Gretna
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Location within Dumfries and Galloway | |
Population | 3,110 (2022) [1] |
OS grid reference | NY320671 |
Council area | |
Lieutenancy area | |
Country | Scotland |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | GRETNA |
Postcode district | DG16 |
Dialling code | 01461 |
Police | Scotland |
Fire | Scottish |
Ambulance | Scottish |
UK Parliament | |
Scottish Parliament | |
Gretna (Scottish Gaelic : Greatna) is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, originally part of the historic county of Dumfriesshire. [2] It is located close to the A74(M) on the border of Scotland and England and near the mouth of the River Esk. [3]
The town is situated 22 mi (35 km) east-south-east of Dumfries, 8 mi (13 km) east of Annan, 10 mi (16 km) north-west of Carlisle, 88 mi (142 km) south-east of Glasgow and 89.5 mi (144 km) south of Edinburgh.
Gretna means "(place at the) gravelly hill", from Old English greot "grit" (in the dative form greoten (which is where the -n comes from) and hoh "hill-spur".
The Lochmaben Stone is a megalith standing in a field, nearly 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the Sark mouth on the Solway Firth, three hundred yards or so above high water mark on the farm of Old Graitney. It was one of the traditionally recognised meeting places on the England / Scotland border.
Prior to the Acts of Union 1707 of the Parliaments of England and Scotland, Gretna was a customs post for collecting taxes on cattle crossing the border between the two kingdoms. The Gretna customs post was established in 1612. [4] A drove road was constructed between Gretna and Annan in 1619, possibly to facilitate the transportation of cattle from Wigtownshire, Kirkcudbrightshire and Dumfriesshire to markets in England. [5]
Gretna's principal claim to fame arose in 1753 when an Act of Parliament, Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act , was passed in England, which provided that consent to the marriage had to be given by the parents if both parties were not at least 21 years old. This Act did not apply in Scotland, which allowed boys to marry at 14 and girls at 12, with or without parental consent. The Act also required procedures that gave notice of an impending marriage to the community. As a result, many elopers fled England, and the first Scottish village they reached was often Gretna. The act was repealed in 1849.
HM Factory, Gretna, codenamed Moorside, was a cordite munitions factory built between Gretna Green and the Solway Firth to supply ammunition to British forces during World War I. This developed into the town of Gretna.
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. [6] It closed on 6 December 1965, but a new station was opened by British Rail nearby on 20 September 1993. The station is served by Glasgow South Western Line. [6] 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. [6] The station closed on 10 September 1951. [6] The North British Railway 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. [6]
A military road was built in 1763 by General Wade linking Gretna to Portpatrick, then the main ferry port to Northern Ireland. [7] This was later to become the route of much of the A75 road to Stranraer. 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. [8]
The main Anglo-Scottish trunk road running north-south through Gretna was the A74 road. With the opening of the M6 motorway to the south of Carlisle in December 1970, [9] most of the A74 in Scotland was upgraded to motorway, these upgraded sections were renamed the A74(M). The Cumberland Gap was the remaining six miles (ten kilometres) 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.
Gretna was the official home of Gretna Football Club, who played in the Scottish Premier League 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.
Nearby Gretna Green, is traditionally associated with eloping English couples because of the more liberal marriage provisions in Scots law compared to English law. Because of this, "Gretna" has become a term for a place for quick, easy marriages. [10]
Gretna Gateway Outlet Village is a shopping centre on the east side of Gretna. In 2021, this was renamed Caledonia Park.
Local television news programmes that cover the town are:
Radio stations are served by:
The local newspaper is The Dumfries Courier which publishes on Fridays. [11]
The Solway Firth is an inlet on the west coast of Great Britain, forming part of the border between England and Scotland. The "firth" divides Cumbria from Dumfries and Galloway. It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven in Cumbria, to the Mull of Galloway, on the western end of Dumfries and Galloway. The Isle of Man is also very near to the firth. The firth comprises part of the Irish Sea.
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 north-east; the English county of Cumbria, the Solway Firth, and the Irish Sea to the south, and the North Channel to the west. The administrative centre and largest settlement is the town of Dumfries. The second largest town is Stranraer, located 76 miles (122 km) to the west of Dumfries on the North Channel coast.
Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county.
The A75 is a primary trunk road in Scotland, linking Stranraer and its ferry ports at Cairnryan with the A74(M) at Gretna, close to the border with England and the M6 motorway.
