Eastriggs Factory and Depot, Dumfries and Galloway
Date 1 January 2022 - 30 March 2023
Event ID 1143684
Category Project
Type Project
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1143684
This HES Heritage Recording and Archaeological project was undertaken between January and November 2022. It concentrated on the First World War, Second World War and post-war phases of the site.
An archaeological survey of the former His Majesty’s (H.M.) Explosives Factory, Gretna (Site 3) at Eastriggs, Dumfries and Galloway, was undertaken by HES Heritage Recording in 2022-3. This was at the request of the HES Designations Team, in advance of a decision to schedule or list all or part of the site. The aim of the survey was to record the all the archaeological remains within the Second World War security fence. The depot occupies an area of about 385 hectares (950 acres) situated on the N side of the Solway. The survey encompassed not only the remains of the National Factory which manufactured cordite RDB in the First World War, but also those relating to its subsequent transformation into an explosives and ammunition storage depot on the eve of the Second World War, as well as successive developments thereafter.
The First World War HM Factory Site 3 (originally known as Dornock) was concerned with the production of cordite paste, but other parts of the factory (Sites 1: Smalmstown, Site 2: Mossband and Site 4: Gretna) processed this further into Cordite RDB - the propellant within artillery shells as well as other explosive chemical materials. The former First World War factory had been dismantled in the 1920s and later recommissioned as a munitions depot during the Second World War. Latterly, the Eastriggs Explosives Supply Division depot, as it became, has been undergoing decommissioning by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation since 2011.
Initial background research identified primary documents of specifications relating to architectural drawings (descriptions and blueprints), together with a series of contemporary official photographs taken during and after the factory’s construction. Published works including the volume of preliminary studies (1920), the official account of the factory (1919) produced by the Ministry of Munitions of War, a work on the manufacture of sulphuric acid (1921), an auction catalogue (1924) and the subsequent manuscript report on the sale resulting from the disposal of the buildings all proved invaluable. Much less was available for the later periods. Visualisations derived from Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) data provided important information on the surviving topography, while vertical aerial photograph sorties captured between 1940 and 1988 (M124/13, flown on 19 August 1940; CAM/031 flown on the 13 October 1942; USN/219/206 flown on the 26 July 1963; 39/RAF/4701 flown on 6 May 1975; ASS/62588 flown on 13 June 1988) were consulted through the National Collection of Aerial Photography (NCAP).
Much of the First World War factory in the west is covered by thick deciduous scrub woodland and this made observation in the field difficult, but elsewhere the land is largely given over to rough pasture now only grazed by deer. Fieldwork over 25 days involved the interrogation, noting and collation of the remains of more than 500 structures relating to the factory, over 140 structures relating to the storage depot during the Second World War and more than 40 structures of later date. These were listed in an Excel table. Written descriptions were prepared, peer reviewed and edited for 225 sites before these were added to Canmore and site-area polygons were created. Those entries describing the factory were grouped under 9 parent area records: the Workshop area, the Glycerine Distillery, the Acids Section, the Boiler plant, the Nitrocotton production area, the Nitrocotton Drying section, Dornock air Compressor plant, the Nitroglycerine Hills and the Nitroglycerine Refrigerating Air Compressor and Boiler plant - each relating to a stage in the production of cordite paste. Digital photographs were taken of all of the structures observed during the fieldwork. These were evaluated, captioned and added to the appropriate Canmore entries.
Detailed drawings of five buildings were also taken at scales between 1:50-1:500. The buildings chosen for survey included the main gatehouse and the remains of a brine tower (both First World War) as well as a representative examples of two different designs of storehouse, a pillbox and a railway workers’ shelter (all Second World War). An interactive site plan showing the arrangement of the buildings during the First World War, the Second World War, and the Post-War period up to 2022 was also prepared. These plans do not include earlier features in the landscape, which are shown on the 2nd edition of the OS 25-inch map (Dumfriesshire 1899-1900, Sheets LXIII.10, 11 and 15). Its elements were not examined, but what survives of the field-systems and tracks are visible on current aerial photography. By contrast, all the farms and their ancillary buildings that are shown have all been removed, except for the ruins at Loch overlooking the Solway.
The project was managed by Miriam McDonald with the help of Adam Welfare and the colleagues identified below fulfilled specialist roles. An entry was provided to Discovery & Excavation in Scotland, 2022.
Visited by HES Heritage Recording (MMD and ATW) December 2021 to March 2023.
