2-510-398 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The famous old blacksmith's shop, Gretna Green, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, 20th century. This building, just over the border with England, became famous after 1753 as a venue for runaway marriages of English couples. Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act stipulated that if both parties to a marriage were not over the age of 21, parental consent had to be obtained. The Act did not apply in Scotland, hence many couples who were not prepared to wait eloped and were married in Gretna, the first village they encountered in Scotland.