Wigan

Wikipedia contributors · CC BY-SA · EN · 04/10/2026

Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town lies midway between the cities of Manchester, 16 mi to the south-east, and Liverpool, 17 mi to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town has a population of 107,732 and the wider borough of 330,714. Wigan was part of the historic county of Lancashire.

The town was in the territory of the Brigantes, an ancient Celtic tribe that ruled much of what is now Northern England. The Brigantes were subjugated in the Roman conquest of Britain and the Roman settlement of Coccium was established where Wigan lies. Wigan was incorporated as a borough in 1246, following the issue of a charter by King Henry III of England. At the end of the Middle Ages, it was one of four boroughs in Lancashire established by royal charter. The Industrial Revolution saw a dramatic economic expansion and rapid rise in population. Wigan became a major mill town within a large coal mining district; there were estimated to be 1,000 pit shafts in total within 5 mi of Wigan town centre. Coal mining ceased in the later 20th century.

Wigan Pier, a wharf on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, was made famous by the writer George Orwell. In his book The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), Orwell highlighted the poor working and living conditions of inhabitants in the 1930s. Following the decline of heavy industry, Wigan Pier's warehouses and wharves became a local heritage centre and cultural quarter. The Brick Community Stadium, formerly known as DW Stadium, is home to Wigan Athletic F.C. and Wigan Warriors RLFC.

History

Toponymy

The name of the town has been recorded variously as Wigan in 1199, Wygayn in 1240 and Wygan in numerous historical documents.

The name Wigan is probably a Celtic place-name; it might be a diminutive form of Brittonic wīg 'homestead, settlement" (later Welsh gwig), plus the nominal suffix -an (compare with numerous places in France named Le Vigan); the place name may refer to a Latin vicus. It has also been suggested directly a Celtic personal name Wigan, a name corresponding to Gaulish Vicanus, Old Welsh Uuicant or Old Breton Uuicon.

Similar place-names to the English Wigan exist in France, such as Le Vigan, Gard (Avicantus, Roman inscription; Locus de Vicano 1050) of unknown origin and Le Vigan, Lot, from Latin vicanum, derived form of vicus 'town' + suffix -anum, and the hamlets in Normandy such as (Le) Vigan (L'Oudon, Calvados) and Manoir du Vigan that derive from a Celtic given-name *Wigan, found as feodum Wigani in the 12th century or turres Wiguen at Thaon (Calvados) and survives in the Norman surname Vigan (still in use in Calvados).

Romans

There is very little evidence of prehistoric activity in the area, especially pre-Iron Age. In the 1st century, the area was conquered by the Romans during which time, it was in the territory of a Celtic people known as the Brigantes. The late second-century Antonine Itinerary mentions a Roman settlement called Coccium 17 mi from the Roman fort at Manchester (Mamucium) and 20 mi from the fort at Ribchester (Bremetennacum). Although the distances are slightly out, it has been assumed that Coccium is Roman Wigan. Possible derivations of Coccium include from the Latin coccum, meaning "scarlet in colour, scarlet cloth", or from cocus, meaning "cook". Over the years chance finds (coins and pottery) provided clear indications that a Roman settlement existed at Wigan, although its size and status remained unknown.

In 2005, investigations ahead of the Grand Arcade development, and at the Joint Service Centre development in 2008, have proven that Wigan was a significant Roman site in the late first and second centuries AD. The excavated remains of ditches at Ship Yard off Millgate were consistent with use by the Roman military and possibly formed part of the defences for a fort or a temporary camp. More remains were excavated to the south, in the area of McEwen's Yard (opposite the baths), where foundations of a large and important building were discovered, together with many other Roman features. The building is 36 by in size with stone walls and a tiled roof. It contained around nine or ten rooms including three with hypocausts. It had a colonnaded portico on the northern side, which presumably formed the main entrance. The structure's ground-plan and the presence of the hypocausts show it may have been a bath-house. A timber building excavated at the Joint Service Centre (top of the Wiend) has been interpreted as a barrack block. This suggests a Roman fort occupied the crest of the hill, taking advantage of the strategic position overlooking the River Douglas. The evidence gained from these excavations shows that Wigan was an important Roman settlement, and was almost certainly the place referred to as Coccium in the Antonine Itinerary.

