Wigtown is Scotland’s National Book Town; bookshops, a literary festival and historic sites give visitors several distinct focal points. When planning your trip, you can explore the town by asking two questions: Would you mainly like to experience book culture, or should local history take centre stage? A walking route through the town, countryside and coastal area is another way to get to know Wigtown.
Book culture: shops and festival
The town’s focus on books is evident beyond the festival: Wigtown has seventeen bookshops and book-related businesses. The number may change over time. Together, the shops and other book-related businesses give the National Book Town designation a broader place in the town’s identity. This means Wigtown can be understood as more than just an event date.
The Wigtown Book Festival is a ten-day literary festival founded in 1999. It features more than 200 events spanning music, theatre, food and drink, and visual art. The programme and its scope may vary from year to year. If the festival is important to your trip planning, check the dates and programme for the relevant year in advance. This will help you decide whether the events should be the focus of your stay or whether you would mainly like to visit Wigtown for its book culture.
Castle and local memory
Wigtown Castle offers a different perspective on the town’s history. Its remains form an early medieval royal castle and are visible as earthworks. Wigtown Castle is designated as a Scheduled Monument. This status may change in the future, so it is worth checking its current status before a later trip. The visible earthworks and the designation link the castle’s archaeological form with its recognised significance as a monument.
The story of the Wigtown Martyrs is tied to specific places and people. Margaret Lachlan and Margaret Wilson were Scottish Covenanters. In 1685, they were tied to stakes in Wigtown’s tidal mudflats and drowned as the tide rose. The graves of the five Wigtown Martyrs are in an enclosed area behind the ruins of the Old Kirk. The two women and this burial place represent different aspects of the same local memory: the historical events and the later memorial site.
The largest monument to the Wigtown Martyrs stands on Windy Hill on the western edge of the town and offers wide views across much of Galloway. Louis McGuffie VC is also part of local memory: he was from Wigtown and received the Victoria Cross. In 2018, a memorial paving stone was dedicated to him at the Wigtown County Buildings. The archway of the Louis McGuffie VC Memorial Gardens was also unveiled as part of the same memorial event.
Walking routes and different focal points
The Lovers’ Walk, Martyrs’ Stake and Wigtown Harbour circular route passes through the town, countryside and coastal area. The Wigtown Explorer route follows official core paths throughout. The two descriptions emphasise different things: the first route focuses on the transition between town, countryside and coast, while the second follows core paths. Trail conditions and access may change; check the current situation before setting out.
Whether book culture, historic sites or walking routes are what draw you in, Wigtown offers several distinct themes to help you plan your trip. If you would like to include the festival, you can compare its dates with your preferred travel period; if you are interested in history, you will find named places and people whose stories are distinct from one another. This lets you choose the focus of your stay without reducing the town’s different stories and routes to a single itinerary item.
Discover more destinations: Annan, Whithorn, Biggar, Garlieston, Kirkconnel, Palnackie, Portpatrick, Dunragit
For the broader travel overview: Dumfries And Galloway.
