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Summary

Description

Raymond Unwin and Courtnay M Crickmer, 1916. 3 rows of 2-storey terraced housing forming U-plan around courtyard. Red brick; later pebble dash to Nos 46-52. Entrance doors with consoled flat canopies. Mostly segmental-arched ground floor window openings.

S ROW: symmetrical, 9-bays with pair of advanced central gables with ball finials.

E and W ROWS: 8-bays.

Predominantly non-traditional replacement windows in various materials. Piended roofs; grey slates. Corniced ridge stacks.

Statement of Special Interest

This U-plan grouping of terraced housing is a significant part of the streetscape of the planned town of Gretna. The buildings are of red brick - an unusual residential building material in Scotland - and have some simple yet decorative features in the ball finialed gables and the segmental-arched window openings. The U-plan grouping is of particular interest as Gretna was designed along Garden City principles. One of these is the use of small groups of housing with accessible green space. 30-52 Victory Avenue is the only one of these small U-plan groups existing in Gretna and as such is a key part of the overall planning of the town.

Built in 1916-18, the town of Gretna was constructed to provide housing and community facilities for the workers of the nearby munitions factory. The government was concerned during the course of the First World War that there was a lack of ammunition for the British troops, and it commissioned a large munitions factory to be built. This stretched for 9 miles along the banks of the Solway and produced Cordite explosives. Thousands of workers were brought in from around Britain and Ireland to work at the factory and temporary timber and more permanent brick housing was erected to accommodate the builders of the factory and its workers. The township was designed along Garden City lines, with green spaces surrounding the houses, with a wide, central street with shops and r community facilities and other, curving streets. The chief designer was Raymond Unwin, with Courtnay M Crickmer acting as the resident architect. As well as housing, the workers and their families required buildings to provide for leisure and the township included several churches, a dance hall, a school and a cinema. After the war, the factory was dismantled and only a few remnants of it remain.

Raymond Unwin (1863-1940) was one of the most important figures in early 20th century British town planning and was the overseeing architect for the development of Gretna and the neighbouring town of Eastriggs. He advocated high standards of design for social housing and informality of planning. He worked predominantly in England and is perhaps best known for his planning of Letchworth Garden City and Hampstead Garden Suburb.

C M Crickmer, (1879-1971) was a London based architect who was the architect in resident for the designing of Gretna township. He also worked with Unwin at Letchworth and Hampstead Garden Suburb.

Many of the original windows and doors have been replaced with a variety of materials and glazing patterns. The original glazing pattern predominantly consisted of small pane timber sash and case windows, which are apparent in early photographs of Gretna.

List description updated 2012.

References

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