Powfoot is a coastal village in

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway (; ) is one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, located in the western part of the Southern Uplands. It is bordered by East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, and South Lanarkshire to the north; Scottish Borders to the no ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

that lies on the northern shore of the

Solway Firth The Solway Firth is an inlet on the west coast of Great Britain, forming part of the border between England and Scotland. The firth (a Scottish term for an inlet of the sea) divides Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) from Dumfries and Gallow ...

. 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 Cummertrees is a coastal village and civil parish of Annandale in the historical county of Dumfriesshire in Dumfries and Galloway. It lies about inland, on the Pow Water to the northwest of Powfoot, from Dumfries and from Annan. Etymolog ...

. The Pow water, a local river runs through the village.

History

The village was begun circa 1800 and originally included a small harbour. The village was expanded several times, as part of wider efforts to create a new

seaside resort A seaside resort is a city, resort town, town, village, or hotel that serves as a Resort, vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of an official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requi ...

on the north side of the Solway. John Bell and Joseph Burnie, local builders who had made money in

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

, returned to the area in 1894 and developed the characteristic red-

Ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

brick houses that exist today in the centre of the village beside the Pow water. 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. The brick buildings at Powfoot were intended to be the start of a planned village seaside resort that was never fully completed. 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. 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. Powfoot has a tidal swimming pool off the shoreline that is now disused.

MOD Powfoot

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.Wham, Alasdair (2017). Exploring Dumfries & Galloway's Lost Railway Heritage. Catrine:The Oakwood Press. . p. 36. In 1951, the factory was the site of an industrial accident when three workers were killed in an explosion."THREE KILLED BY EXPLOSION: A COLUMN OF FIRE." The Manchester Guardian (1901-1959), Sep 04, 1951, (accessed October 8, 2021).

Culture and economy

The village has a public bowling green and gardens. The gardens are Category B listed and include an Arts and Crafts style bowling pavilion with veranda dating from 1907. There is a golf course to the west of the village, along with a hotel that was built in 1903. To the west of the golf course is a large caravan park, with a restaurant and bar. The caravan park was purchased by Verdant Leisure in 2018.

Transport

Powfoot Halt railway station was a railway station that served the factory but is now defunct. The village has a local bus service between

Ruthwell Ruthwell is a village and parish on the Solway Firth between Dumfries and Annan, Dumfries and Galloway, Annan in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. In 2022 the combined population of Ruthwell and nearby Clarencefield was 400. Thomas Randolph, Earl ...

and Annan.

References

{{coord, 54.97882, N, 3.33201, W, type:city(500)_region:GB, display=title Villages in Dumfries and Galloway