Editing Wigtown

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2025}}
{{infobox UK place
| country                          = Scotland
| official_name                    = Wigtown
| gaelic_name                      = Baile na h-Ùige
| scots_name                       = Wigtoun
| static_image                     = Wigtown County Buildings.JPG
| static_image_caption             = [[Wigtown County Buildings]], formerly the seat of Wigtownshire County Council
| population                       = {{Scottish locality population|name|POP=Wigtown}}
| population_ref                   = ({{Scottish settlement population citation|year}})<ref>{{Scottish settlement population citation}}</ref>
| os_grid_reference                = NX435555
| coordinates                      = {{coord|54.870|-4.439|display=inline,title}}
| unitary_scotland                 = [[Dumfries and Galloway]]
| lieutenancy_scotland             = [[Wigtownshire]]
| constituency_westminster         = [[Dumfries and Galloway (UK Parliament constituency)|Dumfries and Galloway]]
| constituency_scottish_parliament = [[Galloway and West Dumfries (Scottish Parliament constituency)|Galloway and West Dumfries]]
| post_town                        = NEWTON STEWART
| postcode_district                = DG8
| postcode_area                    = DG
| dial_code                        = 01988
}}
[[File:Wigtown main street - geograph.org.uk - 212442.jpg|thumb|Wigtown]]
'''Wigtown''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|ɪ|g|t|ən|,|_|-|t|aʊ|n}} (both used locally); {{langx|gd|Baile na h-Ùige}}) is a town and former [[royal burgh]] in [[Wigtownshire]], of which it is the county town, within the [[Dumfries and Galloway]] region in [[Scotland]].  It lies east of [[Stranraer]] and south of [[Newton Stewart]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scottish-places.info/parishes/parmap1071.html|title=Parish of Wigtown from The Gazetteer for Scotland|publisher=scottish-places.info}}</ref> It is known as "Scotland's National [[Book town|Book Town]]" with a high concentration of second-hand book shops and an annual [[Wigtown Book Festival|book festival]].

Wigtown is part of the [[Machars]] peninsula.

==History==

===Name origins===
[[W. F. H. Nicolaisen|W.F.H. Nicolaisen]] offered two explanations for the place-name Wigtown. One theory was that it meant 'dwelling place', from the [[Old English]] 'wic-ton'; however, if it is the same as [[Wigton]] in [[Cumbria]], which was 'Wiggeton' in 1162 and 'Wigeton' in 1262, it may be 'Wigca's farm'.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YyIJAQAAIAAJ  |title=Scottish Place-names: Their Study and Significance|first= W. F. H. |last=Nicolaisen|publisher=Batsford|year=1976|isbn=978-0713432534}}</ref> Other sources have suggested a [[Old Norse language|Norse]] root with 'Vik' meaning 'bay', giving the origin as a translation of 'The town on the bay'.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.electricscotland.com/books/placenames/scottishlandname00maxw.pdf|title=Scottish Land-Names: Their Origin and Meaning|page=90|first=Sir Herbert|last=Maxwell|publisher=William Blackwood|year=1894}}</ref>

===Neolithic Age===

[[File:Torehousekie Stone Circle - geograph.org.uk - 1098160.jpg|thumb|right|'''Torhouse Stone Circle''', dating from the 2nd millennium BC, is one of the best preserved sites in Britain. It is {{circa}} {{cvt|20|ft|m|order=flip|0}} in diameter.]]

The surrounding area (the [[Machars]] peninsula) is rich in [[Prehistory|prehistoric]] remains, most notably the [[Torhousekie]] Standing Stones, a [[Neolithic]] [[stone circle]] set on a raised platform of smaller stones.  It consists of nineteen boulders up to 5 feet high aligned to the [[winter solstice]], surrounding a [[ring cairn]] on which there are 3 large stones (flankers), two upright and one recumbent.  On a low ridge across the road from the circle there are another three stones.<ref>{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=SM90304|desc=Torhouse Stone Circle|access-date=29 March 2019}}</ref>

===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/>

===Wigtown Martyrs===
[[File:Covenanters' Graves - geograph.org.uk - 937570.jpg|thumb|[[Covenanters]]' graves, in the graveyard of St Machutus's Church, Wigtown. The recumbent stone in the foreground is the grave of [[Margaret Wilson (Scottish martyr)|Margaret Willson]], and, behind it, the upright stone on the right is that of "Margrat Lachlane" (Margaret McLaughlin), these being the two women who were executed by drowning (according to tradition, at the location of the present-day Martyrs' Stake). The upright stone on the left is that of the three Covenanter men who were hanged at the same time.]]

