Newton Stewart ( Gd: ''Baile Ùr nan Stiùbhartach'') is a former

burgh A burgh is an autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland and Northern England, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burg ...

town in the historical county of Wigtownshire in

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the counties of Scotland, historic counties of ...

, southwest Scotland. The town is on the

River Cree The River Cree is a river in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland which runs through Newton Stewart and into the Solway Firth. It forms part of the boundary between the counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. The tributaries of the Cree are ...

with most of the town to the west of the river, and is sometimes referred to as the "Gateway to the Galloway Hills". The main local industries are agriculture, forestry and tourism. The town hosts a local market, and a number of services to support the farming industry. There are many mountain biking trails in the area. Newton Stewart lies on the southern edge of the

Galloway Forest Park Galloway Forest Park is a forest park operated by Forestry and Land Scotland, principally covering woodland in Dumfries and Galloway. It is claimed to be the largest forest in the UK. The park was granted Dark Sky Park status ("Galloway Forest ...

, which supplies many jobs to the town. Newton Stewart is from Scotland's book town

Wigtown Wigtown ( (both used locally); gd, Baile na h-Ùige) is a town and former royal burgh in Wigtownshire, of which it is the county town, within the Dumfries and Galloway region in Scotland. It lies east of Stranraer and south of Newton Stewart. I ...

History

Dashwood Square, Newton Stewart - geograph

The town was founded in the mid 17th century by William Stewart, fourth and youngest son of the 2nd

Earl of Galloway Earl of Galloway is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1623 for Alexander Stewart, 1st Lord Garlies, with remainder to his heirs male bearing the name and arms of Stewart. He had already been created Lord Garlies in the Peer ...

. The "New Town of Stewart" was granted

status by charter from King Charles II, allowing a weekly market and two annual fairs to be held. It was on a pilgrimage to the shrine of

St Ninian Ninian is a Christian saint, first mentioned in the 8th century as being an early missionary among the Pictish peoples of what is now Scotland. For this reason he is known as the Apostle to the Southern Picts, and there are numerous dedication ...

Whithorn Whithorn ( �ʍɪthorn 'HWIT-horn'; ''Taigh Mhàrtainn'' in Gaelic), is a royal burgh in the historic county of Wigtownshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, about south of Wigtown. The town was the location of the first recorded Christian ...

in 1329 that

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventual ...

forded the river where the present bridge stands. Designed by

John Rennie the Elder John Rennie FRSE FRS (7 June 1761 – 4 October 1821) was a Scottish civil engineer who designed many bridges, canals, docks and warehouses, and a pioneer in the use of structural cast-iron. Early years He was born the younger son of James ...

and built in 1813 the present bridge replaced the old bridge of 1745. The industrialist Sir William Douglas (died 1809), best known for founding the planned town of

Castle Douglas Castle Douglas ( gd, Caisteal Dhùghlais) is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It lies in the lieutenancy area of Kirkcudbrightshire, in the eastern part of Galloway, between the towns of Dalbeattie and Gatehouse of Fleet. It is in the ...

, also established cotton mills in Newton Stewart, which was renamed "Newton Douglas" in his honour but soon reverted to Newton Stewart. The main municipal building in the town, the

McMillan Hall McMillan Hall is a building on the campus of Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania, United States. Built in 1793, it is the only surviving building from Washington Academy. It is the eighth-oldest academic building in the Uni ...

, was completed in 1885.

Transport

The

A75 road The A75 is a primary trunk road in Scotland, linking Stranraer and its ferry ports at Cairnryan with the A74(M) at Gretna, close to the border with England and the M6 motorway. Route Heading west along the south coast of Scotland from its ju ...

runs along the southern edge of the town, and connects the town to

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of L ...

in the west and

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

in the east. Public transport in and around the town and to places in South Ayrshire and Dumfries & Galloway is mainly provided by

Stagecoach Western Stagecoach West Scotland ( gd, Stagecoach an Iar na h-Alba) is an operating region of Stagecoach UK Bus, comprising Western Buses Ltd based in Ayr, Scotland. Operations Stagecoach West Scotland operates in west central and southwest Scotland ...

Newton Stewart railway station Newton Stewart railway station served the town of Newton Stewart, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland from 1861 to 1965 on the Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Joint Railway. History The station opened on 12 March 1861 and was situated by the Portpa ...

was on the

Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Joint Railway The Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Joint RailwaysThe final word is in the plural. was a network of railway lines serving sparsely populated areas of south-west Scotland. The title appeared in 1885 when the previously independent Portpatrick Rai ...

and closed in 1965, as a result of the

Beeching Axe The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the ...

. The nearest railway stations are at

and Barrhill which are respectively and from Newton Stewart.

Education

Newton Stewart has three primary schools: * Penninghame * Minnigaff * St Ninian’s RC The town has one secondary school, the

Douglas Ewart High School Douglas Ewart High School was opened in 1922 in Newton Stewart, Scotland. It was formed by the amalgamation of the Douglas Free School opened in 1834 and the High School of the Ewart Institute opened in 1864. The headteacher has been George Web ...

Media

The horror film ''

The Wicker Man ''The Wicker Man'' is a 1973 British folk horror film directed by Robin Hardy and starring Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt, and Christopher Lee. The screenplay by Anthony Shaffer, inspired by David Pinner's 1967 ...

'', set on the fictional privately-owned Scottish island of Summerisle, was filmed almost entirely (some opening scenes filmed in

Plockton Plockton ( gd, Am Ploc/Ploc Loch Aillse) is a village in the Lochalsh, Wester Ross area of the Scottish Highlands with a 2020 population of 468. Plockton settlement is on the shores of Loch Carron. It faces east away from the prevailing winds, a ...

, Wester Ross also) on location around Newton Stewart, and had its

premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...

at its cinema in 1973.

Tourism

There are numerous nature trails nearby as part of

, managed on behalf of the state by

Forest Enterprise Forestry England is a division of the Forestry Commission, responsible for managing and promoting publicly owned forests in England. It was formed as Forest Enterprise in 1996, before devolving to Forest Enterprise England on 31 March 2003 and ...

Sport

Newton Stewart FC, nicknamed the "Creesiders", play in the South of Scotland league, their ground is called Blairmount Park.

Notable people

* The artist and musician

Bill Drummond William Ernest Drummond (born 29 April 1953) is a Scottish artist, musician, writer, and record producer. He was a co-founder of the late-1980s avant-garde pop group the KLF and its 1990s media-manipulating successor, the K Foundation, with wh ...

the KLF The KLF (also known as the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, the JAMs, the Timelords and other names) are a British electronic band formed in London in 1987. Bill Drummond (alias King Boy D) and Jimmy Cauty (alias Rockman Rock) began by releasing ...

and

K Foundation The K Foundation was an art foundation set up by Jimmy Cauty and Bill Drummond, formerly of The KLF, in 1993, following their 'retirement' from the music industry. The Foundation served as an artistic outlet for the duo's post-retirement KLF inc ...

grew up in the town. * Scottish Under 23 international footballer Ian Gibson (1943–2016), played for

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

and Cardiff City amongst others. * Educationalist Prof William Wither McClelland

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(1889–1968) professor of Education at

St Andrews University (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

. * Lieutenant General

Sydney Rigby Wason Lieutenant General Sydney Rigby Wason , and Bar (27 September 1887 – 17 March 1969) was a senior British Army officer in the Second World War. His commands included a corps during the Battle of France and the anti-aircraft defences of Souther ...

CB, MC and Bar (1887 – 1969), a senior officer in the Second World War.

References

{{Authority control Towns in Dumfries and Galloway Burghs Wigtownshire