Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for Wigtownshire

Wigtownshire, a maritime co. in SW. extremity of Scotland, forming the W. division of Galloway; is bounded N. by Ayrshire and the mouth of the Firth of Clyde, E. by Kirkcudbrightshire, S. by the Irish Sea, and W. by the Irish Channel; greatest length, E. and W., 30 miles; greatest breadth, N. and S., 28 miles; area, 310,742 ac., pop. 38,611. The coast, about 120 miles in extent, is for the most part bold and rocky; the chief headlands are Burrow Head, the Mull of Galloway (the most southerly land in Scotland), and Corsewall Point. The interior is divided into three great districts - the double peninsula W. of Loch Ryan and Luce Bay, known as the Rhinns of Galloway; the peninsula between Luce Bay and Wigtown, called the Machers; and the Moors, in the N. of the co. The surface is mostly low and moderately level, except in the Moors, which are hilly, and abound in mosses. There is much excellent arable land in the Rhinns and the Machers. (For agricultural statistics, see Appendix.) The chief streams are the Cree, which flows along the E. boundary, the Bladenoch, and Luce Water. Lochs are numerous, but small. Agriculture, dairy-farming, and sheep-farming afford the chief employments. The co. comprises 17 pars., the police burghs of Newton-Stewart, Stranraer, and Whithorn, and the royal burgh of Wigtown. It returns 1 member to Parliament.


(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a maritime county"   (ADL Feature Type: "countries, 2nd order divisions")
Administrative units: Wigtownshire ScoCnty
Place: Wigtownshire

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