Arbroath

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Arbroath
Obair Bhrothaig (Gaelic)
Aiberbrothock (Scots)
OS grid reference:	NO645415
Population:	22,785 (2001 Census)[1]
Council area:	Angus
Constituent country:	Scotland
Sovereign state:	United Kingdom
Police force:	Tayside Police
Lieutenancy area:	Angus
Former county:	Angus
Post town:	ARBROATH
Postal:	DD11
Telephone:	01241
Scottish Parliament:	Angus
UK Parliament:	Angus
European Parliament:	Scotland

Arbroath or Aberbrothock (Scottish Gaelic: Obair Bhrothaig which translates literally as at the mouth of the Brothock^[2]) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus in Scotland, and has a population of approximately 23,000 people.^[1] It lies on the North Sea coast, around 17 miles north-east of Dundee and 51 miles south of Aberdeen.

Its history begins, like nearby Dundee, with the Picts in the Iron Age, and remained a small village until 1178, when King William the Lion founded an Abbey, which was completed in 1233. During the medieval period, the Abbey fell into disuse and eventually disrepair, with the lead from the roof rumoured to have been used in the manufacture of bullets for the civil wars during the reign of King James VI. During the industrial revolution the jute industry caused Arbroath to expand just as it had done in Dundee. A new harbour was built in 1839 and by the 1900s, Arbroath had become one of the larger fishing ports in Scotland and continues to be known as the home of the Arbroath Smokie.^[3]

The town is internationally famous as the home of the Declaration of Arbroath, the statement of Scottish independence signed by the nobility in the 14th century. The town's ancient ruined abbey is central to the story of the declaration and remains a key Scottish tourist attraction today. Arbroath was the birthplace of postal reformist James Chalmers^[4] and David Dunbar Buick, founder of Buick and inventor of the overhead valve engine.^[5] Arbroath is also well known both at home and overseas as home to 45 Commando of the Royal Marines.^[6]

Contents 1 History 2 Geography 3 Demographics 4 Places of worship 5 Government and politics 5.1 Local Government 5.2 Westminster and Holyrood 6 Economy 6.1 History 6.2 Military 6.3 Housing 6.4 Tourism 7 Transport 8 Culture 8.1 Arbroath Smokies 8.2 Sport 9 Education 9.1 Secondary schools 9.2 Further education 10 Notable Arbroathians 11 References 12 See also 13 External links

[edit] History

Arbroath, like nearby Dundee, was first settled 3500 years ago by the Picts, and was (and to a lesser extent, still is) known by the name Aberbrothock, a reference to the Brothock Burn which runs through the down. The modern name Arbroath became prevalent in the mid-nineteenth century as a colloquialism of the original name.

The first modern development in Arbroath would be the Abbey, founded by King William the Lion in 1178 for monks of the Tironensian order from Kelso Abbey. It received consecration in 1197 with a dedication to Saint Thomas Becket. It was the King's only personal foundation, and he was buried within its precincts in 1214. The Abbey was not finally completed until 1233. The Abbey relatively quickly fell into disuse and eventual disrepair after its dissolution at the Reformation, the lead from the roof rumoured to have been used in the British Civil War and the stonework plundered for housebuilding throughout the town. The ruins were a popular site for travellers during the 17th and 18th centuries, and finally in 1815 the remains were taken into the care of the State for preservation. The remains are now administered by Historic Scotland.^[2]

On 6 April 1320 the Scottish Parliament met at Arbroath Abbey and addressed to the Pope the Declaration of Arbroath, drafted by the Abbot of the time Bernard de Linton. This document detailed the services which their "lord and sovereign" Robert the Bruce had rendered to Scotland, and affirmed in eloquent terms the independence of the Scots. In 1950 the Stone of Destiny was stolen by Scottish Nationalists from Westminster Abbey and in 1951 the Stone was found within the grounds of Arbroath Abbey.^[7]

During the industrial revolution, Arbroath's economy expanded and the population of the town greatly expanded, with new housing having to be constructed to house the influx of workers. Arbroath became moderately well known for jute and sailcloth production, with 34 mills employing 1400 looms and producing over one million yards of osnaburg cloth and 450,000 yards of sailcloth in 1875. Arbroath is believed to be the source of the sails used on the Cutty Sark.^[8] In 1849, the mills in Arbroath employed anywhere between 3700 and 5000 people depending on the size of workforce required on any given day. Arbroath was also prominent in the manufacture of shoes and lawnmowers, local firm Alexander Shanks supplied mowers to the Old Course at St Andrews and the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.^[3][9][10]

Arbroath today is mostly known for its connection with the Scottish fishing industry, after the original harbours, dating from the 14th and 18th centuries were replaced in 1839 with a larger harbour, the local council tried to find fishermen who would be interested in migrating to Arbroath in order to take advantage of the new facilities offered. The town council contacted fishermen in nearby Auchmithie and further afield, including Shetland. The fishing industry grew and at its peak years between 1900 and 1980, around 40 whitefish and pelagic vessels worked from Arbroath, with hundreds of men employed directly as fishermen, hundreds more employed ashore to service the fishing vessels and to process the fish. Quota cuts and decommissioning took its toll on the fishing industry throughout Scotland from the 1980s to present. Today, Arbroath remains a designated whitefish landing port, and although no fish auction takes place, the fishmarket remains open and is used for landing shellfish.^[11] There is now only one large fishing vessel operating regularly from Arbroath, and a further three Arbroath owned vessels operating from Aberdeen and ports further north. The fish processing sector remains one of the largest employers in the town however, but fish for processing now comes from Aberdeen, Peterhead and occasionally from Iceland, Norway and Ireland.^[3][12][13]

[edit] Geography

Arbroath ( 56°33′31″N, 02°34′58″W) is located on the North Sea coast in eastern Scotland 17 miles (25 km) northeast of Dundee, within the Angus region. Geologically, Arbroath sits predominantly on Old Red Sandstone. Lower-lying parts of the town were below sea level during and immediately after the last ice age.^[14]

Arbroath is located 98 miles (158 km) northeast of Glasgow, 50 miles (80 km) southwest of Aberdeen and 77 miles (124 km) from Edinburgh. The outlying areas of Carmyllie, Friockheim, Colliston and Inverkeillor are considered part of Arbroath with regards to council representation, and together with Carnoustie, share the 01241 telephone area code with Arbroath.

[edit] Demographics

Residents of Arbroath are called Arbroathians, or Reid Lichties. A reference to the red sandstone of the area and the Bell Rock lighthouse which is closey associated with the town. Arbroath has one of the highest rates of unemployment in Scotland - around 4.0% of the population are claiming unemployment-related social welfare benefits.^[15]

At the 2001 census, the population of Arbroath was 22,785. Approximately 88.9% were born in Scotland, while 97.7% were born in the United Kingdom as a whole. Migrant workers represented 2.14% of the population,^[1] although this percentage is likely to increase over time due to a significant influx of workers to the Arbroath-Dundee region from the Czech Republic and Slovenia over the past 10 years and from Poland following that country's accession to the European Union in 2004. A report in The Times in January 2007 claimed 1,500 Bulgarians had also moved to the Dundee region and more would follow.^[16]

Most Arbroath residents are between 16 and 65, with 19.8% under 16, 59.5% between 16 and 65 with those over 65 making up 20.7% of the population. There are 47.1% males to 52.9% females.^[1]

[edit] Places of worship

Arbroath has several churches, serving almost all Christian denominations with Church of Scotland, Roman Catholic and Episcopal churches in the town. There are no synagogues, mosques or temples and Jewish, Muslim and Hindu worshippers travel to Dundee in order to worship.