The A74, also known historically as the Glasgow to Carlisle Road, is a formerly major road in the United Kingdom, linking Glasgow in Scotland to Carlisle in North West England, passing through Clydesdale, Annandale and the Southern Uplands. It formed part of the longer route between Glasgow and London. A road has existed in this area since Roman Britain, and it was considered one of the most important roads in Scotland, being used as a regular mail service route.
The Southern Uplands are the southernmost and least populous of mainland Scotland's three major geographic areas. The term is used both to describe the geographical region and to collectively denote the various ranges of hills and mountains within this region. An overwhelmingly rural and agricultural region, the Southern Uplands are partly forested and contain many areas of open moorland - the hill names in the area are congruent with these characteristics.
Annan is a town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. Historically part of Dumfriesshire, its public buildings include Annan Academy, of which the writer Thomas Carlyle was a pupil, and a Georgian building now known as "Bridge House". Annan also features a Historic Resources Centre. In Port Street, some of the windows remain blocked up to avoid paying the window tax.
The Glasgow, Dumfries and Carlisle Railway was a railway company in Scotland, which constructed the line from near Cumnock to Gretna Junction, forming the route from Glasgow to Carlisle via Dumfries, in association with other lines. Its promoters hoped it would form the only railway between central Scotland and England, but it lost out to rival companies.
The Glasgow South Western Line is a mainline railway in Scotland that runs from Glasgow to Kilmarnock, and then either Carlisle via Dumfries, or Stranraer via Ayr, with a branch to East Kilbride.
Gretna Green is a railway station on the Glasgow South Western Line, which runs between Carlisle and Glasgow Central via Kilmarnock. The station, situated 9 miles 58 chains (16 km) north-west of Carlisle, serves the town of Gretna and village of Gretna Green in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by ScotRail.
Annan is a railway station on the Glasgow South Western Line, which runs between Carlisle and Glasgow Central via Kilmarnock. The station, situated 17 miles 51 chains (28 km) north-west of Carlisle, serves the town of Annan in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by ScotRail.
Eastriggs is a small village located in Dumfries and Galloway in the south of Scotland, the village is located around 2 mi (3.2 km) north of the mud and sandbanks of the channel of the River Eden, which extends west into the Solway Firth.
Dornock is a small Scottish village in Dumfries and Galloway, situated about 1 mile (1.6 km) west of Eastriggs and 2 miles (3 km) east of Annan. Dornock is built on land which is 10 to 20 metres above sea level. Dornock Burn runs east of the village and the railway between Annan and Gretna is north of the village. The mud and sand banks of the Solway Firth are less than one mile away to the south.
Cummertrees is a coastal village and civil parish of Annandale in the historical county of Dumfriesshire in Dumfries and Galloway. It lies about 1 mile (1.6 km) inland, on the Pow Water to the northwest of Powfoot, 12 miles (19 km) from Dumfries and 3 miles (5 km) from Annan.
The Solway Junction Railway was built by an independent railway company to shorten the route from ironstone mines in Cumberland to ironworks in Lanarkshire and Ayrshire.
Annan Shawhill was a station on the Solway Junction Railway at Annan in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The branch line ran between a junction with the Caledonian Railway Main Line at Kirtlebridge, across the Glasgow South Western Line, over the Solway Viaduct into Cumberland, England. The station opened for passenger services in 1870. Passenger services were withdrawn in the early 1930s when the cost of maintaining the Solway Viaduct was deemed too high to sustain. Although the line to England was removed, the Scottish part of the branch to Annan Shawhill remained opened for freight until it was finally closed in the 1950s.
Kirkpatrick-Fleming is a village and civil parish in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland.
The Kirtle Water is a river in Dumfries and Galloway in southern Scotland. It rises on the southern slopes of Haggy Hill where its headwaters are impounded to form Winterhope Reservoir. Below the dam it flows in a generally southerly direction passing Waterbeck and Eaglesfield to the village of Kirtlebridge along which stretch it is closely followed both by the A74(M) motorway and the mainline railway between Carlisle and Glasgow. From Kirtlebridge it turns southeastwards to flow by Kirkpatrick-Fleming and on, to the west of Gretna, to empty into the estuary of the Border Esk at the eastern limit of the Solway Firth.
Kirtlebridge railway station was a station which served the rural area around Kirtlebridge and Eaglesfield, north of Annan in Dumfriesshire, Scotland; the location is now within the area of Dumfries and Galloway unitary council.