Wigtown

Wigtown is a town in the south west of Scotland in Dumfries and Galloway, south of Newton Stewart and east of Stranraer. It was made a royal burgh in 1469.

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It is known as Scotland's "Book Town" and compared to Hay-on-Wye in Wales for the same reason. There is a significant difference from Hay-on-Wye: Wigtown's status as a book town was planned, in order to regenerate a very depressed town (the main employers, the dairy and distillery, having closed in the 1990s). There was a national search (in Scotland) for a candidate town. Wigtown now has over 20 book-related businesses including bookshops and publishers. The demand for bookshops has exceeded supply of typical premises, leading to bookshops in surrounding villages, in industrial units, and in people's homes.

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The actor James Robertson Justice was born at Wigtown on June 15, 1905.

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From 1975 Wigtown gave its name to a local government district in

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the Dumfries and Galloway region of Scotland.

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From 1996 the area was included in the Dumfries and Galloway unitary area.

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(See: Subdivisions of Scotland.) The name is retained as a Lieutenancy Area.

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Wigtown is not to be confused with the north west English town of Wigton.

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Scotland: :For other uses, see Scotland (disambiguation). See also British Isles (terminology)....

Dumfries and Galloway: Dumfries and Galloway (D?n Phris agus Gall-Ghaidhealaibh in Gaelic) is one of 32 unitary council areas in Scotland. To the north it borders onto South Ayrshire, East Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire; in the east the Borders; and to the south the county of Cumbria in England. It lies to the north of t...

Newton Stewart: Newton Stewart is a burgh in Dumfries and Galloway (the traditional county of Wigtownshire), Scotland, on the River Cree. The town lies on the southern edge of the Galloway Forest Park, and is a base for walkers, some of whom use its youth hostel....