Wigtown
Wigtown | |||
Location Map ( geo) | |||
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County | |||
Wigtownshire | |||
Highway Authority | |||
Dumfries and Galloway | |||
Places related to the A714 | |||
The small town of Wigtown, former county town of Wigtownshire, lies on the east side of The Machars Peninsula, where the River Bladnoch flows into the Cree Estuary. It is a pretty town, with rows of brightly coloured houses making home to a few shops around the wide market place. Many of these shops are Book Shops, giving it the name of Scotland's Book Town. In the medieval period, Wigtown was influenced a little by the Cathedral and pilgrimage centre to the south at Whithorn, and today the town still hosts tourists exploring this part of Galloway.
The main road through Wigtown is the A714, a route which has started many miles to the north at Girvan on the Ayrshire Coast. Having crossed Galloway, it then comes to an abrupt end a few miles south of Wigtown, where it becomes the A746. The A714 once continued south, but the road was downgraded many years ago to be the B7085. There are many other B roads near the town, the B733 heads west to Kirkcowan and the A75, whilst the B7005 forms a sort of bypass to the town, taking a shorter route than the A714, before turning west itself and crossing to the A747 on the western side of The Machars Peninsula.
Routes
Route | To | Notes |
Newton Stewart | ||
Kirkinner, Whithorn | formerly B734 | |
Kirkcowan | ||
Glenluce | ||
Whauphill, Port William | formerly A714 |