[edit] Government and politics

Arbroath was made a royal burgh in 1178 by King William the Lion at the same time as the Abbey was established. The burgh of regality permitted the monks to hold a weekly market, dispense basic justice and to establish a harbour. In 1559, the town's burgh of regality was reconfirmed in 1559 by King James VI of Scotland. A provost and a town council were appointed and it was at this point Aberbrothock became a fully fledged royal burgh.^[3]

Arbroath was traditionally controlled by Arbroath Town Council from the time of King James VI through to 1975, when Arbroath (and the county of Angus) were amalgamated with the counties of Perthshire and Dundee City into Tayside, under the control of Tayside Regional Council. Angus, together with Dundee City and Perth & Kinross were re-established following reorganisation under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994.^[17]

[edit] Local Government

Arbroath is a constituent town of Angus Council, one of 32 council areas of Scotland. Angus Council represents Arbroath and comprises 29 elected councillors each representing one ward. Arbroath comprises seven individual wards and seven councillors are elected directly by the residents of that ward using a first past the post system. The council is controlled by the Scottish National Party who have the most councillors (17) and have a clear majority. The Liberal Democrats (three councillors), the Scottish Conservatives (two councillors) and the Labour Party (one councillor) are also represented on the council together with six independent candidates.^[18]

Following the 2006 boundary changes the seven wards representing Arbroath and the surrounding area will be amalgamated into two large wards (Arbroath West & Letham and Arbroath East & Lunan, each returning four councillors, elected through the Single Transferable Vote system. This system will be introduced for the 2007 local government elections which are due to be held on May 3, 2007.^[19]

[edit] Westminster and Holyrood

For elections to the House of Commons, Arbroath forms part of the Angus constituency, presently represented by Michael Weir (SNP) who held the seat with a small majority of 1200 votes (4.2%) at the 2005 General Election.^[20] In the Scottish Parliament, Arbroath forms part of the Angus Scottish Parliamentary constituency, represented by Andrew Welsh (SNP). Arbroath also forms part of the North East Scotland electoral region and is represented by seven members of the Scottish Parliament who are elected through a Single Transferable Vote system from votes placed in the individual constituencies which make up the North East Scotland electoral region. The representatives for the Angus Westminster and Angus Scottish Parliament constituencies are elected through a first past the post system.^[21]

Peter Fraser was previously the local member of parliament representing the former Angus South (later Angus East constituency which became the Angus Constituency following devolution in 1997). Peter Fraser was made a life peer and appointed Lord Advocate by Margaret Thatcher in 1989. Peter Fraser was responsible for preparing much of the prosecution case against the Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi.^[22] Mr Fraser was recently arrested over an alleged "air-rage" incident at Dundee airport.

Arbroath has no twin town however Arbroath Academy has twinned with Friedensburg-Oberschule, a secondary school in Germany.^[23] The first exchange taking place in 1987, on the 750th Anniversary of the foundation of Berlin. As part of this celebration, the mayor of Berlin paid for the schools trip.

[edit] Economy

Arbroath has no sizeable employers outside of the public sector, with most workers commuting to Dundee.^[24] Arbroath itself has an economically active population of 9,192 people, with the public sector (21.8%) the largest employer of Arbroath residents closely followed by the manufacturing (16%) and retail sector (15.4%). The fishing industry accounts for 0.4% (fewer than 50 people) although the processing sector is considered separately under manufacturing and the figure of 50 people relates directly to the catching and support sectors.^[25][26]

[edit] History

Arbroath's prospects originally revolved around the harbour. The original harbour was constructed and maintained by the abbot within the terms of an agreement between the burgesses and John Gedy, the abbot in 1394. This gave way to a more commodious port in 1725, which in turn was enlarged and improved in 1839.^[3] Arbroath became a major port for the coastal shipping trade and in 1846, there were 89 Arbroath registered vessels, totalling 9100 gross tons. In the same year, 599 vessels docked at Arbroath, 56 from foreign ports (mainly Baltic ports) with the remaining 543 employed on the coastal trade. Bark, flax, hemp, hides, oak, and fir timber, and guano for manure, groceries from London, and numerous articles of Baltic produce were imported via Arbroath, with manufactured goods (mainly sailcloth) exported via Arbroath.^[10]

Arbroath was a major manufacturing centre but towards the 1970s manufacturing went into decline and major employers such as Keith & Blackman closing in 1985 and Giddings and Lewis - Fraser wound down their operations from around the same period until the eventual closure and demolition of the entire plant to make way for a Safeway (now Morrisons) supermarket with the remainder of the site possibly to become a Tesco supermarket.^[27][28] Alps Electric Co. were a large employer in Arbroath from 1990 to 2001, employing 180 staff. Following the closure of the plant, all 180 staff were made redundant^[29]

