Place:Heathhall, Dumfriesshire, Scotland

Watchers
NameHeathhall
TypeLocality
Coordinates55.0996°N 3.5843°W
Located inDumfriesshire, Scotland     ( - 1975)
See alsoDumfries, Dumfriesshire, Scotlandparish in which Heathall was located until 1975
Dumfries and Galloway Region, Scotlandregional administration 1975-1996
Dumfries and Galloway, Scotlandunitary Council Area since 1996

Heathhall lies on the A701 road between Dumfries and Locharbriggs. The Arrol-Johnston Car Company moved to Heathhall from Paisley in 1913 and built a manufacturing plant using designs by German-American architect Albert Kahn. This was the first factory in Britain to be constructed of reinforced concrete and bears considerable similarity to the Highland Park plant which Kahn had designed for Henry Ford in Detroit four years previously. It manufactured aircraft engines during the First World War and one of Malcolm Campbell's record-breaking Bluebird cars was built here in 1929. The company was bankrupt by 1930.

The factory was extended in 1957 after it was acquired by the North British Rubber Co Ltd., who designed and manufactured the green Hunter wellington boots here, which has become a style-icon since the 1980s. This company became Uniroyal, then split into the Gates Rubber Company, manufacturing power transmission belts; the Hunter Rubber Company, which eventually stopped making its famous boots at Heathhall in 2008; and Interfloor, producing carpet underlay.

Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Museum is located here, occupying the control tower of the former RAF Dumfries, which was established here in 1939 and closed in 1957. The substantial Heathhall Industrial Estate occupies many former RAF buildings as well as purpose-built modern premises.

This area is now part of the unitary authority called the Dumfries & Galloway Council Area.

Research Tips

Refer to the parish of Dumfries