The lovely town of Arbroath is a treasure trove of sights and sounds that can thrill just about anybody with a heartbeat. As the largest town in Angus, Arbroath is also an indispensable part of Scotland and as such it is revered by its kinsmen. Lying peacefully on the coast of the North Sea, this picturesque wonderland offers visceral pleasure beyond belief to the twenty three thousand people who call Arbroath home.
Arbroath is a modern town in every sense of the word and it grew up, like many towns in the United Kingdom, as a result of the Industrial Revolution. The Arbroath we know now is nothing like what it used to be, though, and there was in fact a time when Arbroath was a small, quaint medieval town. It was in those days that the small hamlet had only one major amenity to offer: The Arbroath Abbey. This would have been in the 1100s and the Abbey was founded by none other than the famous (at the time) King William the Lion. He is in fact buried within the Abbey and visitors can still see the ruins of this imposing sandstone edifice. Sadly, it seems that much of the old remnants in the town share the same fate as the defunct Abbey. This is due to a large battle that took place in the town in 1446. Alexander Lindsey was in charge of Arbroath at the time and he had a falling out with the Bishop of St. Andrews. Lindsey attacked the Bishop's land and many people were harmed in the struggle. This caused Lindsey to be fully excommunicated from the Church and he lost his title as Chief Justiciary. When the monks of the Abbey elected a new Chief Justiciary it caused a full-fledged riot on the streets and many buildings were burned down and many lives were lost. Two such deaths were in fact Lindsey and the new Chief Justiciary!
During the next few decades it was a tumultuous time in Arbroath but, as luck would have it, the Industrial Revolution was just around the corner. What makes Arbroath an anomaly for a Revolution town is the fact that, while many towns were filling up with factories and warehouses, Arbroath dedicated all of its industry toward fishing. In no time Arbroath was one of the most important fishing towns in Scotland and even to this day a large part of the population is involved in fish processing as well as fishing. This isn't to say that Arbroath dedicated itself only to fishing, though. On the contrary, weaving and the loom were both big factors in the city's growth and many factories still stand for that very purpose. Either way, the fact remains that Arbroath is a city filled to the brim with fascinating facts and its natural beauty often masks the deep and often dark side of the town's history. Anybody lucky enough to earn a trip to Scotland would do well to pay a visit to this incredible slice of the past.
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