Monuments to the [[Wigtown Martyrs]] exist in Wigtown. During "[[The Killing Time]]" of the [[Covenanters]] in the 17th century, Margaret McLachlan, an elderly woman in her 60s, and [[Margaret Wilson (Scottish martyr)|Margaret Willson]], a teenager, were, for refusing to swear an oath declaring James VII of Scotland as head of the church, sentenced to be tied to stakes in the tidal channel of the River Bladnoch near its entrance to [[Wigtown Bay]] to be [[drowning|drowned]] by the incoming tide. The execution date was 11 May 1685. The ploy was that the younger woman might be persuaded to change her mind after watching the older woman drown. The strategy failed and both died. This execution was carried out by dragoons under the command of Major Windram in the presence of [[Sir Robert Grierson, 1st Baronet|Sir Robert Grierson of Lag]] who held the King's Commission to suppress the rebels in the South West. Their story, as told in various sources, tells how the women were betrayed by an informer. After about a month in prison they were tried as rebels and sentenced to death by drowning. The story of the Wigtown Martyrs was among those collected by [[Robert Wodrow]] and published in his ''History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland from the Restoration to the Revolution''.  The [[Church of Scotland]] [[synod]] had decided in 1708 to collect accounts of persecution under the Stuart monarchs, and persuaded Wodrow to take on the research. He wrote that Thomas Wilson "lives now in his father's room, and is ready to attest all I am writing."<ref name=morton>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/cu31924029476003#page/n411/mode/2up|title=Galloway and the Covenanters; or, The struggle for religious liberty in the south-west of Scotland|page=409|first=Alex S.|last=Morton|location=Paisley|publisher=Alexander Gardner|year=1914}}</ref>

===Later history===
In 1809, the Main Street Square gardens were enclosed by the town council as a public space, having formerly been used for keeping hens and other livestock. The enclosed area was planted and later, a bowling green and tennis courts would be added.<ref name="Hunter4">{{cite book | last=Hunter | first=Jack | title=Old Wigtown | date=1998 | isbn=978-1-84033-025-0 | page=4}}</ref> Wigtown Bowling Club was established in 1830 and continues to run, being one of the oldest in Scotland.<ref name="Hunter8">{{cite book | last=Hunter | first=Jack | title=Old Wigtown | date=1998 | isbn=978-1-84033-025-0 | page=8}}</ref> In the 19th century, a prison was established for the town on Harbour Road, being in operation until the 1940s when it closed (it is now a private residence).<ref name="Hunter19">{{cite book | last=Hunter | first=Jack | title=Old Wigtown | date=1998 | isbn=978-1-84033-025-0 | page=19}}</ref> A gas works was established in the town in the mid 19th century in North Back Street and it remained in operation until the end of the Second World War.<ref name="Hunter24">{{cite book | last=Hunter | first=Jack | title=Old Wigtown | date=1998 | isbn=978-1-84033-025-0 | page=24}}</ref>

An early reference to a [[tolbooth]] in Wigtown occurs in the late 16th century, and it is possible that this structure was blown up by gunpowder to make way for the new town hall which was completed in 1756.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/descriptions/145020 |title=Wigtown|first= F. H. |last=Groome|publisher=Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland |year=1884| access-date=3 August 2021}}</ref> This municipal building in its turn gave way to the [[Wigtown County Buildings]] which were erected in 1862.<ref>{{Canmore|num=215461|desc= Wigtown, The Square, County Buildings|fewer-links=yes| access-date=3 August 2021}}</ref> The buildings served as the county Headquarters of Wigtownshire and are built of red sandstone from north-west England.<ref name="Hunter9">{{cite book | last=Hunter | first=Jack | title=Old Wigtown | date=1998 | isbn=978-1-84033-025-0 | page=9}}</ref>

