HM Factory Gretna Site 3: Eastriggs

Date 12 May 2023

Event ID 1158985

Category Recording

Type Field Visit

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1158985

Eastriggs Factory and Depot, Dumfries and Galloway

Canmore ID 374973

NY26NE 140.02

NY 24816 65361 (centred)

What remains of this moss-, gorse- and grass-grown concrete floor is situated about 45m SE of the N Cotton Waste Bale Store (NY26NE 140.01) and an equal distance E of its S companion. It is rectangular on plan and measures 100m from WNW to ESE by 32m transversely. There are two rows of concrete footings for steel stanchions set 3.5m apart running the length of the building and dividing it into three bays. A grid of bricks at floor level indicates that there were internal compartments towards the SE end of the building, but thick deciduous scrub crowding in on the NNE and SSW, together with ballast that formerly underlay two standard gauge railway lines that cross the floor, obscure the details in this part of the building. There are traces of an outshot on the NNE.

The building is identified as a Cotton Picking, Teasing, Drying and Willowing House on the plan of the works given with a Ministry of Munition Works report (MMW 1919, plan) held in the National Archives, Kew, outlining the processes involved in the manufacture of the cordite propellant during the First World War at H.M. Factory, Gretna (Site 3, Eastriggs)).The original processes undertaken in this building are briefly described within this report, indicating that the interior was divided into a series of rooms where the cotton bales were broken open, hand-picked to remove foreign bodies, followed by teasing, drying and willowing. The raw material was then passed through to a cooling room, a fly treatment room and finally to an air washing plant.

The plan of works shows the routes by which bales were brought from the Cotton Waste Stores (NY26NE 140.01) to porches close to the N and S corners at the WNW end of the building. Between these porches there was a small building at right angles to the main structure to which it was linked by a narrow corridor. The plan also shows that the outshot on the NNE side was matched by another on the SSW. An undated plan (SUPP 10-39) held in the National Archives at Kew shows that there was a further addition at the ESE end of the SSW outshot.

A series of descriptions of blueprints (SUPP 10-18, 3259; SUPP 10-22, 4255), as well as some actual blueprints (SUPP 10-25, 3258; SUPP 10-26, 3505), and ground-based, contemporary official photographs taken during and after construction (MUN 5-297 pt1, 222, 252; MUN 5-297 pt2, 287; MUN 5-297 pt3, 456, 457, 474; MUN 5-297 pt5, 710D) also held at Kew, illustrate the character of the Cotton Picking, Teasing, Drying and Willowing House . These sources indicate that this building was a single-storey, possibly brick-built, steel-framed, three-bayed structure. It had ridged roofs, with skylights on both sides of each ridge and vents running almost the full length of the building. The whole building was entirely covered with black fire-retardant paint . Internally there were six compartments in the ESE half of the building. There were three broad doors in each of the WNW and ENE elevations, the more northerly of which provided access to a corridor leading to the Nitrating House (NY26NE 140.03). The NNW and ESE elevations are only broken by brick pilasters. These are also a feature of the brick-built outshots on the NNE and SSW elevations, which also had ridged roofs and two vents. The small building that was situated between the porches at the N and S corners in the WNW elevation was a single-storeyed, brick-built structure arranged at right angles to the main building. It had a ridged roof capped by a ventilator running its full length and there were two windows in the SSW gable.

This building formed part of lot 510, which was offered for sale by auction on 22-5 July 1924 (HM Treasury 1924, 103, item 1) when the land was purchased by Messrs James Jackson & Co Ltd, St Vincent Street, Glasgow (Carlisle City Archives, DX 2040/3). The catalogue adds that the main building had a corrugated iron sheet roof and stood to 6m in height, while the NNE and SSE outshots measured 26m and 33m in length respectively by 5.5m in breadth and 6m in height. After its removal from the site, only its foundations were left in place and these are readily visible on an aerial photograph (M124/13 04118) flown on 19 August 1940.

Visited by HES Heritage Recording (MMD and AW) 12 May 2022.