History of Craigneuk

The Origin

Craigneuk is a suburb

The Caledonian Centre on Glasgow Road has national store chains such as Argos, Matalan, The Range, B&M, Greggs, and The Food Warehouse. Nearby is a KFC drive-thru restaurant.

of Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The original village of Craigneuk was located in the area where Meadowhead Road meets Glasgow Road. It was originally part of Dalziel parish along with the other rural weaving villages of Flemington, Motherwell and Windmillhill. Craigneuk village was located close to the boundary with Cambusnethan parish.

Mining of coal and iron ore in the 1840s lead to industrialisation and rapid population growth from rural Scotland and large numbers of migrants from Ireland. Nearby, in Cambusnethan parish the industrial communities of Shieldmuir and Berryhill were established on the road leading to Wishaw. In 1920 the joint Burgh of Motherwell and Wishaw was created and later abolished in the 1970s. In the 1930s the burgh council undertook a massive housing development program in the area to the east of Glasgow Road stretching from the village of Craigneuk to Berryhill. The entire area became known as Craigneuk. At the same time much of the area known as the “Berryhill Rows” was demolished to make way for the King George V Playing Fields.

The Ravenscraig Steelworks was established in the area during the 1950s and the main employer until it was closed in 1992 and later demolished. Ravenscraig, a new residential and commercial area is now emerging on this site to the north east of the original village. Wishaw General Hospital was established in 2001 on the site of the original Berryhill School.

The Development

Despite the closure of most of its heavy industry, Craigneuk still retains the Lanarkshire Welding company which supply heavy steel components for the construction business, and heavy goods vehicles can often be seen on John Street transporting heavy fabricated steel items.

Craigneuk has one primary school, the non-denominational Berryhill Primary School. The original Berryhill Primary School was located on the land now occupied by Wishaw General Hospital, but the school was demolished due to mining subsidence and rebuilt in its current location on Hillcrest Avenue in the early 1970s. St. Matthews Roman Catholic Primary School in nearby Wishawhill closed in 2010. Another non denominational school, Craigneuk Public, closed in the 1960s and was used as an annexe of Cambuslang College before being converted to flats. Roman Catholic St Patricks primary, located next to the church, was closed in 1966 due to suffering from subsistence, and then demolished, with pupils going to St Matthews or St Brendans Primary in Muirhouse.

There are no high schools located in Craigneuk but it is in the catchment area for both Dalziel High School in Motherwell and Clyde Valley High School in Overtown. Roman Catholic high schools in the catchment area include Our Lady’s High School in Motherwell and St. Aidan’s High School in Wishaw.

A new campus for Motherwell College was opened in August 2009 at nearby Ravenscraig. Nursery provision is also made at Berryhill Primary School for children of over 21/2 years of age and at Craigneuk Nursery Centre for children aged 0–5 years. The same building houses an adult education centre providing classes in computing, parenting, card making and crafts.

The Caledonian Centre on Glasgow Road has national store chains such as Argos, Matalan, The Range, B&M, Greggs, and The Food Warehouse. Nearby is a KFC drive-thru restaurant.