Arbroath had historically supplied the historical Bell Rock Lighthouse with lighthouse keepers, and until 1955, the Signal Tower in Ladyloan employed staff to keep the lighthouse supplied with provisions and fuel for the lamp and generators, as well as housing the lighthouse keepers families. In 1955, staffing was transferred to Leith, home of the Northern Lighthouse Board however keepers were still drawn from Arbroath.^[30]

The largest employer in Arbroath remain the public sector, with the Department of Work and Pensions having two offices in the town, and NHS Tayside operating Arbroath Infirmary. Angus Council and council owned Tayside Contracts have several depots in the town.^[31]

The fishing industry was also played an important part in Arbroath, in 1799, Arbroath had a very small fishing industry and with the large harbour available, the town council courted fishermen in nearby Auchmithie, with little success. In 1826, with only three fishing boats having taken up Arbroath Town Council's offer, the council looked further afield, and courted fisher families in Inverbervie and as far north as the Shetland Isles and by 1846, there was a thriving fishery for cod and haddock off the coast, and a plentiful shellfish fishery.^[3][10] The fishery went into decline throughout Scotland has seen a large decline over the past ten years, but the numbers employed in the catching sector in the Aberdeen region (of which Arbroath is a constituent) have remained reasonably static, most crew on the larger vessels tended to be from Aberdeen, Peterhead, Fraserburgh and Buckie.^[12]

[edit] Military

Arbroath is home to 45 Commando of the Royal Marines, who have been based at the Condor Barracks since 1971. The Condor Barracks were originally built in 1940 and commissioned as RNAS Arbroath / HMS Condor, a Royal Naval Air Station with Blackburn Buccaneers stationed at the base until 1971. The Royal Marines moved to Arbroath in 1971 and remain a major contributor to the local economy, in addition to the Marines stationed at Arbroath, with around 600 residents employed by the Ministry of Defence.^[26] The Royal Marines from 45 Commando are presently engaged on operations in Afghanistan and have deployed in support of operations in Iraq and the Falklands War.^[32] In 2004, there was speculation that the Condor Barracks would be transferred to the Army as a replacement for Fort George and that the Condor Barracks would become a permanent base for a battalion of The Royal Regiment of Scotland. These plans never went beyond the planning stage and in 2005 it was confirmed the Royal Marines would remain based at the Condor Barracks.^[33]

[edit] Housing

House Prices in Arbroath are very close to the national average and in April-June 2006 were £99 below the national average, local prices averaging £113,646 compared to the national average of £113,745.^[34] The average house price across Angus has risen by 14.9% in the past year (to November 2006) and now stands at £124,451.^[35] Angus Council suggests the recent upgrading of the A92 between Arbroath and Dundee to dual carriageway has lured Dundonians to Arbroath and this may be driving up house prices.^[36]

[edit] Tourism

Tourism plays a vital part in the Arbroath economy, with Arbroath Abbey attracting over 14,000 visitors each year.^[37] Major attractions during the summer months include the Seafront Spectacular, which includes an airshow, and the Seafest which is themed around Arbroath's maritime heritage, both events drawing crowds in the order of tens of thousands. There is also a re-enactment of the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath (the declaration of Scottish independence) and in past years there has been a mock Viking invasion culminating in the burning of a longship.^[38]

Arbroath is home to Kerr's Miniature Railway, the oldest miniature railway in Scotland, which has been operating since 1935 and which at its height, in 1955, saw 60,000 visitors. Today, the railway is operated as a hobby by a group of volunteers, instead of a commercial basis as it was in 1955, and remains popular with locals, tourists and railway enthusiasts.^[39]

[edit] Transport

Arbroath is served by the A92 road which connects the city to Dundee and Fife to the south west, and Stonehaven in the north east. The A92 joins the A90 north of Stonehaven and leads to Aberdeen further north. The A92 is dual carriageway from the southern outskirts of Arbroath to the northern outskirts of Dundee, the A92 proceeds through Dundee before crossing the Tay estuary into Fife via a toll bridge, although tolls are only charged for southbound traffic heading into Fife. The A90 can also be reached at Dundee heading both north (to Aberdeen) and south (to Perth and Edinburgh).

