Biggar

Town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, 43 km/27 mi southwest of Edinburgh; population (2001) 2,100. Set out mainly along one long street, it provides a market and service centre for a wide agricultural and rural area. Tourism is also an important industry.

Several museums have been established, including Biggar Gasworks, built in 1839 and Scotland's oldest surviving rural gasworks. Although no longer in operation, it is occasionally fired for display. The town has an internationally-renowned puppet theatre, which is housed in a miniature reproduction Victorian theatre.

In the 12th century, Flemish immigrants under royal patronage took up local residence; the motte or earth mound in the town being a surviving remnant of one of their castles. St Mary's Kirk, founded in 1545, was the last kirk (church) to be built before the Reformation.