Wigton is in Dumfries and Galloway, situated on the north side of the mouth of the river Bladenoch, where it flows into Wigton Bay on the Irish Sea. The name Wigton means ‘Wicga’s farm’. It is derived from Wicga, an Old English personal name and tun, the Old English word for ‘farm’. It was recorded as Wyggeton in 1293. Wigton was a royal burgh, probably from the fourteenth century, although the earliest surviving charter dates from the reign of James II in 1457. Wigton Castle, which had probably been built by Alexander III in the 1280’s was demolished by the Bruces in 1310, and only traces of foundations were visible at the time of this survey. The Fleming family had been made Earls of Wigton in 1341, but this was transferred to the Douglas family in 1372, again reverting to the Flemings from 1606 until 1747. The population recorded in the 1891 census was 1,591, a drop from the figure of 1,789 recorded in 1881.