Holytown, a town in Bothwell parish, Lanarkshire, 1 mile E by N of Holytown Junction on the Caledonian railway, 5½ miles SSE of Coatbridge, and 11 ESE of Glasgow. Surrounded by a well-worked part of the Lanarkshire mineral-field, and partaking largely in the indnstry and traffic connected with the working of the same, it experienced considerable increase of prosperity from the opening of the Cleland and Midcalder railway (1866), in result partly of through traffic on that line and partly of junction-communication with Motherwell. It includes the suburb of New Stevenston, ½ mile SSW; and has a post office, with money order, savings' bank, and telegraph departments, a branch of the Clydesdale Bank, 3 insurance agencies, gasworks, a quoad sacra parish church, a Free church, and a public school. The quoad sacra parish is in the presbytery of Hamilton and synod of Glasgow and Ayr; its minister's stipend is £120. Pop. of town (1836) 755, (1861) 1135, (1871) 2197, (1881) 2480, of whom 1048 were in New Stevenston; of q. s. parish (1871) 10,099, (1881) 10,449.—Ord. Sur., sh. 31, 1867.

(F.H. Groome, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4); © 2004 Gazetteer for Scotland)