Eastriggs

Eastriggs
Eastriggs
	Eastriggs Location within Dumfries and Galloway
Population	1,770 (2020)
OS grid reference	NY247662
Council area	Dumfries and Galloway;
Lieutenancy area	Dumfries;
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	ANNAN
Postcode district	DG12
Dialling code	01461
Police	Scotland
Fire	Scottish
Ambulance	Scottish
UK Parliament	Dumfries and Galloway;
Scottish Parliament	Dumfriesshire;
	List of places UK Scotland 54°59′06″N 3°10′34″W / 54.985°N 3.176°W

Eastriggs is a small village located in

sandbanks of the channel of the River Eden, which extends west into the Solway Firth

.

Travelling by road Eastriggs is 3 miles (5 kilometres) to the east of Annan, 19 miles (31 kilometres) to the east of Dumfries, 5 miles (8 kilometres) to the west of Gretna, 17.7 miles (28 kilometres) to the west of Carlisle and 83.1 miles (134 kilometres) to the south of Edinburgh.

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

History

Situated in the parish of

smithy where East Road joins the B721.^[2]

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 factory.^[3]

Officially designated H.M. Factory Gretna, the factory was spread over a 9-mile (14 km) site stretching from Dornock through Gretna to Longtown, Cumbria.^[4] 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.^[5] The Devil's Porridge Museum, opened in 2014 in the village, commemorates the factory and its workers.^[6]^[7]

Sir Raymond Unwin, Chief Housing Architect of the housing branch of the Explosives Department of Ministry of Munitions, and Courtenay Crickmer^[8] designed wooden housing for the workers in both Eastriggs and Gretna.^[9] As a mark of respect for the immigrant workforce, the streets were named after various cities within the Commonwealth.^[5]

Governance

Eastriggs is in the

parliamentary constituency of Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, David Mundell, the Conservative Party member of parliament has held the seat since 2005.^[10]

It is part of the

region in the Scottish Parliament, being in the constituency of Dumfriesshire. Oliver Mundell of the Conservatives is the MSP

.

Prior to

MEP's for the Scotland

constituency.

Church of St John the Evangelist

Designed in the

King George V and Queen Mary, who were paying an official visit to HM Factory, Gretna

.

Rail transport

The Glasgow South Western Line connecting Carlisle, Gretna Green and Annan passes through the currently closed Eastriggs railway station. 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.^[12]