Wigtown
Overview
Royal burgh
A royal burgh was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished in 1975, the term is still used in many of the former burghs....
in the Machars
Machars
The Machars is a peninsula in Galloway in the south-west of Scotland. The word is derived from the Gaelic word Machair meaning low lying or level land, known as "links" on the east coast of Scotland...
of Galloway
Galloway
Galloway is an area in southwestern Scotland. It usually refers to the former counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire...
in the south west of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. It lies south of Newton Stewart
Newton Stewart
Newton Stewart is a burgh town in the south of Scotland in the west of the region of Dumfries and Galloway and in the county of Wigtownshire....
and east of Stranraer
Stranraer
Stranraer is a town in the southwest of Scotland. It lies in the west of Dumfries and Galloway and in the county of Wigtownshire.Stranraer lies on the shores of Loch Ryan on the northern side of the isthmus joining the Rhins of Galloway to the mainland...
. It has a population of about 1,000. It is well known today as 'Scotland's National Book Town' with a concentration of second-hand book shops.
Wigtown gives its name to the county
Counties of Scotland
The counties of Scotland were the principal local government divisions of Scotland until 1975. Scotland's current lieutenancy areas and registration counties are largely based on them. They are often referred to as historic counties....
of Wigtownshire
Wigtownshire
Wigtownshire or the County of Wigtown is a registration county in the Southern Uplands of south west Scotland. Until 1975, the county was one of the administrative counties used for local government purposes, and is now administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway...
, and to the former Wigtown district of the Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It was one of the nine administrative 'regions' of mainland Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government etc. Act 1973...
region
Regions and districts of Scotland
The local government areas of Scotland were redefined by the Local Government Act 1973 and redefined again by the Local Government etc Act 1994....
. The district became a committee area of Dumfries and Galloway Council, called the Wigtown Area
Wigtown Area
Wigtown Area is a committee area of Dumfries and Galloway Council. Its boundaries are similar to those of the former Wigtown district of the Dumfries and Galloway region...
, when the region became a unitary council area in 1996.
Due to the North Atlantic Drift
North Atlantic Current
The North Atlantic Current is a powerful warm ocean current that continues the Gulf Stream northeast. West of Ireland it splits in two; one branch, the Canary Current, goes south, while the other continues north along the coast of northwestern Europe...
(Gulf Stream) the climate is mild and plants normally associated with the Southern Hemisphere
Southern Hemisphere
The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...
can successfully be grown here.