Arbroath has an extensive public bus transport system, with the Arbroath Bus Station serving as the town's main terminus. Strathtay Scottish and G&N Wishart (part of Travel Dundee) operate most of the local services, with most rural services operated by Strathtay Scottish. Arbroath has one railway station, a short walk from the bus station, with local trains to the east coast of Scotland, Perth and Glasgow whilst intercity services operate to Newcastle, York and London in England. Passenger services at Arbroath are provided by First ScotRail, Virgin Cross Country and Great North Eastern Railway. Dundee has a regional airport which offers commercial flights to London City Airport five times a day.^[40] The airport has a 1,400-metre runway capable of serving small aircraft and is located 3 kilometres west of the city centre, adjacent to the Tay river. The nearest major international airports are in Edinburgh and Aberdeen. Arbroath has a sizeable airfield at the Royal Marines military base on the western outskirts of the town, but this remains a dedicated military airfield.

[edit] Culture

Arbroath is home to the Webster Theatre, well known in Scotland as a venue which has featured Harry Lauder, Jimmy Tarbuck,^[41] Charlie Landsborough, The Illegal Eagles, and the Drifters, and was the first venue the Alexander Brothers, a Scottish easy listening act, performed in as a professional duo.^[42] The Webster Theatre is undergoing £2.8 million redevelopment and is due to officially reopen in January 2008.^[43]

There are several amateur theatre and musical companies based in and around Arbroath, the most well known being the Angus Minstrels group, the last group in Britain to regularly perform blackface. In 2005, following pressure from Angus Council, who feared legal action, the show began performing without any makeup, and the group changed its name from 'The Angus Black and White Minstrels' to simply 'The Angus Minstrels'. The decision to stop performing the show in blackface received widespread press coverage in the UK.^[44][45]

Since 1947, a pageant commemorating the signing of the Declaration has been held within the roofless remains of the abbey. This is run by the local Arbroath Abbey Pageant Society, and re-enacts the story of the signing.^[46]

The author Sir Walter Scott is famous for the Waverley series of novels, including Rob Roy and Ivanhoe. Scott is known to have visited Arbroath three times, and his personal favourite in the series, The Antiquary (1816) features affectionately fictionalised versions of both Arbroath ("Fairport") and Auchmithie ("Musselcrag").^[47]

Arbroath has one museum, the former Bell Rock Lighthouse Signal Tower. In 1807 Arbroath became the base of operations for the building of the Bell Rock Lighthouse. The shore station for the lighthouse - the Bell Rock Signal Tower - was completed in 1813 and acted as a lifeline for the keepers offshore. The Signal Tower Museum was opened in 1974 as a visitor centre detailing the history of the lighthouse and the town of Arbroath.^[30]

[edit] Arbroath Smokies

Arbroath Smokies, for which Arbroath is well known nationally and internationally are made solely in Arbroath following the award of Protected Geographical Indication in 2004, which limits Arbroath Smokie production to within 4 km of Arbroath.

Smokies are made from haddock using traditional methods dating back to the late 1800s where the fish are first salted overnight to preserve them, before being left tied in pairs to dry. Next, the dried fish are hung in a special barrel containing a hardwood fire and covered with a lid. After around an hour of smoking, the fish are golden brown and ready to eat.^[48]

The preparation of Smokies remains a cottage industry in Arbroath, centred almost exclusively at the harbour area, though one larger processor, RR Spink, supplies Arbroath Smokies to several UK supermarket chains, and to HM Queen Elizabeth II for which the company holds a Royal Warrant.^[49][50]

[edit] Sport

Arbroath has one professional football team, Arbroath, presently playing in the 3rd division of the Scottish Football League. Arbroath play their home matches at Gayfield Park, which holds the record for being the closest stadium to the sea in European football (around five metres from the high tide line).^[51] Arbroath F.C. holds the world record for the largest winning margin in a senior football match, 36-0, in their Scottish Cup match against Bon Accord (a scratch team from Aberdeen) on September 12 1885.^[52] Further goals were disallowed either for offside, or because it was not clear whether the ball had gone into the goal.^[53] For this reason the AFC supporters' club is called the 36-0 club in memory of this event. Arbroath F.C. are nicknamed The Red Lichties due to the red light that used to guide fishing boats back from the North Sea to the harbour (Lichtie being a Scots word for light). Arbroath and the surrounding areas are home to several amateur senior and junior teams competing in the various amateur leagues.

