Wigan

For the larger local government district, see Metropolitan Borough of Wigan.

Wigan is a town in North West England. It is the largest settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, and lies within the historic borders of Lancashire. In the 2001 census it had a population of 81,203.The historic core of Wigan forms a tightly-integrated conurbation along with Pemberton, Orrell and Ince-in-Makerfield, this is connected by ribbon development to Standish and Abram. These areas, together with the Lancashire town of Skelmersdale, are identified by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as the Wigan Urban Area, with a total population of 166,840. The larger metropolitan borough of Wigan has a population of around 300,000.

It is roughly equidistant from the cities of Manchester, Preston and Liverpool. Neighbouring towns include : Leigh, St Helens, Bolton, Chorley and Warrington.

History

Etymology

Wigan's place-name meaning has a rather doubtful etymology. Some sources suggest the name is a Celtic one named after a person called Wigan; this would be a personal name place-name, e.g. Stevenston in Ayrshire or Kelly in Devon but other sources suggest the etymology is from Old English wig / wiga 'warrior' (not meaning the same as modern English wig!) or wicga 'insect', but this is not backed up by most written sources. The name was recorded as Wicgen in 1286.

Early history

The first people reported to have settled in the Wigan area were the Brigantes. It is believed by some Wigan residents that the Romans took over "Chochion", as it was then known, in around 79 AD during one of many wars with the Celts and renamed the settlement "Coccium", however, there is no proven evidence of this claim being true. Indeed, contents of the 'Antonine Itinerary' (written evidence of Roman roads and stations) prove the 'Coccium' claim unfounded. However, some evidence of Roman occupation has been found in the area, the most recent finding being a hypocaust system discovered during the construction of the foundations for a new shopping centre in the town centre.

The traditional date given for the incorporation of Wigan as a borough is 1246.

The earliest incorporation of the town is actually mentioned in the report of the Norry King of Arms in 1613, that "The Towne and Bourrough of Wiggin was antiently incorporated by the most noble Kinge, Kinge Hen, the first, in the first year of his raygne," i.e. the year 1100. If so, this would make the borough the oldest in the region, and one of the oldest in the country.

English Civil War

The Battle of Wigan Lane was fought on August 25, 1651 during the Third English Civil War, between Royalists under the command of the Earl of Derby and elements of the New Model Army under the command of Colonel Robert Lilburne. The Royalists were defeated, losing nearly half their officers and men. The Earl of Derby, as Lord of Mann, had enlisted ten men from each parish in the Isle of Man; 170 in total. David Craine states, "those who did not fall in the fighting [were] hunted to their death through the countryside."

A monument, on Wigan Lane, stands in memory of Sir Thomas Tyldesley who was killed at the Battle of Wigan Lane.

Industry and Commerce

Yarrow Reservoir, one of several on the West Pennine Moors that supplies drinking water to the town

Wigan, primarily a mill town, was once important for cotton textile production. The Leeds-Liverpool canal was diverted from its original planned course, at the request of the mill owners, to transport coal from the Lancashire coalfield pits into Wigan for the mills and was used extensively to transport local produce. In 1818 William Woods introduced the first power looms to the Wigan cotton mills. These mills swiftly became infamous for their dangerous and unbearable conditions, low pay and use of child labour. After the 1914-18 war there was a boom followed by a slump from which Wigan's textile industry did not recover. The last working cotton mill, the May mill, closed in 1980. The novel Rose by Martin Cruz Smith is centred around the Victorian era coal mining in Lancashire, not far from Wigan.

In 1937, Wigan was prominently featured in George Orwell's The Road to Wigan Pier, which dealt, in large part, with the living conditions of England's working poor. The town has enjoyed a complex relationship with this association. Wigan has occasionally embraced the Orwellian link, as it has provided the area with a modest tourist base over the years. However, most regard the insinuation that Wigan is in fact no better now than it was as the Victorian era slum with objection and frank hostility. A recent TV documentary about Orwell visited Wigan, and made a comparison to less-affluent areas such as Platt Bridge and Standish Lower Ground, commenting that not much had changed. This was met with widespread local disapproval.