Wigtown removed its first [[mercat cross]] in the late 17th century (which stood at the east end of the Square). A second market cross was erected to replace the earlier one and instead built at the junction of Main street between 1816 and 1818.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XjskDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA105|title=Scottish Town in the Age of the Enlightenment 1740-1820|first1= Bob |last1=Harris|first2= Charles |last2=McKean|year=2014|page=105|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=978-0748692583}}</ref><ref name="Hunter2">{{cite book | last=Hunter | first=Jack | title=Old Wigtown | date=1998 | isbn=978-1-84033-025-0 | page=2}}</ref>

Andrew Symson, a 17th-century minister of the church at [[Kirkinner]], left a description of Wigtown. Writing in 1684, he described Wigtown as having "a market for horses and young phillies...which the borderers come and buy in great numbers."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w4kIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA190  |title= Ancient and modern Britons, a retrospect|first=David|last=Ritchie|year= 1884 |page=190|publisher=Kegan Paul, Trench and Company}}</ref>

Residents of Wigtown and the surrounding area earned their livings in a variety of ways.  An 18th-century observer, Samuel Robinson commented that from its peculiar position in relation to the sea, the county of Wigtown offered many singular advantages to the landing of smuggled goods and [[smugglers]] were not slow in taking advantage of this: however after a barracks was built "the trade and those who conducted it were ruined".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://electricscotland.com/books/Smuggling-Days-And-Smuggling-Ways.pdf|title=Smuggling Days and Smuggling Ways or, The Story of a Lost Art| first=Henry N.|last=Shore|publisher=Cassell & Co. |year=1892 |page=64}}</ref>

Robinson, describing Wigtown, also noted that "the greatest number of houses were of a homely character, thatched and one storey high".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=djJ5tePOJ9cC|title=Reminiscences of Wigtownshire|first= Samuel|last= Robinson|year=1872|page=54|publisher=G.C. Book Publishers |isbn=9781872350516 }}</ref>

The Newton Stewart to Whithorn branch railway line had a [[Wigtown railway station|station at Wigtown]] which opened in 1877.<ref>{{Butt-Stations}}, p. 250</ref>

===Recent history===
Wigtown was described by William Learmonth in 1920 as the quaintest county town in Scotland.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/kirkcudbrightshi00learuoft#page/50/mode/2up|title=Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire|first=William |last=Learmouth|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1920|page=51}}</ref>

[[RAF Wigtown]] was constructed on the outskirts of the town and opened in 1941. Under the control of 29 Group RAF, the Station was home to No. 1 Air Observers School, later No. 1 Advanced Flying Unit (Observer), as well as providing a short-term home to several operational RAF squadrons. The Station was closed in 1948. Today it is very occasionally used by light aircraft, sometimes being referred to as Baldoon Airfield.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abct.org.uk/airfields/airfield-finder/wigtown-baldoon/ |title=Wigtown (Baldoon) |publisher=[[Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust]]|access-date=15 September 2022}}</ref>[[File:RAF Wigtown (2).jpg|thumb|right|Aerial view of RAF Wigtown/Baldoon Airfield (April 2023)]]

In the 1990s Wigtown became Scotland's "[[book town]]". However, in contrast to [[Hay-on-Wye]], Wigtown's status as a book town was planned, in order to regenerate a very depressed town (the main employers, the [[creamery]] and [[distillery]], having closed in the 1990s), although the distillery ([[Bladnoch distillery|Bladnoch]]) has now re-opened and is distilling its own [[malt whisky]]. There was a national search in Scotland for a candidate town. The [[Wigtown Book Festival]] was first held in 1999<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url = http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/arts/news/wigtown-book-festival-to-set-sail-on-solway-firth-1-3523025|title = Wigtown Book Festival to set sail on Solway Firth|last = Ferguson|first = Brain|date = 27 August 2014|work = The Scotsman: Scotland on Sunday|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140830212939/http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/arts/news/wigtown-book-festival-to-set-sail-on-solway-firth-1-3523025|archive-date = 2014-08-30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title = The Edinburgh history of the book in Scotland|publisher = Edinburgh University Press|year = 2008|isbn = 978-0-7486-1829-3|location = Edinburgh|page = 453|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=2CmkBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA453|volume = 4: Professionalism and diversity 1880-2000|editor-last = Finklestein|editor-first = David|editor-last2 = McCleery|editor-first2 = Alistair}}</ref> and grew to be the second largest book festival in Scotland.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Lost in location: arts development and policy in rural Scotland|last = Lu|first = Yu Tonia|publisher = University of Glasgow (PhD thesis)|year = 2015|pages = 152|url = http://theses.gla.ac.uk/5899/1/2014LuYTphd.pdf}}</ref> There are currently around a dozen bookshops in the town.

