Coatbridge (Template:Lang-sco, Template:Lang-gd) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about 10 miles (16 km) east of Glasgowcity centre, set in the central Lowlands. The town, with neighbouring Airdrie, is part of the Greater Glasgow urban area. It was awarded the trophy for the Best Small City in Scotland in September 2009 in the Beautiful Scotland environmental and horticultural competition. The first settlement of the area stretches back to the Stone Age era. Foundations of the town can be traced back to the 12th century when the area was gifted by Royal Charter to the Monks of Newbattle Abbey by Malcolm IV. It was during the last years of the 18th century that the area developed from a loose collection of hamlets into the town of Coatbridge. The town's development and growth has 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 in this period Coatbridge was 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. By the time of the 1920s however coal seams were exhausted and the iron industry in Coatbridge was in rapid terminal decline. After the Great Depression the Gartsherrie ironwork was the last remaining iron works in the town.
Coatbridge shown within 
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