Wigtown Area

Wigtownshire or the County of Wigtown (Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd Bhaile na h-Ùige, Scots: Wigtounshire) is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Wigtownshire was an administrative county used for local government. Since 1975 the area has formed part of Dumfries and Galloway for local government purposes. Wigtownshire continues to be used as a territory for land registration, being a registration county. The historic county is all within the slightly larger Wigtown Area, which is one of the lieutenancy areas of Scotland and was used in local government as the Wigtown District from 1975 to 1996. Wigtownshire forms the western part of the medieval lordship of Galloway, which retained a degree of autonomy until it was fully absorbed by Scotland in the 13th century. In 1369, the part of Galloway east of the River Cree was placed under the control of a steward and so became known as the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright. The rest of Galloway remained under the authority of a sheriff, and became known as the Shire of Wigtown, or Wigtownshire. The area was also sometimes called West Galloway (Scottish Gaelic: Gallobha-an-iar). The county town was historically Wigtown, with the administrative centre moving to Stranraer, the largest town, following the creation of Wigtownshire County Council in 1890.

Auchenmalg (Scottish Gaelic: Achadh na Meilge) is a small hamlet situated on the shore of Luce Bay in the parish of Old Luce, Wigtownshire, south-west Scotland. Auchenmalg consists of a village hall, a pub called the Cock Inn, and a caravan park called Luce Bay Holiday Park. The main industries in Auchenmalg are farming and tourism, there is an active dairy farm and the caravan park sits above the beach. In recent years Auchenmalg has been expanded with the construction of a number of new homes on former agricultural land.

Barhapple Loch is a small semicircular freshwater loch located in Wigtownshire, Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland. Barhapple Loch is principally known for the discovery of a Crannog in 1878 on the loch, when it was drained.

Old Luce is a civil parish in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It lies in the Machars peninsula, in the traditional county of Wigtownshire. The parish is around 10 miles (16 km) long and 8 miles (13 km) broad, and contains 40,350 acres (16,330 ha). It was anciently named Glenluce which was divided in 1646 into two parts, the northern one named New Luce, and the southern one named Old Luce. In 1661 the two parishes of Old and New Luce were reunited for a time, and when the 1684 Wigtownshire Parish List was recorded, it listed both Old Luce and New Luce under “Glenluce Parish”. In 1688, after the Glorious Revolution, the separation of Old Luce and New Luce became permanent. Old Luce has a Community Council.

Glenluce (Scottish Gaelic: Clachan Ghlinn Lus) is a small village in the parish of Old Luce in Wigtownshire, Scotland. It contains a village shop, a caravan park and a town hall, as well as the parish church.

Glenluce station was a station open in 1862 on the former Port Road that was constructed on the Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Joint Railway. It served the town of Glenluce and provided a strategic link between London Euston and the West Coast Main Line via Carlisle Citadel along the Castle Douglas and Dumfries Railway followed the Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Railway to the port at Stranraer for the ferries to Larne Harbour. It was closed under the Beeching Axe in 1965.

The Water of Luce is a river in Dumfries and Galloway, in south west Scotland. The Main Water of Luce rises in South Ayrshire, flows south to New Luce, where it is joined by the Cross Water of Luce, and flows into the Solway Firth at Luce Bay. The Luce is crossed by the eight-arch Glenluce Viaduct near to Glenluce. This once carried the Portpatrick Railway to Stranraer.

The Castle of Park is a 16th-century L-plan tower house near Glenluce, in the historic county of Wigtownshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is a category A listed building.

Glenluce Abbey, near to Glenluce, Scotland, was a Cistercian monastery called also Abbey of Luce or Vallis Lucis and founded around 1190 by Rolland or Lochlann, Lord of Galloway and Constable of Scotland. Following the Scottish Reformation in 1560, the abbey fell into disuse.

Mid Gleniron is a prehistoric site in Dumfries and Galloway used in the Neolithic and Bronze Age. The site is a scheduled ancient monument that comprises a group of six burial cairns. Two of the cairns, Mid Gleniron I and Mid Gleniron II are chambered cairns of the Clyde tradition. These are of historical importance because of their multi-stage construction which provides evidence for the development of Clyde cairns at the beginning of the Neolithic period.

The Tarf Water is a river in the former county of Wigtownshire in south-west Scotland. It rises on the Ayrshire border (55.0048°N 4.7815°W / 55.0048; -4.7815 (Tarf Water, source)) and flows in a generally southeastward direction to meet the River Bladnoch near the village of Kirkcowan (54.9103°N 4.5792°W / 54.9103; -4.5792 (Tarf Water, mouth)). It has no major tributaries but is fed by several burns that drain an area characterised by drumlins and much of which has been afforested. The name Tarf derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *tauro- 'bull, aurochs'. Bulls occur frequently in Celtic river names, and these names may have had a mythological rather than literal referent. Like other examples of this name in southern Scotland, 'Tarf' is Gaelic in form but is likely to derive in turn from an earlier Cumbric cognate.

Luce Bay is a large bay in Wigtownshire in southern Scotland. The bay is 20 miles wide at its mouth and is bounded by the Rhins of Galloway to the west and the Machars to the east. The Scares are rocky islets at the mouth of the bay.