Report - Johnson Car Factory - Dumfries - Sept 21

[Bikin Glynn]

Johnson Car Factory

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A little slice of Detroit in Scotland is how I would describe this place.

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Built in 1913 for the Arrol Johnson Co Ltd, the works comprised a large group of three-storey, reinforced concrete, flat-roofed buildings covering some 250,000 square feet on a riverside site. The design was modelled after the work of Albert Kahn, a German born architect who became the foremost American industrial architect of his day, sometimes referred to as The Architect of Detroit!
Additions in the same manner by Kerr & Watson (Johnstone, Renfrew), 1924. Further additions worth £3 million in 1957, following acquisition of the premises by the North British Rubber Co Ltd

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Arrol-Johnston (later known as Arrol-Aster) was an early Scottish manufacturer of automobiles, which operated from 1895 to 1931 and produced the first automobile manufactured in Britain. The company also developed the world's first "off-road" vehicle for the Egyptian government, and another designed to travel on ice and snow for Ernest Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole.
This would have been neither practical nor possible with the technology of the time, but the stunt did provide publicity for the venture and the car, and he provided photographs of the the car in the snowy wastes in return

In 1929 Malcom Campbell's record breaking Blue Bird car received its third rebuild. The chassis, engine and drive train remained the same, but the bodywork was replaced with one built in Dumfries by Arrol Aster. The lowered body required a hump around the cockpit where Campbell sat astride the gearbox, and he surface radiators were replaced by a conventional circular nose opening, covered by a distinctive birdcage grille.

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Car production at the works came to an end in the late 1920s, with the factory finally closing in 1931. The site was eventually bought by the North British Rubber Co Ltd in 1946/7, and changed to rubber production. The site is owned by a subsidiary of the Gates Rubber Company.
In 1993, the former Arrol Johnson works was described as "the only virtually complete British example of a concrete framed, multi-storey daylight car factory built in emulation of American principles.

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I know many have been here so its a bit repetitive but for a empty building its a pretty awesome place simply by its scale.

I say its a empty building, strangely this room appeared to of missed the clearing out crew somehow & still had some quite old paperwork!

Thanks for looking​

 

[Wastelandr]

Very much feeling the Detroit vibes, got to love that early 20th century concrete and brick factory architecture. Always looks more modern than it is.

 

[Seffy]

Every time I visit my godmother in Dumfries I drive past this and think it looks easy enough but never had the time or inclination to pull in and look! Very pleased to be able to see what's inside; good reportage sir.

 

[Bikin Glynn]

Every time I visit my godmother in Dumfries I drive past this and think it looks easy enough but never had the time or inclination to pull in and look! Very pleased to be able to see what's inside; good reportage sir.

thanks, its easy enough, we rocked up in middle of day as usual & could see people at a car park or car wash or something from the roof top but no one seemed bothered.
It makes some nice photos so I definitely stop off.

 

[Seffy]

thanks, its easy enough, we rocked up in middle of day as usual & could see people at a car park or car wash or something from the roof top but no one seemed bothered.
It makes some nice photos so I definitely stop off.

Yeah for sure. Will try and have a look when up there next month

 

[mookster]

Really liked this spot when I popped in on my way home from Orkney in 2020, for an empty factory it's very pleasing and different to a lot of the architecture usually seen here.

 

[SpiderMonkey]

Very nice Lynn

 

[Mikeymutt]

I enjoyed this place more than I thought I would. It’s like a bit of America in Scotland.

 

[Bikin Glynn]

Really liked this spot when I popped in on my way home from Orkney in 2020, for an empty factory it's very pleasing and different to a lot of the architecture usually seen here.

yeah thats how I felt about it.

 

[Bikin Glynn]

I enjoyed this place more than I thought I would. It’s like a bit of America in Scotland.

Yeah me too, Id go back if I was up that way again.

 

[Webbs0710]

Wow, that looks phenomenal! I'll be pretty much driving past next month too, so a detour is definitely in order.

 

[Guernica03]

Not far from me, some nice photo potential here so I think I'm well overdue a look around