North Lanarkshire has a rich and varied industrial and historical heritage.
Drumpellier is a country park situated within North Lanarkshire, to the west of Coatbridge. The park was formerly a private estate. The land was given over to the Burgh of Coatbridge for use as a public park in 1919, and was designated as a country park in 1984 by the then Monklands council, part of Strathclyde Regional Council.
Drumpellier Country Park covers an area of 500 acres and comprises two natural lochs (one of which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)), lowland heath, mixed woodlands and open grassland. The lochs attract a large number of water birds, both resident (such as swans and mallard ducks) and over-wintering migrants.
The loch shores and woodland floor provide an abundance of wild flora. The woodlands are also rich in bird life, small wild animals and many types of fungi.
Flint tools of the Stone Age have been found on the shores of Woodend Loch, and Lochend Loch once boasted a fine example of a Crannog; a dwelling place of iron-age man situated on stilts in open water for security and protection.
During the medieval period, Drumpellier was the farming grange of the Monks of Newbattle Abbey, which gives rise to the name of Monklands, the historical name for the surrounding area. The name Drumpellier itself means 'ridge where the wheat is stored'.