55°49′44″N3°55′19″W / 55.829°N 3.922°W /55.829; -3.922
| Monklands | |
|---|---|
| District | |
 Municipal Buildings, Dunbeth Road,Coatbridge | |
 Monklands district within Scotland | |
| Population | |
| • 1991[1] | 102,379 |
| History | |
| • Created | 16 May 1975 |
| • Abolished | 31 March 1996 |
| • Succeeded by | (Part of)North Lanarkshire |
| Status | District |
| Government | Monklands District Council |
| • HQ | Coatbridge |
 | |
Monklands (Bad nam Manach inScottish Gaelic) was, between 1975 and 1996, one of nineteenlocal governmentdistricts in theStrathclyderegion ofScotland.[2]
The district was created in 1975 under theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which established a two-tier structure of local government across mainland Scotland comprising upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Monklands was one of nineteen districts created within the region ofStrathclyde. The district covered parts of four former districts from thehistoric county ofLanarkshire, all of which were abolished at the same time:[3]
The name of "Monklands" originated in the grant of lands in the area to the monks of theCistercian Abbey ofNewbattle,Midlothian in 1162. From the seventeenth century the area was formed into the twoparishes of New Monkland and Old Monkland.[4]
Apart from the two burghs of Airdrie and Coatbridge, the area included the following settlements:
The district was abolished in 1996 under theLocal Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 which replaced regions and districts withunitary council areas.North Lanarkshire council area was formed covering the abolished districts of Monklands,Motherwell,Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, and theChryston area ofStrathkelvin district.[5]
The area is still informally referred to as Monklands. The hospital in Airdrie isUniversity Hospital Monklands (previously Monklands District General Hospital), andfootball matches between the two senior teams in the area,Airdrieonians andAlbion Rovers, are often referred to asMonklands Derbies.
The first election to the district council was held in 1974, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 16 May 1975. Throughout the council's existence theLabour party held a majority of the seats:[6]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour | 1975–1996 | |
The district council's headquarters were atCoatbridge Municipal Buildings at the corner of Dunbeth Street and Kildonan Street inCoatbridge, the largest town. The building had been built in 1894 as Coatbridge Town Hall. After the council's abolition the building served as additional offices for North Lanarkshire Council, which based itself instead atMotherwell Civic Centre.[7][8]
Local government areas ofScotland, in use 1975 to 1996 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Borders |  | |
| Central | ||
| Dumfries and Galloway | ||
| Fife | ||
| Grampian | ||
| Highland | ||
| Lothian | ||
| Strathclyde | ||
| Tayside | ||
| Island areas1 | ||