==Education==
Wigtown Primary School is based in New Road in Wigtown.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk/schools/wigtown-primary-school-newton-stewart|title=Wigtown Primary School|publisher=The Good Schools Guide|access-date=7 November 2022}}</ref> The primary school is housed in a building dating from 1850, that has since been altered and expanded.<ref name="Hunter25">{{cite book | last=Hunter | first=Jack | title=Old Wigtown | date=1998 | isbn=978-1-84033-025-0 | page=35}}</ref> Before 1850, a grammar school provided education for all ages in the town in a building built in 1712.<ref name="Hunter25"/>

==Churches==

Wigtown Parish Church was designed in the [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival style]] and completed in 1858.<ref>{{Historic Environment Scotland|desc=Wigtown Parish Church, Wigtown|num=LB42441|access-date=7 November 2022}}</ref>

Sacred Heart Catholic Church was designed in the Gothic Revival style and completed in 1879 to a design by the Edinburgh architect John George Garden Brown. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Dictionary of Scottish Architects - DSA Building/Design Report (January 12, 2024, 12:26 pm) |url=https://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/building_full.php?id=216185 |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=www.scottisharchitects.org.uk}}</ref>

Wigtown Quaker Meeting House is as at Chapel Court, South Main Street.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.quaker.org.uk/meetings/wigtown|title=Wigtown Quaker Meeting|publisher=Quakers in Britain|access-date=7 November 2022}}</ref>

Wigtown Baptist Church is in Southfield Lane.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scottishchurches.org.uk/sites/site/id/8177/name/Wigtown+Baptist+Church+Wigtown+Dumfries+and+Galloway|title=Wigtown Baptist Church|publisher=Places of Worship in Scotland| access-date=7 November 2022}}</ref>

A Seceder's Meeting house and U.F. Church, later known as Wigtown West Church of Scotland was built in 1750 to the west of the town but demolished in the late 20th century.<ref name="Hunter28">{{cite book | last=Hunter | first=Jack | title=Old Wigtown | date=1998 | isbn=978-1-84033-025-0 | page=28}}</ref>

==Landmarks and culture==
Wigtown lies less than {{convert|1|mi|km|0|abbr=off}} from [[Bladnoch, Wigtownshire|Bladnoch]], a village with a distillery producing malt whisky of the same name. The River Bladnoch can be fished for [[Atlantic salmon]] and has historically been well known as one of Scotland's finest rivers producing spring fish. It meets the [[River Cree]] in Wigtown Bay, meandering through a large area of [[salt marsh]] which has been designated as a [[Local Nature Reserve]] (LNR). Wigtown Bay is the largest LNR in Britain, and is home to a wealth of wildlife, particularly birds. Some people come to admire them from the comfort of the viewing hides situated near the [[Wigtown Harbour|harbour]], others, wildfowlers, come to harvest some of the plentiful ducks and geese attracted by the extensive conservation work carried out by the Wigtown Wildfowling Club. The first pair of [[osprey]]s to return to Galloway in over 100 years arrived in 2004. A live camera link to their nest was created and can be viewed in the [[Wigtown County Buildings]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wildseasons.co.uk/uploads/pdfs/Wigtown-Ospreys.pdf|title=A wildlife success story in Galloway|publisher=Wild Seasons|page=2|access-date=3 August 2021}}</ref>

To the east of Wigtown is The Martyrs' Stake, a monument marking the traditional site where the Wigtown Martyrs were drowned in the 17th century. Their graves are in the Parish Church [[cemetery]]. There is a small cell in the County Buildings in which they were imprisoned prior to their execution. This cell is all that remains of a much older building which was largely destroyed to make way for the County Buildings (built in 1862).<ref>{{cite web|url= https://canmore.org.uk/site/215461/wigtown-the-square-county-buildings  |title= Wigtown, The Square, County Buildings|publisher=Canmore| access-date=3 August 2021}}</ref>

