Eastriggs is a small village located in

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the counties of Scotland, historic counties of ...

in the south of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, the village is located around north of the mud and sandbanks of the channel of the River Eden, which extends west into the

Solway Firth The Solway Firth ( gd, Tràchd Romhra) is a firth that forms part of the border between England and Scotland, between Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) and Dumfries and Galloway. It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven in ...

. Travelling by road Eastriggs is to the east of Annan, to the east of

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

, to the west of Gretna, to the west of

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

and to the south of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. The B721 road, runs through Eastriggs and other neighbouring towns and villages connecting to the nearby A75.

History

Situated in the parish of

Dornock Dornock is a small Scottish village in Dumfries and Galloway, situated about west of Eastriggs and east of Annan. Dornock is built on land which is above sea level. Dornock Burn runs east of the village and the railway between Annan and ...

, in the traditional county of

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county. I ...

, Eastriggs appears to have taken its name from the farm, or farm house, known as ''Eastriggs'' that was located in the middle of what was to become the new township.Victorian OS Sheet 6 The only other buildings in the area prior to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

were a group of houses at Lowtherton (now North Road, Lowthertown); a parallel group on what is now the B721 road; an inn and a smithy where East Road joins the B721. Wooden house eastriggs 27o06

The township of Eastriggs was created as a result of the shell and ammunition crisis of June 1915 which prompted the newly founded

Ministry of Munitions The Minister of Munitions was a British government position created during the First World War to oversee and co-ordinate the production and distribution of munitions for the war effort. The position was created in response to the Shell Crisis of ...

to create a new

cordite Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom since 1889 to replace black powder as a military propellant. Like modern gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burni ...

factory.Ministry of Munitions of War, Preface Officially designated '' H.M. Factory Gretna'', the factory was spread over a site stretching from Dornock through Gretna to

Longtown, Cumbria Longtown is a market town in Cumbria, England, just south of the Scottish Border. It has a sheep market which was at the centre of the 2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth crisis. Just south-west of Longtown is Arthuret Church, dedicated to St ...

.Ministry of Munitions of War, Chapter 2: Water Supply This required a huge influx of labour, and 30,000 men and women came from all over the

British Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

to serve as construction and factory workers.Longtown Military Railway The Devil's Porridge Museum, opened in 2014 in the village, commemorates the factory and its workers. Sir

Raymond Unwin Sir Raymond Unwin (2 November 1863 – 29 June 1940) was a prominent and influential English engineer, architect and town planner, with an emphasis on improvements in working class housing. Early years Raymond Unwin was born in Rotherham, Yorks ...

, Chief Housing Architect of the housing branch of the Explosives Department of Ministry of Munitions, and

Courtenay Crickmer Courtenay Melville Crickmer (1879-1971) was an English architect who was closely associated with the development of Letchworth Garden City and Hampstead Garden Suburb. He was born at St Pancras, London, and educated at Highgate School Highga ...

designed wooden housing for the workers in both Eastriggs and Gretna.Stratton & Trinder (2000) As a mark of respect for the immigrant workforce, the streets were named after various cities within the Commonwealth.

Governance

Eastriggs is in the

parliamentary constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale is a constituency of the House of Commons, located in the South of Scotland, within the Dumfries and Galloway, South Lanarkshire and Scottish Borders council areas. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) ...

David Mundell David Gordon Mundell, (born 27 May 1962) is a Scottish politician and solicitor who served as Secretary of State for Scotland from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Scottish Conservative Party, he has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Du ...

, the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

has held the seat since 2005. It is part of the

South Scotland South Scotland is one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament. Nine of the parliament's 73 first past the post constituencies are sub-divisions of the region and it elects seven of the 56 additional-member Members of the S ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

in the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

, being in the constituency of

Oliver Mundell Oliver Gordon Watson Mundell (born 1 December 1989) is a Scottish politician of the Scottish Conservative Party. He has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Dumfriesshire constituency since 2016. He served as Shadow Cabinet ...

of the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

is the MSP. Prior to

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...

, for the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

its residents voted to elect MEP's for the

constituency.

Church of St John the Evangelist

Designed in the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style by C M Crickmer under the direction of Sir Raymond Unwin, the Church of St John the Evangelist was dedicated in 1917, and was presented with a signed altar book the following year by

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

and Queen Mary, who were paying an official visit to

HM Factory, Gretna H.M. Factory, Gretna was the United Kingdom's largest cordite factory in World War I. The government-owned facility was adjacent to the Solway Firth, near Gretna, Dumfries and Galloway. It was built by the Ministry of Munitions in response to ...

Rail transport

The

Glasgow South Western Line The Glasgow South Western Line is a mainline railway in Scotland that runs from Glasgow to Kilmarnock, and then either via Dumfries, or Stranraer via Ayr, with a branch to East Kilbride. History The line was built by several railway compan ...

connecting

Gretna Green Gretna Green is a parish in the southern council area of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, on the Scottish side of the border between Scotland and England, defined by the small river Sark, which flows into the nearby Solway Firth. It was historica ...

and Annan passes through the currently closed

Eastriggs railway station Eastriggs railway station was a railway station in Dumfries and Galloway between Annan and Gretna. Dumfries and Galloway Council are trying to find funding to reopen the station. History The station opened 23 August 1848 as Dornock. Six yea ...

. The station was originally called Dornock, but renamed Eastriggs in 1923. The station closed in 1963. In 2019, Andrew Wood, then chair of the South West Scotland Transport Partnership, said that in response to a public consultation, that he believed that there would be great benefit to the local community in opening up Beattock, Thornhill and Eastriggs stations.

Sport

Eastriggs F.C. are the town's amateur football team. They play in the DSAFL.

References

Notes

* Reprinted one-inch Victorian Ordnance Survey Maps of Scotland (Sheet 6), ''Annan & Whithorn''. 1st edition revised to 1896. Kyle of Lochalsh: Caledonian Maps. . * Ordnance Survey Landranger Map (number 85) - 1:50,000 scale (1.25 inches to 1 mile). . * Ordnance Survey Explorer Map (number 323) - 1:25,000 scale (2.5 inches to 1 mile) * Ministry of Munitions of War, (1918). ''H.M. Factory, Gretna: Description of Plant and Process''. Dumfries: J. Maxwell & Son for His Majesty's Stationery Office. * Stratton, Michael and Trinder, Barrie (2000). ''Twentieth Century Industrial Archaeology''. London: E & FN Spon. . * Video/DVD, (1994). ''The Longtown Military Railway''. Carnforth: Tele Rail.

Gallery

File:Eastriggs_approached_from_the_east.JPG, Eastriggs, ''The Commonwealth Village'', from the east. File:Eastriggs approached from the west.JPG, Eastriggs from the west File:Dornock and Eastriggs war memorial -24m2008.JPG, Dornock and Eastriggs war memorial

External links

Eastriggs Primary School on annan.org.uk
{{authority control Annandale and Eskdale Villages in Dumfries and Galloway