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Courtyard Holiday Cottages
Wigtown
01988 402266
Woodpecker Cottage
Bladnoch
01988 500517
Wigtown is Scotland's National Booktown and you can enjoy browsing the shelves of many specialist bookshops here.
Formerly the medieval capital of the region with a busy harbour, castle and priory, Wigtown was given the status of a royal burgh in 1292.
It remained an important harbour, with quays along the River Bladnoch, until the early years of this century when many channels were blocked by silt. To realise how the sea has retreated, look at the stake to which two martyred women were tied, in a place where it would now be totally impossible for anyone to drown.
The large square in the centre of the town, with the houses painted in different colours and two market crosses, is typical of the unhurried and friendly atmosphere of the region. For interesting places to go, there is a choice between a martyrs’ memorial on a hilltop with magnificent views, Bladnoch Distillery and visitor centre - a working distillery since 2002 producing a single malt whisky or nearby Torhouse Stone Circle; a bronze age stone circle consisting of 19 boulders.
Wigtown is also home to the Wigtown Bay Visitor Centre with live TV images of the Galloway Ospreys and the wetlands at Wigtown Bay Local Nature Reserve (the largest in Britain).
Much of the country here is fertile farmland and rolling hills, but leaving Wigtown and heading south the scenery changes and you can discover:
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