Stranraer is located in the extreme south-west of Scotland in the Dumfries and Galloway Region. Located on the sheltered southern edge of Loch Ryan at the mouth of the River Wyre, this small harbour town of approximately 10,000 residents is backed by the relatively flat land of the peninsular known as the Rhinns of Galloway.
Known primarily as the main ferry port linking Scotland to Northern Ireland, Stranraer is also a holiday resort with paddling pools, a marine lake, park and gardens. The Wigtown Museum, housed in the old Town Hall in George Street, covers the history of what used to be Wigtownshire. It includes information on the religious persecutions carried out in the 17th century by Graham of Claverhouse, who held a reign of terror against the so-called ‘Covenanters’, or extremist Presbyterians, who fought for religious and political freedom. It also contains information on the town’s well known polar explore, Sir John Ross. Born in 1777, Ross became a famous British Arctic explorer after he was commissioned in 1818 to find the infamous North West Passage!!
Another museum stands in the Castle of St John, built around 1500, the castle is a medieval tower-house and became the town gaol in the late 17th century when it was used to imprison Covenanters during the persecution. There are many memorials to these martyrs in the ancient district of Galloway.
Stranraer is the largest town on the ‘Rhinns of Galloway’, in an area much ignored by modern civilization. The climate is gentle and mild, because of the Gulf Stream which washes the sandy beaches and cliffs. Fog, frosts and snow are rarely seen.
Other places of interest within 30 kilometres –
Portpatrick, a small village on the west coast of the Rhinns of Galloway, is the beginning of one of the greatest long distance (341 kilometres) footpaths in Scotland – the Southern Upland Way. Home to a small fishing fleet and a lifeboat service, the village in built into the windswept cliffs.
Logan Botanic Gardens, 15 kilometres south of Stranraer, is an offshoot of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh. Because of its mild climate, due to the influence of the North Atlantic drift, exotic, southern hemisphere plants grow in abundance, with palm trees and giant tree ferns as well as what would be called greenhouse plants.
Ardwell House, within 3 to 4 kilometres of Logan, has another fine garden famous for its daffodils, rhododendrons and roses.
Glenluce Abbey is a ruined 12th century Cistercian monastery and can be found 15 kilometres east of the town. The ruins stand in the valley of the Water of Luce and consist of cloister walls and chapter house. It is known for the medieval wizard Michael Scot, whose books of magic are said to be buried here.
The Mull of Galloway, 30 kilometres south of the town, an area of impressive granite cliffs, home to multitudes of seabirds. At the point, which is Scotland’s most southerly area, stands a lighthouse and visitors centre. Much of the coastline is a RSPB nature reserve.
Did you know that – the wizard, Michael Scot, in the 13th century, is said to have enticed the plague to Glenluce Abbey and locked it in a vault there?
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