Wigtown — Scotland’s Book Town

Wigtown, Scotland’s Book Town, is one of those places that feels inviting the moment you arrive. Especially if you love to read books!

Located way down south—closer to England’s Lake District than Edinburgh—this little seaside town is home to 900 residents and a dozen independently owned book shops. My family ventured here on a trail tracing my husband’s ancestral roots, but left with the distinct impression that Wigtown deserves a stay for anyone exploring Scotland’s southwest.

Why? Well for starters, it flies really low on the tourist radar, which means you can rub elbows with the friendly locals and get a glimpse into the lives of a Scottish community while absorbing the peace and quiet of the surrounding countryside where sandy ocean beaches, mountains, hills, forests, mudflats and rivers are all a short 15-20 minute drive away. Rural landscapes are dotted with sheep, stone towers, medieval ruins, bird hides and even standing stones. The town itself is chock full of history, from Covenanters to early Christianity. And then there’s the books…If you like browsing through old books, well, this place is for you.

 

THREE REASONS why book lovers will adore Wigtown, Scotland’s Book Town:

1. Shop to your heart’s content. There’s more books here than anywhere else in Scotland.

Currently 14 different book stores are situated within easy walking distance from main street with plenty of space for parking. Shops tucked into former Georgian styled homes with painted doorways and window frames cater to patrons looking for various subjects based on genre or themes. Most closed on Sunday. Here are just some of the choices…

The Book Shop – Scotland’s largest and oldest.

This quirky second-hand shop is a joy to get lost in. Nooks and crannies stocked with books themed by subject, author or region are scattered throughout the ground floor of this massive home. Remaining spaces are filled with quotes on the walls, postcards, antiques, worn rugs, tattered leather chairs, ladders and even a festival bed.

The humor of owner Shaun Bythell comes through his jumbled assortment of oddities like his posted BookShop rules, a stuffed badger, and the skeleton playing a violin above oblivious customers. But perhaps his strongest statement is the Kindle he destroyed by gunfire which is mounted on the wall. Books are not dead!

You’re sure to meet Captain, the black-and-white cat.

But what makes a visit especially interesting is that the shop is the setting of Shaun’s first book, Diary of a Book Seller. So if you’ve read the book, you’re looking at the shop through his eyes, scrutinizing people and wondering if you recognize them from the book— Shaun shares his opinionated views of local characters and employees with open frankness, which more often than not, is not particularly flattering. But his wry sense of humor often had me laughing out loud.

The Book Shop also features in a book authored by Jessica Fox, who presents another view of Shaun and his book shop. Three Things You Need to Know about Rockets is a fast moving, enjoyable hard-to-put-down memoir about a California girl’s quest for love. It’s a great counter point, providing an American’s perspective of adjusting to life in this Scottish Stars Hollow town. Yoga–what’s that?!  I highly recommend both books. Best read as a set!

              

Shaun’s latest book, Confessions of a Bookseller, recently released, will be the topic of his presentation at the book festival at a ticketed event on Sept 29th.

We spent the longest time browsing through the excellent selection of books here in this shop. It was difficult to narrow down our choices to add to our bulging luggage. I was only disappointed that I didn’t get to meet Shaun or get him to autograph the copy I brought from home (he was upstairs sleeping in, having returned from London late last night).

Shaun helps organize the annual festival and offers a monthly Random Book Club, where he selects any book from his shop to send members without regard to their personal preference. Who doesn’t appreciate the element of surprise? (Apparently a lot, cuz the Random Book Club is so widely popular now that it is currently closed to new members.) For more info about his shop, visit The Bookshop. Opening time is 9am, an hour earlier than most other shops in town.

The Old Bank
A former librarian co-owns this 5 room book shop, where shelves are stacked to the ceiling with out-of-print books and sheet music. A small selection of new books about Wigtown’s history, written by local authors, including historian Donna Brewster, are for sale in the front room. We picked up a couple of her books about Covenanter history here.

There was also a section dedicated to famous poet Robert Burns, who grew up in Ayr and spent his last years in nearby Dumfries. This was one of two shops we could find open on a Sunday (11am-5:30pm).

Byre Books
Situated a half block off of main street partially hidden by a canopy of bushes, this shop has a secretive feel. The renovated barn contains a small collection of books related to folklore, mythology, theatre, film, and archaeology. This was the other shop we visited on Sunday.

Curly Tale Books
A small shop specializing in children books.

Beltie Books
Nice selection of Scottish history, including books about the Covenanters and related events which occurred in town. A cafe on the premised offers tea and cake between browsing. Closed Sunday and Monday.

Reading Lasses
A large book shop featuring authors and subjects about women with a cafe selling home-baked goods and coffee. Closed Wednesdays.

At the Sign of the Dragon
The only shop located away from the main drag, it features books about science fiction, horror, crime and fantasy. Open 11-4 weekdays, it has the most limited hours of book shops in town.

Wigtown Festival Company, No 11 
This is the only book shop devoted to new releases. Also the place to go for more info on the opportunity described below.

 

2. Run a book store for a week!

Have you ever dreamt of running a book store in a small seaside town? Having the freedom to feature your favorite genre or author,  completely change the displays or rearrange the books according to your personal whim?

Well, in Wigtown you can.

This unique opportunity—the only one of its kind in the world—comes with an apartment that you rent thru AirBnB. Paying guests have full control of running the Open Book, a corner second-hand book store while staying in the flat above the shop. Yes, full control. That includes changing the window displays, deciding what to highlight, pairing up books or even repricing them. It’s up to you! And of course it includes coming up with ideas to entice people to drop in and chatting with those that do. Because locals will likely be eager to meet you!

