Unwin, Sir Raymond

Unwin, Sir Raymond, 1863-1940, English architect and town planner. He designed the first English garden city near Letchworth, the New Earwick development in Yorkshire, and Hampstead Garden near London. He lectured on housing and city planning at the Univ. of Birmingham (1911-14) and Columbia Univ. (1936-40). His Town Planning in Practice (1909) is a classic work in its field. Unwin was knighted in 1932.

Eastriggs is a village in the south of Dumfries and Galloway. It has a small number of shops, a restaurant, post office, public house, working men's club and a church. Eastriggs Primary School, which feeds to Annan Academy, acts as a communal centre, possessing a small library and providing consultation facilities for a weekly doctor's surgery.

Geography and administration

Eastriggs is built on generally flat land 10–20 metres above sea level. Annan is about 3 miles (4.8 km) and Dornock 1 mile (1.6 km) to the west of Eastriggs, and Gretna is about 5 miles (8 km) to the east. They are each about 1–2 miles (1.6–3.2 km) north of the mud and sandbanks of the channel of the River Eden, which extends west into the Solway Firth.

Annan, Dornock, Eastriggs and Gretna are located on the B721, which runs parallel with, and is linked to the nearby A75. A railway line connecting Gretna and Annan passes through the disused Eastriggs railway station, for which there are plans to provide a smaller replacement once the upgrade from single to double tracks has been completed, enabling simultaneous passenger and freight traffic.

History

Situated in the parish of Dornock, 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. The only other buildings in the area, prior to World War I, being: 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.

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 to create a new cordite-manufacturing facility.

Officially designated H.M. Factory Gretna, the factory was spread over a 9-mile (14.4 km) site stretching from Dornock through Gretna to Longtown, Cumbria. This required a huge influx of labour, and 30,000 men and women came from all over the British Commonwealth to serve as construction and factory workers.

Sir Raymond Unwin, Chief Housing Architect of the housing branch of the Explosives Department of Ministry of Munitions, designed wooden housing for the workers in both Eastriggs and Gretna. As a mark of respect for the immigrant workforce, the streets were named after various cities within the Commonwealth.

Landmarks

Church of St John the Evangelist

Designed in the Gothic style by C M Crickner under the direction of Sir Raymnd 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 and Queen Mary, who were paying an official visit to H.M. Factory, Gretna.

Gallery

References

Notes

Sources

• Reprinted one-inch Victorian Ordnance Survey Maps of Scotland (Sheet 6), Annan & Whithorn. 1st edition revised to 1896. Kyle of Lochalsh: Caledonian Maps. ISBN 1-85349-006-7.
• Ordnance Survey Landranger Map (number 85) - 1:50,000 scale (1.25 inches to 1 mile). ISBN 0-319-22685-9.
• 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. ISBN 0-419-24680-0.
• Video/DVD, (1994). The Longtown Military Railway. Carnforth: Tele Rail.

External links

• Eastriggs Primary School on annan.org.uk
• Eastriggs Primary School on scottishschoolsonline.gov.uk