===Events===
The [[Wigtown Book Festival]] is a ten-day literary festival held annually in Wigtown.<ref name="ITV">{{cite web | title=How becoming Scotland's National Book Town transformed Wigtown's fortunes | website=ITV News | date=2023-12-07 | url=https://www.itv.com/news/border/2023-12-07/how-becoming-scotlands-national-book-town-transformed-wigtowns-fortunes | access-date=2024-08-08}}</ref> The first event took place in 1999.<ref name="ITV"/>

The Wigtown Agricultural Show is an annual event held in August, having been held since 1811.<ref name="Hunter11">{{cite book | last=Hunter | first=Jack | title=Old Wigtown | date=1998 | isbn=978-1-84033-025-0 | page=11}}</ref>

===Bookshops===
[[File:The Book Shop, Wigtown - geograph.org.uk - 5336409.jpg|thumb|right|The ''Bookshop'' on N Main Street in Wigtown]]
In 2018, Wigtown had 13 retail bookshops, one of which was mail-order.<ref name="BBCBrighter">{{cite web | last=Muir | first=Debbie | title=Wigtown: The place with a brighter future thanks to books | website=BBC News | date=2023-09-22 | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-66867202 | access-date=2024-08-08}}</ref> The town has its own bookseller's association.<ref name="BBCBrighter"/> The bookshops mean that Wigtown is estimated to have several hundred thousand books in the town.<ref name="BBCBrighter"/>

The ''Old Bank bookshop'' is located in a former bank and customs house. As the Customs House fell out of use with the decline of the port, it was bought and expanded as a branch of the City of Glasgow Bank, later the National Bank.<ref name="Hunter18">{{cite book | last=Hunter | first=Jack | title=Old Wigtown | date=1998 | isbn=978-1-84033-025-0 | page=18}}</ref><ref name="BBCBrighter"/>

The ''Bookshop'' in Wigtown is Scotland's largest second-hand bookshop.<ref name="INews">{{cite web | title=Confessions of a Bookseller: the quirky customers and odd requests | website=inews.co.uk | date=2019-08-27 | url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/books/confessions-of-a-bookseller-shaun-bythell-bookshop-wigtown-330801 | access-date=2024-08-08}}</ref> It is reported to have a mile of shelving and some 100,000 books.<ref name="INews"/> The owner, Shaun Bythell, has written a book about his experiences selling books in the town.<ref name="WashingtonPost">{{cite web | last=Duncan | first=Dennis | title=What’s it like to own a bookstore in our digitized age? | website=Washington Post | date=2022-12-29 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/12/29/bookstore-owner-bythell/ | access-date=2024-08-08}}</ref><ref name="SundayPost">{{cite web | title=Me, my shelves and sigh: Scotland’s grumpiest bookseller on the seven customers he loves to hate (but mostly loves) | website=The Sunday Post | date=2020-11-03 | url=https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/me-my-shelves-and-sigh-scotlands-grumpiest-bookseller-on-the-seven-customers-he-loves-to-hate-but-mostly-loves/ | access-date=2024-08-08}}</ref>

The ''Open Book'' is a bookshop that is operated by customers who can take temporary charge of the shop and live in the accommodation above.<ref name="CNN">{{cite web | last=Street | first=Francesca | title=Would you pay to work in a Scottish bookstore on your vacation? | website=CNN | date=2018-03-30 | url=https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/wigtown-bookshop-vacation/index.html | access-date=2024-08-08}}</ref><ref name="Guardian2019">{{cite web | last=Parr | first=Freya | title=Browsing the dream: why I paid £400 to run a bookshop for a week | website=the Guardian | date=2019-12-18 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/dec/18/browsing-the-dream-why-i-paid-400-to-run-a-bookshop-for-a-week | access-date=2024-08-08}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
[[Jessica A. Fox]]'s ''Three Things You Need to Know About Rockets'' (2013) is her account of following her dream and moving from Los Angeles and a job at NASA to help run a bookshop in Wigtown and finding love.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=17ayuAAACAAJ|title=Three Things You Need to Know about Rockets: A Memoir|first= Jessica |last=Fox|year=2013|publisher=Short|isbn=978-1780720364}}</ref>

