Wigtown
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| Wigtown District 1975-96 | |
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Template:GBdot 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.
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.
The actor James Robertson Justice was born at Wigtown on June 15, 1905.
From 1975 Wigtown gave its name to a local government district in the Dumfries and Galloway region of Scotland. From 1996 the area was included in the Dumfries and Galloway unitary area. (See: Subdivisions of Scotland.) The name is retained as a Lieutenancy Area.
Wigtown is not to be confused with the north west English town of Wigton.