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 Market Place |
Biggar is an ancient settlement on the northern flank of the Southern Uplands. Today this busy market town serves a large rural area. It is made busier still by being bisected by the A702, one of the main routes from Edinburgh to south-west Scotland and north-west England.
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Biggar has probably been settled since prehistoric times. The A702 passes through the village on the line of a Roman Road linking the Clyde Valley to their fort at Musselburgh and the Romans were probably the first to bridge the Biggar Burn here.
 Biggar Kirk |
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 Moat Park Heritage Centre |
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 Gasworks Museum |
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 High Street Shops |
In 1164 Biggar Kirk was built in stone on a site just to the north of the centre of the town, replacing a much earlier wooden chapel. It was in turn replaced by the current Biggar Kirk in 1546. In the 1100s a motte and bailey castle was built at Biggar and the following century the Biggar Burn was bridged: possibly using the earlier Roman bridge foundations.
The town grew steadily through the succeeding centuries, with a school established in 1608 and a post office in 1715. Mills and a brewery followed, and a branch line railway reached Biggar in 1860 despite its relatively high altitude of 215m. The railway closed to passengers in 1953, and to freight in 1966.
Earlier established and longer lasting than the railway was Biggar Gas Works. This started life in 1836 and produced gas from coal for lighting, heating and cooking. Natural gas replaced coal gas in the 1970s and gas works were closed and dismantled. But not in Biggar, where the works were converted into a museum.
The Biggar Gas Works Museum is open to visitors from 2.00pm to 5.00pm every day from June to September and can be found towards the south-western end of the town, along a side road by the Cross Keys Inn. You can't miss it: the diminutive gasholders are very distinctive.
The Gas Works Museum is just one of a surprisingly large number of museums in Biggar. The focus is the Moat Park Heritage Centre, opposite Biggar Kirk. This is open from Easter to mid-October.
Others in the town include the Albion Motors Museum, open at weekends from April to September; the Greenhill Covenanters' Museum open from April to mid-October; the Puppet Museum open from Easter to September; and the Gladstone Court Museum also open from Easter to October.
Biggar is an attractive town whose linear layout still follows the course of the Roman road and the modern A702. And at its centre lies the market place, long, broad and gently climbing as you move from west to east.
The town remains home to many small locally-run shops, making browsing a more interesting experience than in the identikit high streets all too common elsewhere. It is also home to a range of hotels, cafes, pubs and accommodation providers which make Biggar a candidate as a touring base for southern Scotland.