Arbroath also has a cricket club, Rugby union club and several bowls clubs, with the present (2006) World and British singles champion Darren Burnett a native of Arbroath. Darren also works as a police officer with Tayside Police.^[54]

[edit] Education

Arbroath has one further education college, Angus College which is based in the former Arbroath High School buildings. There are two secondary schools and 11 primary schools. One primary school is Roman Catholic, the remaining schools are non-denominational. There are 2260 pupils in primary school education in Arbroath with a further 1720 pupils in secondary education.^[55]

[edit] Secondary schools

Arbroath has two secondary schools, Arbroath High School and Arbroath Academy. The High School (the older of the two), was originally a grammar school and the Academy a comprehensive. The Academy is located near the Mayfield area and the High School near Keptie Pond. Both schools are well regarded with exam results along reading and writing performance indicators above the national average.^[56]

Noted former pupils of Arbroath High School include Michael Forsyth, former Scottish Secretary^[57] and Andrew Webster, a professional footballer who is on loan at Rangers from Wigan Athletic football club.

[edit] Further education

Angus College, a further education college, has around 8500 students, with 80% of passing the course for which they enrol. There are around 1700 full time students with part-time students making up the majority of the student population. Arbroath is not a student town and there are no student residences in the town. The student population is made up solely of local students living within commuting distance of the college. Angus College offers courses up to Higher National Diploma (HND) level in a variety of trade related disciplines such as agriculture, business, management, tourism, communication, languages, construction, joinery, engineering, arts, crafts and Design, hospitality and catering, hairdressing, care, and has a sizeable number of programs relating to computing, information technology and office administration. A large number of the student body are mature students taking evening classes related to computing, digital photography and various software packages.^[58]

School leavers going onto study at university have the choice of several local institutions - the University of Dundee, the University of Abertay Dundee, the University of St Andrews and the University of Aberdeen all within around one hour's travel from Arbroath.

[edit] Notable Arbroathians

• David Dunbar Buick, founder of the Buick Motor Company, and inventor of the enameled bathtub and the overhead valve engine.^[5]
• James Chalmers, inventor of the adhesive postage stamp and promoter of the uniform postal rate.^[4]
• Dominik Diamond, TV presenter.^[59]
• John Ritchie Findlay, (1824-1898) proprietor of the The Scotsman newspaper and philanthropist, born in Arbroath on October 21, 1824.^[60]
• Sir Harry Lauder, lived and worked in Arbroath until the age of 14.^[61]
• James Lyle Mackay, later first Earl of Inchcape, 1852-1932, was born and educated in Arbroath. Chairman of the P&O Line and the British India Company.^[28]
• Charles Milne, born Arbroath 1829, Great Grandfather of legendary singer Judy Garland and Great Great Grandfather of Liza Minnelli^[62]
• Morris Pert, percussionist who has recorded with many major musical artists, including Phil Collins.^[63]
• Alexander Shanks, (1801-1845) inventor of the "Caledonia" lawn mower during 1850s, lived in Arbroath.^[9]
• Andy Stewart, musician and entertainer. Although born in Glasgow, he moved to Arbroath as a boy, lived in Glasgow, then retired to Arbroath.^[64]

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Arbirlot
• St Vigeans
• Carmyllie

• Arbroath Smokie
• Bell Rock Lighthouse
• Signal Tower Museum
• Arbroath Abbey
• Kerr's Miniature Railway
• Declaration of Arbroath
• Scottish independence
• Aber and Inver as place-name elements

[edit] External links

• The Shoppie (Arbroath's Website)
• The Arbroath Herald Arbroath's Weekly Newspaper
• BBC History entry
• A Glimpse of Old Arbroath from Angus Council
• Arbroath Rugby Football Club
• Arbroath Football Club
• An Arbroath Timeline
• Arbroath Seafront Spectacular
• Arbroath SeaFest

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

Coordinates: 56°33′31″N, 02°34′58″W