Baillie Matthew Baillie FRS (27 October 1761 – 23 September 1823) was a British physician and pathologist, credited with first identifying transposition of the great vessels (TGV) and situs inversus. Early life and education Matthew Baillie was born ...

, Anatomist *William Grossart, Esq., Surgeon who wrote "Historic Notices and Domestic History of the Parish of Shotts" in 1880. *

Gavin Hamilton Gavin Hamilton may refer to: * Gavin Hamilton (archbishop of St Andrews) (died 1571), archbishop of St Andrews * Gavin Hamilton (bishop of Galloway) (1561–1612), bishop of Galloway * Gavin Hamilton (artist) (1723–1798), Scottish artist * Ga ...

, Neoclassical history painter * John Millar, Philosopher *

Margaret Herbison Margaret McCrorie Herbison (11 March 1907 – 29 December 1996) was a Scottish Labour politician who was Minister of Social Security from 1964 to 1967. Early life Herbison was born on 11 March 1907 in Shotts, Lanarkshire to Maria Jane McCr ...

, Minister of Pensions and National Insurance from 1964 to 1967 *

Andrew Keir Andrew Keir (né Buggy, 3 April 19265 October 1997) was a Scottish actor who appeared in a number of films made by Hammer Film Productions in the 1960s. He was also active in television, and especially in the theatre, in a professional career ...

, Actor * George MacBeth Writer * Col Donald James MacKintosh

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

, Soldier and Physician *

Catriona Shearer Catriona Shearer is a Scottish broadcast journalist and producer, who was a presenter on BBC Scotland's national news programme ''Reporting Scotland''. Early life Shearer grew up in Shotts, North Lanarkshire. Her father was a photographer an ...

, Newsreader, Journalist and Television Presenter. * Jim Rodger OBE, also known as 'Scoop' or 'the Jolly' - former pit worker and famous for being a football journalist and “Scottish footballs ‘Mr Fixit’”. Renowned for facilitating player transfers and helping managers into jobs. Described by Alex Ferguson as his “mentor”. *Margaret McSeveney Writer, Playwright * Janet Hamilton a nineteenth-century Scottish

Poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

. * James Meek,

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week in Edinburgh every year. After chairing the Ass ...

in 1795 (1774–1810) * Allan Lindsay, Triple jumper at the 1948 Olympics * Karen Whitefield, Member of the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

between 1999 and 2011 * William Chambers, Milliner *Adam Brown athlete also known as 'Lewis Lyon' featured on the original Iron Brew label 1901 *

Highwayman *

Hugh Duffy Hugh Duffy (November 26, 1866 – October 19, 1954) was an American outfielder and manager in Major League Baseball. He was a player or player-manager for the Chicago White Stockings, Chicago Pirates, Boston Reds, Boston Beaneaters, Milwau ...

Scottish

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

and professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer * James Marley Member of Parliament * Tom Duncan Artist * William Clevland Royal Navy Commander * Thomas Torrance Missionary * Sir Ian George Wilson Hill Physician *Colonel Donald James MacKintosh * David Young discus thrower * Robert Martin Watt architect *Andrew Orr Cunningham sea steward and survivor of the Titanic *Dr Thomas Reid M.D, LL.D - Ophthalmologist *Professor Alexander Fenton - Ethnologist

References

External links

*
Shotts Bon Accord FC

Shotts History Group

A brief history of Shotts

Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band

Video footage of Shotts railway station.

Video footage of the Fortissat or Covenanters' Stone.
{{authority control Villages in North Lanarkshire Mining communities in Scotland Parishes in Lanarkshire