Powfoot is a coastal village in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland that lies on the northern shore of the Solway Firth. [1]
It is located approximately 4 miles south west of the town of Annan and approximately 1.5 miles south east of the neighbouring village of Cummertrees. The Pow water, a local river runs through the village.
The village was begun circa 1800 and originally included a small harbour. [2] The village was expanded several times, as part of wider efforts to create a new seaside resort on the north side of the Solway. John Bell and Joseph Burnie, local builders who had made money in Merseyside, returned to the area in 1894 and developed the characteristic red-Ashlar brick houses that exist today in the centre of the village beside the Pow water. [3] These include the 4 semi-detached villas at 1-8 Ellerslie (built in 1900 to a design by Frank C Carruthers of Lockerbie and Dumfries), the terraced houses at 1-14 Lakeview, and the terrace houses at 1-9 Bella Vista. [4] [5] [6]
The brick buildings at Powfoot were intended to be the start of a planned village seaside resort that was never fully completed. [7] Further funds were to come from the industrialist Edward Brook, who purchased the nearby Kinmount House and Cummertrees. While new roads and ornamental ponds were also laid out, the new resort conflicted with local fishing interests and further building was suspended. [3]
The former village hall was built in 1906 but was abandoned in 2007 and lay derelict until 2017, before it was replaced with a new home that replicated the previous structure. [8]
Powfoot has a tidal swimming pool off the shoreline that is now disused. [9]
Powfoot was the site of the MOD Powfoot Nitro-cellulose factory. The factory was established by the War Office in 1940 and was supplied with materials by train from Bishopton. The factory was re-opened during the Korean and the Falklands wars. The site was run by Nobel's Explosives on behalf of the Ministry of Defence and Royal Ordnance. The processing facility closed in 1992. [10] [11]
In 1951, the factory was the site of an industrial accident when three workers were killed in an explosion. [12]
The village has a public bowling green and gardens. [13] The gardens are Category B listed and include an Arts and Crafts style bowling pavilion with veranda dating from 1907. [3]
There is a golf course to the west of the village, along with a hotel that was built in 1903. [14] [15]
To the west of the golf course is a large caravan park, with a restaurant and bar. [16] The caravan park was purchased by Verdant Leisure in 2018. [17]
Powfoot Halt railway station was a railway station that served the factory but is now defunct. [11]
The village has a local bus service between Ruthwell and Annan. [18]
Dumfries and Galloway is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It comprises the historic counties of Dumfriesshire, Stewartry of Kirkcudbright and Wigtownshire, the latter two of which are collectively known as Galloway. The administrative centre is the town of Dumfries.
Airds of Kells is a farm and small estate in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in the parish of Kells, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The Category B listed farmhouse dates from the late 18th century but possibly incorporates parts of an older building. The estate was associated with the Gordons of Lochinvar from the 15th century.
Carsluith Castle is a ruined tower house, dating largely to the 16th century. It is located beside Wigtown Bay in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Galloway, Scotland, around 4.8 kilometres (3.0 mi) south east of Creetown.
Carronbridge is a village in the parish of Morton in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The village is at the junction of the A76 and A702 roads approximately 1 mile (2 km) north of Thornhill. The hamlet of Enterkinfoot lies slightly to the north. To the west of the village the Carron Water flows into the River Nith. Carronbridge Sawmill is in the village and is a Category B listed building built in the 1850s for the Duke of Buccleuch's Drumlanrig estate.
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 Crichton is an institutional campus in Dumfries in southwest Scotland. It serves as a remote campus for the University of Glasgow, the University of the West of Scotland, Dumfries and Galloway College, and the Open University. The site also includes a hotel and conference centre, and Crichton Memorial Church, set in a 100-acre (40 ha) park. The campus was established in the 19th century as the Crichton Royal Hospital, a psychiatric hospital.
Torthorwald is a village and civil parish in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. It is located 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) east of Dumfries on the A709 road to Lochmaben. The area was the property of the de Torthorwald family until the end of the 13th century, when the estate passed by marriage to the Kirkpatricks. In 1418, William de Carleil married the Kirkpatrick heiress. He may have been the builder of Torthorwald Castle, which was erected around this time, possibly on top of an earlier a motte. Torthorwald was erected as a burgh of barony in 1473. Torthorwald Castle was occupied until 1715; only two of its walls still stand, to a height of around 18 metres (59 ft).
Kirkpatrick-Fleming is a village and civil parish in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland.
Hoddom Castle is a large tower house in Dumfries and Galloway, south Scotland. It is located by the River Annan, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) south-west of Ecclefechan and the same distance north-west of Brydekirk in the parish of Cummertrees. The castle is protected as a category A listed building.
Kinmount House is a 19th-century country house in the parish of Cummertrees in the historic county of Dumfriesshire in Dumfries and Galloway region, Scotland. It is located 3+1⁄2 miles (5.6 km) west of Annan. The house was designed by Sir Robert Smirke for the 6th Marquess of Queensberry and completed in 1820. It is protected as a category A listed building, and the grounds are included on the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.
Powfoot Halt railway station was a railway station in Powfoot, near Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, south of Cummertrees serving the workers at the MOD Powfoot Nitro-cellulose factory within the Parish of Cummertrees.
Kirkandrews, sometimes written as Kirkanders in older documents, is a coastal hamlet about 9 kilometres (6 mi) west-southwest of Kirkcudbright in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It sits in farmland at the head of Kirkandrews Bay, an inlet of Wigtown Bay.
The Ken Bridge is a road bridge about 0.8 kilometres (0.5 mi) north east of New Galloway in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, which carries the A712 road over the Water of Ken towards Balmaclellan. Designed by John Rennie shortly before his death, it has been designated a Category A listed building.
Kirkdale Bridge is a bridge over the Kirkdale Burn in the parish of Kirkmabreck, between Gatehouse of Fleet and Creetown in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It was built for Sir Samuel Hannay, based on designs drawn up by Robert Adam, but the execution was much simpler than Adam had originally envisaged, probably to reduce the construction costs.
Buittle Bridge, also known as Craignair Bridge is a bridge over the Urr Water just outside Dalbeattie in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Completed in 1797, it replaced and earlier two-span bridge of the same name which was destroyed in a flood a short time after its completion; the remains of this older bridge, comprising the base of its pier and some remnants of its south-west abutment, survive a short distance upstream.