Old County of Wigtownshire

A former maritime and agricultural county in SW Scotland Wigtownshire was incorporated into Dumfries and Galloway in 1974, where it remained following a further local government reorganisation in 1996. With an area of 486 sq. miles (1258 sq. km) and a coastline extending to 120 miles (193 km), it was bounded by Kirkcudbrightshire to the E, the Irish Sea to the S and W and Ayrshire to the N. The county included the Rhins of Galloway and the valleys of the Cree, Bladnoch and Luce rivers. Its chief towns were Wigtown (the former county town), Newton Stewart, Whithorn, Stranraer and Portpatrick.

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©2013 The Editors of The Gazetteer for Scotland
Supported by: The Robertson Trust,  The Royal Scottish Geographical Society,
  School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh.