Editing Wigtown (section)

===Early history===

Andrew Symson, a 17th-century minister, suggested the first settlement would have stood on low-lying sands between the present-day Wigtown and [[Creetown]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Symson|first=Andrew|title=A large description of Galloway &#91;ed. by T. Maitland&#93;.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4mYLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA148|year=1823|publisher=W. and C. Tait.|page=148}}</ref> Wigtown had two ports (gates) which may have been closed at night to form a large cattle enclosure. These were East Port, opposite a site later occupied by the British Linen Bank, and the West Port, which stood opposite the mouth of the High [[Vennel]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LcIxAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA24|title=Wigtown and Whithorn: Historical and Descriptive Sketches, Stories, and Anecdotes, Illustrative of the Racy Wit & Pawky Humour of the District|first=Gordon|last= Fraser|year=1877 |page=24|publisher=Gordon Fraser}}</ref>

[[Blackfriars, Wigtown|Blackfriars]], the [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] friary, was founded at "Friarland" north of the mouth of the Bladnoch, south-east of the town of Wigtown, by [[Dervorguilla of Galloway|Devorgilla]] in around 1267.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CnY_AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA67|title=A History of Dumfries & Galloway
|volume= 5|page=67|year=1896|first=Sir Herbert|last=Maxwell|publisher=William Blackwood}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b0gNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA18|title=Tours in Scotland 1747, 1750, 1760|page=18|first1=Richard |last1=Pococke|year=1887|publisher=T. and A. Constable}}</ref>

[[Wigtown Castle]] was in existence by 1291, on flat land down by the [[River Bladnoch]], (outlines clearly seen on an aerial view), whilst the town and church were on a hill, "an inversion of the usual arrangements".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/wigtownwhithornh00frasrich#page/18/mode/2up|title=Wigtown and Whithorn : historical and descriptive sketches, stories and anecdotes, illustrative of the racy wit & pawky humor of the district|page=18|first=Gordon|last=Fraser|year=1877|publisher=Gordon Fraser}}</ref> Nothing remains of the castle, although a strong natural site and indication of a large enclosed and defended area seems to point to a castle of the Edwardian type (Edward I)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/hereditarysherif01agneuoft#page/88/mode/2up|title=The hereditary sheriffs of Galloway; their "forebears" and friends, their courts and customs of their times, with notes of the early history, ecclesiastical legends, the baronage and placenames of the province|page=88|first=Sir Andrew|last=Agnew|publisher=David Douglas|year=1893|location=Edinburgh}}</ref> dating from the end of the 13th century. The site of the castle was excavated after a fashion about 1830, by a Captain Robert M’Kerlie and a team of volunteers. The outlines of a building were clearly traced on that occasion and a ditch, which had been broad, was distinctly seen on the north where there was also a semi-circular ridge of considerable elevation said to be the remains of the castle's outer wall. A few years later, a reporter in the ''[[New Statistical Account]]'' wrote that a [[Moat|fosse]] was quite discernible, although "the foundations of the walls cannot now be traced". Mortar and "other remains indicative of an ancient building" were still to be observed.<ref>{{canmore|num=63343|desc=Wigtown Castle|access-date=6 November 2022}}</ref>

The town developed as port<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FaY0fSQclG4C|title=Irish University Press Series of British Parliamentary Papers|year=1830|page=170|publisher=Irish University Press |isbn=9780716508397 }}</ref> and became a [[royal burgh]] in 1292.<ref name=vob>{{cite web|url=https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10362477|title=Wigtown Burgh|publisher=Vision of Britain|access-date=6 November 2022}}</ref> Medieval Wigtown was built on a rectangular pattern with [[burgage]] plots around the present day Square (Main Street) and later, the West Port.
<ref name="Hunter1">{{cite book | last=Hunter | first=Jack | title=Old Wigtown | date=1998 | isbn=978-1-84033-025-0 | page=1}}</ref>
The royal burgh was granted to [[Malcolm Fleming, Earl of Wigtown|Sir Malcolm Fleming]] by [[David II of Scotland|David II]] in 1341. In 1372 Wigtown was purchased by [[Archibald the Grim]] Lord of Galloway. When he later became [[Earls of Douglas|Earl of Douglas]] in 1384, it became attached to that earldom. It was restored to its former tenure as a royal burgh as a result of the forfeiture of the Douglases in 1455. Its status was formally recognised be a [[royal charter]] in 1457.<ref name=vob/>