Civic history

Wigan was one of the few industrial towns of the 19th century to have already received a charter as a borough. It was reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, and was one of the boroughs to be granted the status of county borough by the Local Government Act 1888; giving it independence from Lancashire County Council. The former area of Pemberton Urban District was annexed to the borough in 1904. In 1974 the county borough was abolished and its former area transferred from Lancashire to Greater Manchester to form part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan.

Wigan forms part of the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool, and was historically part of the hundred of West Derby. The ancient parish of Wigan All Saints contained a number of township which formed separate civil parishes from 1866.

Culture

Music

Wigan has been well known for its popular music since the days of George Formby Snr and George Formby Jnr. It was the birthplace of The Eight Lancashire Lads a dancing troupe who gave the young Charlie Chaplin his professional debut. One of the troupe was a John Willie Jackson, The "John Willie" to whom George Formby would often refer in his songs.

Local bands that gained wider repute include The Railway Children, Witness, The Tansads, Limahl of Kajagoogoo and (more recently) Starsailor.

The Verve are one of the most important British rock groups of the 1990s, finding success in the UK and abroad (even touring on the USA's famous Lollapalooza alternative rock festival). The band was formed when the members met at Winstanley College in 1989. They held their most famous homecoming gig at Haigh Hall, Wigan on 24th May 1998.

The Wigan Casino was, from 1973, the location for Wigan's weekly Northern Soul all-nighters (most being DJed by famous deep funk & northern soul DJ Keb Darge), until it was demolished in 1983.

Wigan remains a centre of popular music for young people, with a number of alternative pubs/clubs in the town centre. The town also has a music collective which exists to promote the scene and help out local musicians and bands. They host weekly gigs at The Tavern and also host various other activities such as the annual Haigh Hall music festival, recording sessions and gig advice for young musicians.

Public transport

Satellite image of Wigan

Rail

There are two main rail stations in Wigan. These are located virtually across the street from each other in Wallgate, on the southern fringe of the town centre.

• Wigan North Western is on the electrified north-south West Coast Main Line.
  Virgin Trains provides express trains to London Euston, Birmingham, Lancaster, Carlisle, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Northern Rail has trains to Preston and Blackpool and a regular local service along the line to St Helens and Liverpool Lime Street.

• Wigan Wallgate serves lines running east and west from Wigan.
  Northern Rail provides trains to Southport and Kirkby (with connections to Liverpool Central and the Merseyrail system). A frequent local service also operates to Bolton and Manchester (Victoria and Piccadilly), with most trains from Wigan continuing through to other destinations such as Manchester Airport, Stockport, Oldham and Rochdale.

In addition to the two town centre stations, there are stations served by local trains at Bryn, Pemberton, Orrell, Gathurst, Appley Bridge, Ince and Hindley.

Buses

A network of local buses serves Wigan and district, co-ordinated by Greater Manchester PTE and departing from a bus station in the town centre, which is also served by National Express long distance services.

Since deregulation and privatisation of the bus industry in the 1980s and 90s, a number of different companies have operated in Wigan, some big, some small.
At present the two larger national operators are:-

• First Manchester, which operates routes generally to the north-east, east and south-east of the town, including buses to Leigh, Bolton and Manchester.
• Arriva, which operates north and west of Wigan to Chorley, Preston, Skelmersdale, Southport, St Helens and Warrington.

South Lancs Travel also provide services around the borough of Wigan.

Labour Clubs

Wigan has long been a heartland of the National Union of Labour Clubs, having at one time 30 Labour Clubs in the town. In recent years this has gone down to about twenty. The NULSC has also used Haigh Hall for an annual festival.

Sport

Wigan's main sports teams are Wigan Warriors (rugby league), Wigan Athletic (football), and Orrell (rugby union). Wigan Athletic and Wigan Warriors share the JJB Stadium, while Orrell play at Edge Hall Road.

