The two straths of Eskdale and Annandale had each been medieval
provinces of Scotland, with Annandale being a
stewartry and Eskdale a
lordship. The provinces were gradually eclipsed in importance by the
shires as the main unit of local administration, with Annandale and Eskdale coming to be seen as two of the three divisions of
Dumfriesshire, the other being
Nithsdale. Dumfriesshire was administered by
commissioners of supply from 1667 and by a county council from 1890. The hereditary jurisdictions of Eskdale and Annandale ended with the
Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Act 1746. A local government district called Annandale and Eskdale was created on 16 May 1975 under the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which established a two-tier structure of local government across Scotland comprising upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Annandale and Eskdale was one of four districts created within the region of
Dumfries and Galloway. The district covered the eastern part of Dumfriesshire, covering the whole area of ten former districts and part of an eleventh, which were all abolished at the same time: •
Annan Burgh • Annan
District •
Dumfries District (parishes of
Dalton and
Lochmaben, rest went to
Nithsdale) •
Gretna District •
Langholm Burgh • Langholm District •
Lochmaben Burgh •
Lockerbie Burgh • Lockerbie District •
Moffat Burgh • Moffat District For
lieutenancy purposes, the last
lord-lieutenant of the county of Dumfriesshire was made lord-lieutenant for the combined area of Annandale and Eskdale and the neighbouring district of Nithsdale when the reforms came into effect in 1975. Further local government reform in 1996 under the
Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 saw the four districts of Dumfries and Galloway abolished, with Dumfries and Galloway Council taking over their functions. The council continues to use the former Annandale and Eskdale district as the basis of an
area committee, alongside committees for the other three abolished districts of Nithsdale,
Stewartry and
Wigtown, subject to some adjustments of boundaries where ward boundaries no longer follow the pre-1996 district boundaries. The Dumfries
lieutenancy area continues to cover the combined area of the pre-1996 Annandale and Eskdale and Nithsdale districts. ==Political control==