Motherwell (district)

L Motherwell (Scottish Gaelic: Tobar na Màthar, Scots: Mitherwall or Murwall) was a local government district in the Strathclyde region of Scotland from 1975 to 1996, lying to the south-east of the regional capital Glasgow. History The district was created in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which established a two-tier structure of local government across mainland Scotland comprising upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Motherwell was one of nineteen districts created within the region of Strathclyde. The district covered parts of three former districts from the historic county of Lanarkshire, all of which were abolished at the same time: Motherwell and Wishaw Burgh Sixth District (except the Bothwell and Uddingston South, and Uddingston North electoral divisions, which went to Hamilton) Seventh District (except the Shottskirk electoral division, which went to Monklands) The district was named after its largest town. The western boundary was the River Clyde and most of the northern boundary was the North Calder Water. As well as Motherwell itself, the district also included the settlements of Bellshill, Chapelhall, Holytown, Newarthill, Newmains and Viewpark, with a rural hinterland centred around the small town of Shotts extending east to the regional border with West Lothian. It had the eighth-largest population of the 53 Scottish districts of the era. The district was abolished in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 which replaced regions and districts with unitary council areas. North Lanarkshire council area was formed covering the abolished districts of Motherwell, Monklands, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, and the Chryston area of Strathkelvin district.