26-28 Canberra Road, Gretna

26-28 Canberra Road, Gretna

A row of five brick-built semi-detached houses designed by Raymond Unwin and C M Crickmer and built in 1916 to house munitions workers. The buildings form part of the planned Garden City township of Gretna, constructed during the First World War to provide housing and facilities for the thousands of workers employed at the nearby munitions factory that stretched for 9 miles along the Solway and produced Cordite explosives.

The row consists of two-storey double villas built in red brick, an unusual residential building material in Scotland at that time. The roadside elevations of the central block (Nos 22, 24) display an 8-bay design and bear a 1916 datestone. The outer blocks (Nos 14, 16 and 30, 32) have shallower advanced outer bays containing tripartite windows. Each block is symmetrical, with doors and porches positioned in the flanks. The ground floor features segmental-arched window openings. The roofs are piended slate.

A striking architectural feature is the prominent chimney stacks, which are ribbed and topped with decorative brick copes. These chimneys are positioned at the end and shared central axial points of each block and form a notable element of the streetscape.

The original glazing consisted of small-paned timber sash and case windows, now mostly altered as of 1987. No 28 has a modern canted window, and No 32 is now painted. The houses are set back from the pavement, each with a private garden, reflecting the Garden City principles adopted for Gretna's design which emphasised small groups of housing with accessible green space.

Raymond Unwin (1863-1940) was one of the most important figures in early 20th century British town planning. He advocated high standards of design for social housing and informality of planning, and is best known for his work on Letchworth Garden City and Hampstead Garden Suburb. C M Crickmer (1879-1971) was the resident architect for Gretna township and had previously worked with Unwin at both Letchworth and Hampstead Garden Suburb.

The township was designed with a wide central street containing shops and community facilities, curving secondary streets, and green spaces throughout. Beyond housing, the township included churches, a dance hall, a school, and a cinema to serve the workers and their families. After the war, the munitions factory was dismantled and only a few remnants remain.