Description

Raymond Unwin; C M Crickmer, (site architect), 1917. Brick-built neo-classical villa with flanking wings; multi-paned sash windows, broad-eaved piended slate roofs. House: 2 storeys, 5 bays, shallow segmental-arched ground floor windows, shallow stepped forward central bay, with moulded doorway with flat canopied hood; end stacks. Solar panels. Wings are set forward from house and have 2 bays to front: axial stacks. Later extension to rear.

Statement of Interest

This symmetrical building has prominent tall, chimney stacks and is a significant addition to the streetscape of Gretna. The building is of red brick - an unusual residential building material in Scotland - and has some decorative features in the contrasting brick detailing around the windows and the flanking single-storey wings. The top storey windows are set close to the roof line and this, together with the deep eaves also add to the architectural interest of the building. Gretna was designed along Garden City principles, where houses are often set back from the pavement with a private garden, as here. The building sits across the road from the former hospital and was the doctor's home when Gretna was first established.

Built in 1916-18, the town of Gretna was constructed to provide housing and community facilities for the workers of the nearby munitions factory. The government was concerned during the course of the First World War that there was a lack of ammunition for the British troops, and it commissioned a large munitions factory to be built. This stretched for 9 miles along the banks of the Solway and produced Cordite explosives. Thousands of workers were brought in from around Britain and Ireland to work at the factory and temporary timber and more permanent brick housing was erected to accommodate the builders of the factory and its workers. The township was designed along Garden City lines, with green spaces surrounding the houses, with a wide, central street with shops and community facilities and other, curving streets. The chief designer, Raymond Unwin was appointed by the government, with Courtnay M Crickmer acting as the resident architect. As well as housing, the workers and their families required buildings to provide for leisure and the township included several churches, a dance hall, a school and a cinema. After the war, the factory was dismantled and only a few remnants of it remain.

Raymond Unwin (1863-1940) was one of the most important figures in early 20th century British town planning and was the overseeing architect for the development of Gretna and the neighbouring town of Eastriggs. He advocated high standards of design for social housing and informality of planning. He worked predominantly in England and is perhaps best known for his planning of Letchworth Garden City and Hampstead Garden Suburb.

C M Crickmer, (1879-1971) was a London based architect who was the architect in resident for the designing of Gretna township. He also worked with Unwin at Letchworth and Hampstead Garden Suburb.

Notes and References updated, 2012.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17803601

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

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  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
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  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
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  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)