As Wigan RLFC, the "Warriors" in the eighties and nineties were England's leading rugby league team. A poor start to the 2006 Super League season resulted in the sacking of Ian Millward as coach, and prompted the hiring of Bradford Bulls coach Brian Noble. Noble brought in players including Stuart Fielden and the team won 9 of their last 13 matches, ensuring that they weren't relegated, and finished 8th in the league table.

Wigan Athletic were elected to the Football League only in 1978 and had little success for many years, but they have recently gained promotion to the F.A. Premier League and the 2005/06 season was their first ever in the top flight. The team was in the top half of the table for the entire season, finishing tenth, and made it to the League Cup Final in February 2006, where they were beaten by neighbours Manchester United.

Wigan is one of relatively few towns in the UK to have an international-standard swimming pool in the town centre. The pool itself was built to exact Olympic standards, but has never been used for official Olympic sanctioned competition. The resident swimming club, Wigan Wasps, which has now changed its name to Wigan BEST[1] has produced Olympic standard swimmers, including medal winner June Croft.

Notable People

The people in this list were either born or brought up in Wigan (not necessarily both), or have had some significant connection with the town during their life.

• Richard Ashcroft, Lead singer of The Verve.
• Billy Boston, Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee,
• Kay Burley, TV Newscaster
• Leslie Cannon, trade union leader
• Shaun Edwards, Rugby player.
• Edward Entwistle, engineer and the the first passenger train driver in the world, was from Tyldesley, Salford, (now in Wigan borough).
• Andrew Farrell, former Great Britain Rugby League captain and Wigan Warriors captain.
• George Formby, comedian, Ukulele player and Isle of Man TT racer on a 'Shuttleworth Snap'. Arguably the most famous person who 'Genuinely' came from Wigan.
• Joe Gormley, (Ashton in Makerfield), former miner and president of the 'National Union of Mineworkers'.
• Lawrence Isherwood, Artist
• Roy Kinnear, Comedy actor
• Limahl, Chris Hamill, pop singer
• Stuart Maconie, Journalist/Broadcaster
• Sir Ian McKellen, Hollywood actor
• Jennifer Moss, actress
• Eva Pope, actress
• Frank Randle, comedian
• Frank Richards, Bodybuilder, Winner of Mr Universe (Tall) 1970, Winner of Mr World (Tall) 1969, Winner of Mr Britain 1969, Top 10 Mr Olympia 1985.
• Ted Ray, comedian
• Davey Boy Smith, professional wrestler. Held various World Wrestling Federation championships (Golborne, Warrington, but now under Wigan Borough).
• Davinia Taylor, actress
• Wallace and Gromit, fictional stop motion characters
• Dave Whelan, businessman and owner of the Wigan Warriors, Wigan Athletic, Orrell RUFC and JJB Sports.
• Gerrard Winstanley, founder of the 17th century Diggers

Business connections to the town include Heinz the home of the baked bean, formally 57 varieties, amongst the largest food manufacturers in Europe. JJB Sports, Uncle Joe's Mint Balls and Pataks who are in Leigh which is in the Wigan borough, their head office being in Haydock and countless others including Yates's Fish and Chip Shop in Goose Green.

Thomas Beecham, sold his 'Beechams Pills' in Wigan for a short time, before moving to St Helens where he founded, what was to become, the worlds largest pharmacutical producer. The Lindsay art connoisseurs are connected with the town.

See also

• Coat of arms of Wigan
• Wigan Rural District
• Wigan North Western railway station
• The Road to Wigan Pier
• Earl of Crawford

External links

• Website of the film 'Catch - the hold not taken', classic documentary on wrestling in Wigan, compare's the town's significance to 'Camelot'
• Online borough guide
• wigantoday - Wigan Observer, Wigan Recorder, Wigan Evening Post
• wiganworld - photographs