Wigtown
Wigtown is now known as Scotland's Book Town and hosts various annual events to that effect.
Dating back almost 700 years, Wigtown's location is said to have moved west over the years and with the reclamation of farming land a couple of hundred years ago, it is now further from Wigtown Bay.
The Square, interestingly shaped as an elongated triangle, is home to a park and to Wigtown's bowling club. In its centre now stands the earlier of the town's two mercat crosses, dating from 1783. Its more elaborate successor still stands in the market place towards the western end of The Square.
If you descend Bank Street past the north side of the Town Hall you reach Wigtown Parish Church. In its graveyard are the heavily overgrown and fenced-off remains of the much earlier church it replaced. It is a shame that this relic from before 1500 is not more accessible.
If you pass beyond the ruins towards the north east corner of the graveyard you find the enclosure containing three stones erected in 1720 to Covenanters who were martyred in 1685 by being tied to a stake in Wigtown Bay and left to drown in the incoming tide (see our features menu).
This is a reminder that despite first appearances Wigtown does lie close to the shore, and for many centuries it was a significant port. From the 1400s it was also the terminus of a ferry across the River Cree to what is now called Creetown.
Silting of the River Bladnoch and Wigtown Bay caused problems for shipping bound for Wigtown from as early as the 1600s, and by the mid 1900s the harbour had ceased to function at all. However it was cleared out in the 1980s and is now home to a variety of pleasure craft.
A miles south east of Wigtown the main road crosses the River Bladnoch in the village of Bladnoch. This is home to Scotland's most southerly distillery. Bladnoch Distillery was established in 1817: and although it was closed between 1993 and 1997, it is fully functional today and offers both a visitor centre and distillery tours.
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Weather for Newton Stewart
Thursday 17 May 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 6 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 6 C to 11 C
Wind Speed: 23 mph
Wind direction: East
