Annan, United Kingdom

With the river embanked, Annan served as a maritime town whose shipyards built many clippers and other boats. A cairn on the jetty commemorates Robert Burns, who worked as an exciseman here in the 1790s. Although the port is now mainly dry, a few stranded boats remain.

The alumni of Annan Academy include Thomas Carlyle and Ashley Jensen.

After the Acts of Union 1707, Annan, Dumfries, Kirkcudbright, Lochmaben and Sanquhar formed the Dumfries district of burghs, returning one member between them to the House of Commons of Great Britain. Annan previously formed a constituency of the Parliament of Scotland and the Convention of Estates.

The population of Annan in the 1841 census was 4,409 inhabitants.

In 1871, the Dumfries Burghs had a population of 3,172 and the royal burgh of Annan had 4,174, governed by a provost and 14 councillors.

A Harbour Trust was established in 1897 to improve the port. The small Newbie Harbour lay on the other side of the River Annan near Newbie Mill and served the old Newbie Castle and barony.

Annan Town Hall was built in Scottish baronial style using the local sandstone and completed in 1878.

By 1901, the population was 5,805, living principally in red sandstone buildings.

The railway turntable in the National Railway Museum, York was manufactured by John Boyd and Co of Annan in 1954. It is the only survivor of a small batch assumed to have been subcontracted from the main turntable manufacturing company, Cowans Sheldon.

The design and development of the railway turntable has, on occasion, been erroneously attributed to Annan because of the exhibit in the NRM.

In 2021, the town was affected by heavy rainfall and flooding, resulting in the collapse of two footbridges on the River Annan.

The Cuthbertson Memorial Bridge, down from Galabank and in view of the A75 bypass, was completed in 1957 in memory of Surgeon Lieutenant William Cuthbertson who died in the Second World War.

Meanwhile, the Diamond Jubilee Bridge, accessible from the Warmanbie road, was much older having been built in 1897 to commemorate Queen Victoria's 60th year on the throne.

The local population was devastated by the bridges being swept away as they were symbolic, vital and important for the local community. The nearest crossing of the river is south at Annan Bridge and at the north it is Brydekirk.