[[Shaun Bythell]]'s ''The Diary of a Bookseller,'' published 2017, ''Confessions of a Bookseller'' (2019) and ''Remainders of the Day'' (2022) detail his experiences as the owner of The Bookshop, Scotland's largest second-hand bookshop.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-diary-of-a-bookseller-shaun-bythell-scotland-a7957831.html |title=The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell, book review: Herein lies the book's important message: support your local bookshop |first=Lucy |last=Scholes |work=[[The Independent]] |date=20 September 2017|access-date=25 February 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/oct/22/diary-of-bookseller-shaun-bythell-review |title=The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell review – service with a scowl |first=Alice |last=O'Keeffe |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=22 October 2017 |access-date=25 February 2018}}</ref>

[[Kathleen Hart]]'s ''Devorgilla Days'', published in 2021 is a memoir of life in Scotland's book town, it is a celebration of the community who helped heal her, including the thousands of followers on Instagram where she is known as Poshpedlar.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/wigtown-cancer-survivor/ | title=Finding Wigtown may have saved my life: Cancer survivor on her brand new start in Scotland's book town }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://thegloss.ie/armchair-traveller-author-kathleen-hart/ | title=The Armchair Traveller: Author Kathleen Hart Selects Her Favourite Adventurers | date=29 May 2021 }}</ref>

The [[BBC]] reported on 2 October 2018 that options on Fox's book and Bythell's first book had been bought by  "a Hollywood film company" with the idea of combining them to create a movie.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-45718491|title=Movie hopes for Scotland's book town|date=2 October 2018|newspaper=BBC|access-date=3 August 2021}}</ref>

In the [[Harry Potter]] universe, the Wigtown Wanderers [[quidditch]] team come from the town.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hp-lexicon.org/thing/wigtown-wanderers/|title=Wigtown Wanders|date=14 August 2015 |publisher=The Harry Potter Lexicon|access-date=7 November 2022}}</ref>

Heather Cox and Jessica Morgan's 2020 book, ''The Heir Affair'', had significant scenes set in and around Wigtown. The main characters stay in an AirBnb above a book shop that they're also able to run.

==Notable people==
[[File:HelenCarte1885.jpg|thumb|Painting of [[Helen Carte|Helen D'Oyly Carte]] by [[Walter Richard Sickert]], c. 1885, entitled ''The Acting Manager'']]
<!-- New links in alphabetical order by surname please -->
* [[John McConnell Black]], botanist and linguist.<ref>{{Australian Dictionary of Biography|last=Robertson  |first=Enid |year=1979|id=A070310b|title= Black, John McConnell (1855 - 1951)|access-date=2008-10-19 }}</ref>
* [[Robert Cance]], member of the [[Wisconsin State Assembly]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=metCAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA505|title=The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin|volume= 1883|year=1883|page=505|publisher=Smith & Cullaton}}</ref>
* [[Helen Carte|Helen D'Oyly Carte]], hotelier and theatre producer and manager.<ref>Stedman, Jane W. [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/59169, "Carte, Helen (1852–1913)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, September 2004, {{doi|10.1093/ref:odnb/59169}}; accessed 12 September 2008</ref>
* Although the actor [[James Robertson Justice]] was not (as he claimed) born at Wigtown, he did have ancestral links with the area.<ref>{{cite news| last=Pendreigh| first=Brian| title='Scots actor Justice outed as Londoner| newspaper=Scotland on Sunday| date=18 November 2007| url=http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/entertainment.cfm?id=1819412007| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071121201026/http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/entertainment.cfm?id=1819412007| url-status=dead| archive-date=21 November 2007}}</ref>
* [[Dave Kevan]], professional footballer for [[Notts County]] and [[Stoke City]] between 1985 and 1994; ex caretaker-manager at [[Notts County]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Lowe|first=Simon|title=Stoke City The Modern Era – A Complete Record|year=2000|publisher=Desert Island Books|isbn=1-874287-39-2}}</ref>
* [[Paul Laverty]], [[Ken Loach]]'s preferred screenwriter (''[[I, Daniel Blake]]'', ''[[The Wind that Shakes the Barley]]'', ''[[Carla's Song]]'', etc.), grew up in the town and was educated at All Souls' School in Wigtown.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6AH0DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA86|title=The Diary of a Bookseller|first=Shaun|last= Bythell |publisher=Profile Books|year=2017|isbn=978-1782833635}}</ref>
* [[Adrian J. McDowall|Adrian J McDowall]], BAFTA award-winning film and television director grew up in Wigtown.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cinema16.co.uk/film.php?film=9|title=Best Short Film: Who's My Favourite Girl?|publisher=British Short Films|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006200224/http://www.cinema16.co.uk/film.php?film=9 |access-date=7 November 2022|archive-date=6 October 2011 }}</ref>
* [[John McFadyean]], veterinary surgeon and professor of veterinary science was born in Wigtown.<ref>{{cite journal|title=John McFadyean and the Centenary of the First Isolation of Campylobacter Species|first=Martin B. |last=Skirrow|journal=Clinical Infectious Diseases|volume=43|issue=9|date=1 November 2006|pages=1213–1217|doi=10.1086/508201|pmid=17029145 |s2cid=23482284 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
* [[Louis McGuffie]], [[Victoria Cross]] holder. He was aged 24 and the son of Mrs Catherine McGuffie of 1 North Main Street, Wigtown. He is buried at the [[Zantvoorde British Cemetery]], [[Zonnebeke]], [[Belgium]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Gliddon|first=Gerald|title=The Final Days 1918|series=[[VCs of the First World War]]|year=2014|orig-year=2000|publisher=History Press|location=Stroud, Gloucestershire|isbn=978-0-7509-5368-9|page=55}}</ref>
* [[Ian Niall]], author. His book ''The Wigtown Ploughman'' gave its name to one of the local pubs.<ref>{{cite book|title=Wigtown Ploughman: Part of His Life|year=1939|publisher= [[G. P. Putnam's Sons|Putnam]]|first= John|last= McNeillie}}</ref>
*[[Graeme Parker]], hoof trimmer and YouTubers as The Hoof GP
* [[Mary Broadfoot Walker]], a physician noted for first demonstrating the effectiveness of [[physostigmine]] in treating [[myasthenia gravis]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pearce|first=J. M. S.|date=2005|title=Mary Broadfoot Walker (1888-1974): a historic discovery in myasthenia gravis|journal=European Neurology|volume=53|issue=1|pages=51–53|doi=10.1159/000084268|issn=0014-3022|pmid=15746548|doi-access=free}}</ref>
* [[Margaret Wilson (Scottish martyr)|Margaret Wilson]], 17th century [[Covenanter]] martyr for the [[Free Church of Scotland (1843-1900)|Free Church in Scotland]].<ref name=morton/>

