Gretna is a

new town New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** New (Paul McCartney song), "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * New (EP), ''New'' (EP), ...

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway (; ) is one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, located in the western part of the Southern Uplands. It is bordered by East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, and South Lanarkshire to the north; Scottish Borders to the no ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, originally part of the historic county of

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the hi ...

. It is located close to the A74(M) on the border of Scotland and England and near the mouth of the River Esk.1:50,000 OS map 85 Gretna was built from 1915 and is about 1km south of the older village

Gretna Green Gretna Green is a parish in the southern Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, close to the town of Gretna, Scotland, Gretna, on the Scottish side of the English-Scottish border. It is accessed from the A74( ...

. The town is situated east-south-east of

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...

, east of Annan, north-west of

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

, south-east of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and south of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

History

World War I

HM Factory, Gretna, codenamed ''Moorside'', was a

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

munitions Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of ...

factory built between Gretna Green and the

Solway Firth The Solway Firth is an inlet on the west coast of Great Britain, forming part of the border between England and Scotland. The firth (a Scottish term for an inlet of the sea) divides Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) from Dumfries and Gallow ...

to supply ammunition to British forces during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. This developed into the town of Gretna.

Transport

Rail

In the 1840s, there were three main railway companies building lines around Gretna, and this resulted in three railway stations named "Gretna". The first station called "Gretna" was opened by the Glasgow, Dumfries and Carlisle Railway on 23 August 1843. The station was renamed Gretna Green railway station in April 1852. It closed on 6 December 1965, but a new station was opened by

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

nearby on 20 September 1993. The station is served by Glasgow South Western Line. This station had a new platform added in 2009, to coincide with the redoubling of this section of track. The other two stations were located a short distance to the east of Gretna, over the border in England. Gretna (Caledonian) railway station was opened on 9 September 1847 by the Caledonian Railway on its main line between Carlisle and Glasgow and Edinburgh.Butt, page 110 The station closed on 10 September 1951. The

North British Railway The North British Railway was one of the two biggest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping. It was established in 1844, with the intention of linking with English railways at Berwick. The line opened in 1846, ...

built Gretna (Border Union) railway station next to the Caledonian station, at Gretna junction, on its short link to the Border Union Railway. The station opened on 1 November 1861 and closed during World War One on 9 August 1915.

Roads

A military road was built in 1763 by

General Wade Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal George Wade (1673 – 14 March 1748) was a British Army officer and politician who served in the Nine Years' War, War of the Spanish Succession, Jacobite rising of 1715 and War of the Quadruple Al ...

linking Gretna to

Portpatrick Portpatrick is a village and civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish in the historical county of Wigtownshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located on the west coast of the Rhins of Galloway. The parish is about in length and in br ...

, then the main ferry port to Northern Ireland.Taylor, Christopher (1979). ''The Roads & Tracks of Britain''. London, Toronto and Melbourne: J. M. Dent & sons ltd. , Page 171. This was later to become the route of much of the A75 road to

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; ), also known as The Toon or The Cleyhole, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, on Loch Ryan and the northern side of the isthmus joining the Rhins of Galloway to the mainland. Stranraer is Dumfries ...

. The original route between Gretna and Annan is now the B721 road, and the A75 diverges significantly from it; similarly, the B724 was the original route between Annan and Dumfries.See for instance the re-scaled 1:50,000 Cassini Historical Maps, number 85, for ''Carlisle & Solway Firth'', Revised New Series 1901–1904 () and Popular Edition 1925 (). The main Anglo-Scottish

trunk road A trunk road is a major highway with a specific legal classification in some jurisdictions, notably the United Kingdom, Sweden and formerly Ireland. Trunk roads are planned and managed at the national-level, distinguishing them from non-trunk ro ...

running north-south through Gretna was the A74 road. With the opening of the

M6 motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 motorway, M1 and the western end of t ...

to the south of Carlisle in December 1970,Chatsworth, Table 7.3, pages 100–123. most of the A74 in Scotland was upgraded to motorway, these upgraded sections were renamed the A74(M). The ''Cumberland Gap'' was the remaining of non-upgraded dual-carriageway A74 between the northern terminus of the M6 at Carlisle. In 2008, the six remaining miles were upgraded to a three-lane motorway.

Sport

Gretna was the official home of Gretna Football Club, who played in the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

during the 2007–2008 season. A reformed club, Gretna F.C. 2008 is based in Gretna. AFC Gretna are the town's amateur football team who like to give local players a chance. The club, based in the nearby Springfield, played in the DSAFL. However, they now play in the Carlisle City Sunday League system. Border Towns United are another amateur football team in the town, formed in 2022. The club also play in the Carlisle City Sunday League system in the same league as AFC Gretna. They play at the Graitney.

Gretna Green

Nearby

, is traditionally associated with eloping English couples because of the more liberal marriage provisions in

Scots law Scots law () is the List of country legal systems, legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing Civil law (legal system), civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different histori ...

compared to

English law English law is the common law list of national legal systems, legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly English criminal law, criminal law and Civil law (common law), civil law, each branch having its own Courts of England and Wales, ...

. Because of this, "Gretna" has become a term for a place for quick, easy marriages.

Shopping

Gretna Gateway Outlet Village is a shopping centre on the east side of Gretna. In 2021, this was renamed Caledonia Park.

Media

Television

Local television news programmes that cover the town are: *'' BBC Reporting Scotland'' broadcasting from

. *'' ITV News Lookaround'' which broadcast from

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

. *'' BBC Look North'' which broadcasts from Newcastle.

Radio

Radio stations are served by: *

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish national radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 N ...

on 94.7 FM * BBC Radio Cumbria on 95.6 FM * Greatest Hits Radio Dumfries & Galloway on 103.0 FM

Newspapers

The local newspaper is '' The Dumfries Courier'' which publishes on Fridays.

References

Notes

Sources

* * Chatsworth, George (1984). ''A history of British motorways''. London: Thomas Telford Limited. . * Haldane, A.R.B. (1997). ''The Drove Roads of Scotland''. Edinburgh: Berlinn. . * Routledge, Gordon L. (1999).''Gretna’s Secret War''. * 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) * https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-46913345.amp

External links

Gretna Registration OfficeCivil Parish Historical Tax Rolls for the Civil Parish of Gretna, Dumfriesshire, (Volumes 1-5)
{{authority control Towns in Dumfries and Galloway Parishes in Dumfries and Galloway