Ancient history The area of what is now Wishaw once lay on important
Roman roads that ran through the areas of the
Clyde (
Latin –
Cluta) and
South Calder Water. In fact, the current Main Street is based on a road built by the
Romans. Another such road ran close to Wishaw House. In the 1960s, a pagan religious figurine was found in the woods near Netherton, showing that there was some form of settlement near Wishaw before the
Christianisation of Scotland, which occurred between 400 and 600 AD.
Medieval era A small church was established by a bend (
camas/cambo- in
Cumbric) on the banks of the
Clyde near what is now
Netherton in the eighth century. There is however dispute to whether this was named after (or established by)
Neithon of Alt Clut or perhaps
St Ninian. Nonetheless, the area became known as
Cambusnethan or
Kamnethan from then on. The site of the original church remains as a ruined
burial ground, including an impressive
mausoleum to
Lord Belhaven. The churchyard is notably round, similar to those found in Wales and Ireland, suggesting it could have been built on an earlier Celtic temple. Excavated from this area was the Cambusnethan Stone, a large Christian tablet created by the
Strathclyde Britons. In the 12th century, a Norman lord constructed a large manor near Gowkthrapple, as well as another small church. This was the beginning of the parish of Cambusnethan, which lasted up until 1930. In the 13th century, administrative control of the parish was ceded to
Glasgow from the previous
Kelso Abbey. Small
fortresses and
tower houses were built; after the
Scottish Wars of Independence, the
barony was transferred by
Robert the Bruce to local lords, however the title lay abandoned by the 20th century. The
Somervilles of Cambusnethan were the principal aristocrats in the area, but sold their land to
Sir James Steuart, later
Lord Provost of Edinburgh, in 1653. Wishaw House is thought to date back to the
15th century and appears on
Pont's map of Scotland from 1583, as
Wisha. The settlements of
Greenhead,
Camnethan,
Peddyr and
Overtoun of Camnethan also appear. The ruined church on Kirk Road, mere yards away from the current Cambusnethan church, is thought to date back to the 1600s or earlier.
18th to 20th century In the 18th century, agriculture in the area consisted mainly of growing oats although some wheat and pear trees were cultivated. Members of the
Reformed Presbyterian Church took up the favourable terms of the proprietor to enable them to establish a congregation in Wishaw in 1792. The village itself was laid out in 1794, named
Cambusnethan and later renamed
Wishawtown. In 1801, the population of Wishaw was about 400 and that of the whole parish only 1,972. In the 1830s, Lord Belhaven set up a
distillery in Wishaw. Other nineteenth century industries included coal mining, iron and steel making, foundry work, railway wagon building and fire-clay making. Wishaw grew dramatically in the 1830s, with railways and
gasworks coming to the town; many
collieries opening during this decade. In 1840, the Old Parish Church was built. By the time the
Caledonian Railway's main line came through Wishaw in 1848, it was a major mining centre fueling an important part of Scotland's industrial heartland. There were also factories for needle-work and
tambouring, and confectionery. In 1848, Polish composer
Frédéric Chopin visited Wishaw. Chopin was entertained at Wishaw house and played there for the family, the Hamiltons of Belhaven (the event has been commemorated by local residents in the past). In the mid-19th century, the Coltness estate in the town was developed under ownership of the Houldsworths family, following the building of the Coltness Iron Company in 1837. The Jacobean style Coltness House was demolished in 1970, along with much of the historic estate, although the Category B-listed Gate House on Main Street and Kenilworth Avenue survives and was used as a public toilet until the early 21st century. On 4 September 1855, the town was incorporated with the villages of
Coltness and
Stewarton to form the
Burgh of Wishaw, with a population of approximately 5,000. Four years later, in 1859,
St.Ignatius Parish Church was established and the church built on Young Street, where it remains to this day. In 1882, Groome recorded that there were five schools in Wishaw, as well as others in nearby villages. In 1905, the Category B-listed Clyde Chambers were built as tenement flats, shops and offices on Main Street. During the mid-20th century, Wishaw had five cinemas which have all since closed. These included the Classic Cinema at 57 Kirk Road which opened in 1920, closed in 1985 and was Category B-listed in 2001. The largest cinema in Wishaw was next door; the Greens Playhouse opened in 1940, with seating for 2,982 patrons. It closed in the 1970s, becoming a bingo club but then falling into disuse before being Category B-listed in 2004. In the mid-to-late 20th century, deindustrialisation caused many factories and businesses to cease operation. The Coltness Iron company wound up in 1950.
21st century The town has partially recovered from the loss of industry, such as
steelworks and coal mines which closed down in the 1980s and 1990s; unemployment remains though, as other factories including the Courtauld textile factory closed in 2000. At the
2014 Scottish independence referendum, Wishaw along with its neighbour Motherwell, voted 52% in favour of
Scottish independence; the high level of support in the area may have been due to the higher than average Roman Catholic population compared to the rest of Scotland, along with higher than average levels of poverty, alongside lower than average levels of education and low incomes. Since
2015, Wishaw has voted for the
Scottish National Party (SNP) at both
general elections and local
Scottish elections, replacing
Labour as the dominant party of the town. Wishaw also has had a Scottish
Conservative councillor since 2017. At the 2024 general election, Labour gained the Motherwell and Wishaw seat, after nine years of being held by the SNP. North Lanarkshire Council identified that the majority of the biggest employers in the town are supermarkets; exceptions include
Royal Mail, that has its main Scottish distribution centre at Shieldmuir, and the
National Health Service, as a result of
University Hospital Wishaw. There are many service industry businesses located in the town's industrial areas, though none with more than a few hundred employees.
Town centre Main Street is the predominant shopping area in Wishaw, partly made up of major national stores and also features small independent retailers. The
YMCA have a community centre in Wishaw, having moved to new premises from a purpose-built building that opened in 1915. The old YMCA building is Grade B-listed, but currently unused since becoming unsafe, although plans have been proposed for its restoration. Wishaw also has the
Caledonian Centre, a shopping complex in the northern suburb of Craigneuk, which consists of other national store chains. The first stage of the modern town centre regeneration programme was completed in 2004, with a new car park being constructed between the local library and health centre. Some unused land between Station Road and Alexander Street (the railway station and sports centre) was converted into a
park and ride facility, as part of this programme; this has led to a decrease in railway parking and traffic next to the station. The facility was later increased in size. In late 2011, Kitchener Street was converted from a small neighbourhood to a main road, routing traffic away from the Main Street to Kenilworth Avenue, where a new roundabout was built. Lammermore Terrace, which was previously one-way, was converted into a two-way street. In 2014 work on a new modern housing estate called Ravenwood began on the site of the old Lammermoor Primary school, which was renamed Calderbridge and moved to a new building 600m away. The neighbourhood was finished in 2016 and now consists of around 50 houses. ==Geography and climate==