==See also==
* [[Wigtown (Parliament of Scotland constituency)]]
* [[List of listed buildings in Wigtown, Dumfries and Galloway]]
* [[Hay on Wye]], the Welsh national book town.
* [[Sedbergh]], the English national book town.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Wigtown compressed.jpg|Wigtown and the Galloway Hills, seen from Kirkinner.
File:The Square, Wigtown.JPG|The Square looking West from the County Buildings.
File:Square comp Wigtown.JPG|The Square prior to renovation in 2002.
File:Wigtown Church.JPG|Wigtown Church and the Salt Marsh.
File:Wigtown Parish Church.JPG|St Machute's church ruins, Wigtown.
File:Old Mercat Cross in Wigtown.JPG|The original Mercat Cross.
File:Wigtown Cross.JPG|The 1816 Mercat Cross.
File:Wigtown town wall inside the moat.jpg|Wigtown town wall, Bank Street, inside the moat.
File:Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Wigtown, Scotland.jpg|Church of the Sacred Heart, 1879
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commons category-inline}}
* [http://www.wigtown-booktown.co.uk/ Wigtown Booktown website]
* [http://www.wigtowncc.org.uk/Wigtown/Welcome.html Royal Burgh of Wigtown and District Community Council] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318042819/http://www.wigtowncc.org.uk/Wigtown/Welcome.html |date=18 March 2012 }}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cguB8kAP0I Video footage of Wigtown Harbour and the River Bladnoch]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeG0IUfrPYo Video and narration of Cruel Lagg and the Wigtown Martyrs]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUj_acRM7ck Video and narration of The Wigtown Martyrs' Monument]
*https://canmore.org.uk/site/215449/wigtown-south-main-street-sacred-heart-roman-catholic-church

{{Civil parishes in Dumfries and Galloway}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Wigtown| ]]
[[Category:Towns in Dumfries and Galloway]]
[[Category:Wigtownshire]]
[[Category:Ports and harbours of Scotland]]
[[Category:Literary festivals in Scotland]]
[[Category:Parishes in Dumfries and Galloway]]
[[Category:County towns in Scotland]]