A team of volunteers through the Wigtown Festival Company (the non-profit that organizes this resident bookseller program) welcomes guests and introduces them to the community. Guests are often invited out for dinner, tea, drinks at the pub or taken on personal tours of surrounding sites like crumbling castle ruins.

This resident bookseller idea came from Jessica Fox, a woman who lived in California but dreamt of running a book shop by the sea in Scotland. Acting on her romantic vision, she stayed for a few weeks as a writer-in-residence in a room above Wigtown’s The Book Shop. If you’ve read her memoir, Three Things You Need to Know about Rockets, you know how she fell in love with Shaun, the owner of the shop, and returned to live with him. She figured that if it was her dream to run a book shop, it would certainly appeal to others.

And that it has!

The apartment above the Open Book is currently booked every week until December 2022. (But you can get on their waiting list.) However, the Festival Company is currently offering the chance to bid on a 5 day stay during the upcoming annual festival Oct 1-6, 2019. So if this appeals to you, hurry! Deadline to bid is August 15, 2019.

In the past, different book sellers at the Open Book have hosted wine tastings, organized book readings, game nights, author birthday parties and opportunities for locals to learn about the hometowns of the various guests.

I was very excited to meet the current booksellers during my visit, and to attend whatever event they might be hosting that weekend. But to my dismay…the shop was closed without any notice about opening hours. I don’t know if they had a sudden vacancy or the booksellers were out exploring their new surroundings.

The resident booksellers are encouraged to write about their experiences on the Open Book blog which makes interesting reading, to see who was running the shop and what they did while here. This resident bookselling program has been running  6 years strong, and judging from the reservations page has no intention of slacking off. Jessica’s idea has appealed to all ages from college students and young families to retirees living all over the world from Korea to Australia.

3. Attend a national book festival featuring well known authors.

Accomplished writers, poets, musicians and historians draw literary fans to Wigtown, Scotland’s Book Town for ten days each Autumn. This annual festival, which began back in 1998, offers over 200 events from workshops, lectures, readings and writer’s conferences to field trips and concerts. Plus there’s a poetry contest, open to international writers.

Dates for the festival this year are Sept 27 to Oct 6, 2019. Events include presentations by novelists, poets, professors, painters, journalists and historians along with bird walks, bat walks, garden and farm tours (learn about Belties, black cows with a distinctive white stripe, Beltex sheep and Highland Hairy Coos). Other events include field trips to Whithorn, a writer’s conference, and three music concerts.

Winners of poetry competitions, open to local and international writers, are announced at the festival. Separate categories offer a chance to win cash prizes up to £1500. Poets should submit their work by early June for consideration in the Autumn festival.

To reserve tickets for individual events click on the Wigtown festival page. The Autumn festival is clearly the biggie, but there’s also a smaller festival in May.

 

What Else is there to do?

Besides browsing through book shops, you can head further south to check out fishing villages, the ancient Celtic crosses at Whithorn’s Priory, hike, mountain bike, or laze on a sandy beach. It’s all within a 20-30 minute reach. Or stay in town and walk to the Martyr’s Stake in the salt marsh (pic below). Or watch birds from a hide on the estuary.

Where to Stay?

Unless you’re lucky to snag someone’s cancelled Open Book reservation, you’ll have to find alternate lodging in town if you visit within the next couple of years.

There are 3 guesthouses, 1 hotel and 3 cottages for rent in Wigtown. Compare choices on the map below through Booking.com.

[booking_product_helper shortname=”wigtown, scotland”]

 

We stayed at the wonderful Craigmont Inn, a block away from the Open Book on the outskirts of town. Rates were extremely affordable, especially coming here after Edinburgh!

Our bright and airy family room overlooked the distant sea and was plenty spacious for three. Breakfast was an elaborate affair cooked to order, with free-range eggs and organic garden fare.

Our friendly hosts went out of their way to make us feel at home, and even sent us on our way with homemade gluten-free brownies.

Our favorite places to eat:

Craft Hotel (on the main street a couple blocks from our inn)
We enjoyed their steak pie, chicken curry and our first taste of haggis, which was surprisingly good! Plus the atmosphere was cozy with leather couches beside a fireplace and dim mood lighting. Dining room closes around 8:30pm. Live music plays in the bar some nights.

Bladnoch Inn
Go for their Sunday “carvery” a lunch buffet of roast beef, ham, blood sausage, pudding, potatoes, peas and carrots and more. Located about 10 minutes out of town, follow road A714 leading away from the Open Book, cross the river and pass the whiskey distillery to reach the tiny community of Bladnoch. Can’t miss the corner restaurant/tavern/inn. Open for Sunday carvery 12-3, lunch daily 12-3, and dinner daily 6-8pm. (Note: the gas station next door is the closest place to refuel in Wigtown.)

Unfortunately we didn’t get to sample any fare at the bookshop cafes as they were closed during our weekend visit. We did dine at the Cobweb one night, but preferred the food and atmosphere at the Craft. Restaurants close early, around 8pm, so don’t dally like you would back home.

Where’s Wigtown?

Wigtown, Scotland’s Book Town, is located 2 hours west of England’s Lake District, 3 hours southwest of Edinburgh, 2 hours south of Glasgow or a 3 hr 20 min ferry ride from Belfast, Ireland. Plug in your departure city to calculate the best driving route on Google Maps. Then hit the road! Expect to travel on two-way paved roads that wind through hilly countrysides. Add in extra time to stop at abbey ruins or medieval castles along the way no matter which direction you depart from.

Although we didn’t visit during festival time, stay at the Open Book or visit all the book stores, we still loved our short 2 night stay in Wigtown and would certainly come back. Serene birdsong, gentle sea breezes, friendly people, and the quiet nature of this little town drew us right in. No major attractions were necessary.

It was a perfect place to mellow out and unwind… and oh, so easy to find a good book.

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