Anglo-Saxons

In the Anglo-Saxon period, the area was probably under the control of the Northumbrians and later the Mercians. Celtic names in the area around Wigan—such as Ashton in Makerfield and Ince—indicate a continued Celtic presence in the area in the face of Anglo-Saxon incursions. In the early 10th century, there was an influx of Scandinavians expelled from Ireland. This can be seen in place names such as Scholes, part of Wigan which derives from the Scandinavian skali meaning "hut". Further evidence comes from some street names in Wigan which have Scandinavian origins.

Domesday Book

Wigan is not mentioned in the Domesday Book, possibly because it was included in the Neweton barony (now Newton-le-Willows). It is thought that the mention of the unnamed church in the manor of Neweton is Wigan Parish Church (not the church of St. Oswald (Winwick) which is specifically named in the Domesday Book). The rectors of the parish church were lords of the manor of Wigan, a sub-manor of Neweton, until the 19th century. Wigan was incorporated as a borough in 1246 following the issue of a charter by King Henry III to John Maunsell, the local church rector and lord of the manor. The borough was later granted another charter in 1257–1258, allowing the lord of the manor to hold a market every Monday and two annual fairs. The town is recorded on the earliest-surviving map of Britain, the Gough Map made around 1360, which highlights its position on the main western north–south highway with distance markers to Preston and Warrington.

Edward II visited Wigan in 1323 in an effort to stabilise the region which had been the source of the Banastre Rebellion in 1315. Edward stayed in nearby Up Holland Priory and held court in the town over a period of several days. During the medieval period Wigan expanded and prospered and in 1536, antiquarian John Leland described the town, saying "Wigan paved; as big as Warrington and better builded. There is one parish church amid the town. Some merchants, some artificers, some farmers."

Civil War

In the English Civil War, most people in the town were Royalists and James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby, a prominent and influential Royalist in the civil war, made Wigan his headquarters. His forces successfully captured Preston but failed in assaults on Manchester and Lancaster and two attempts to capture Bolton. Abandoning attempts to secure Lancashire, he took his forces to the Isle of Man to secure his holdings there. The Earl of Derby was absent when Wigan fell, despite fortifications built around the town, Wigan was captured by Parliamentarian forces on 1 April 1643, the takeover was complete in two hours and the town was pillaged before the defences were broken down and the Parliamentarians retreated. In 1648, Royalist forces under James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton, occupied Wigan after they had been defeated by Oliver Cromwell at the Battle of Preston. The soldiers looted the town as they retreated to Warrington, and afterwards, it experienced pestilence. Cromwell himself described Wigan as "a great and poor town, and very malignant."

The Battle of Wigan Lane was fought on 25 August 1651 during the Third English Civil War, between 1,500 Royalists under the command of the James Stanley, Earl of Derby marching to join the King at Worcester and 3,000 of the New Model Army under the command of Colonel Robert Lilburne hunting them. Lilburne arrived at Wigan to find the Royalists leaving to march towards Manchester but with his force consisting mostly of cavalry recognised it would be dangerous to engage in the narrow lanes around the town and decided to wait for his foot soldiers to arrive and flank the town. The Royalists seeing an opportunity to engage the divided force turned around to engage but Lilburne decided to hold his ground deploying cavalry on Wigan Lane and infantry in the hedgerows to the sides, The Royalists made several charges but, after two hours, were unable to break the Parliamentarian line and were forced to flee after being overwhelmed by superior numbers. Although Stanley was injured he managed to find refuge in the town. David Craine states, "those who did not fall in the fighting [were] hunted to their death through the countryside". A monument on Wigan Lane marks the place where Sir Thomas Tyldesley a Major General commanding the Royalist troops fell, it was erected 28 years after the battle in 1679 by Alexander Rigby, Tyldesley's standard bearer. After his restoration in 1660, King Charles II gave the town a sword, which is on display at the Museum of Wigan Life, and the right to the motto 'Ancient and Loyal'.

Industrial Revolution

In 1698, Celia Fiennes described Wigan as "a pretty market town built of stone and brick". In 1720, the moot hall was rebuilt, funded by the members of the borough. It was used as the town hall, and the earliest reference to it dates from the 15th century. Prior to its final destruction in 1869, the hall was rebuilt in 1829. Wigan's status as a centre for coal production, engineering and textiles in the 18th century led to the Douglas Navigation in the 1740s; this was the canalisation of part of the River Douglas, and later to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The canal from Liverpool to Leeds was originally to serve Wigan on a spur, transporting cloth and food grown on the West Lancashire Plain to the Port of Liverpool. Construction restarted in the 1790s, after a pause of some decades, as coal was rising in importance due to the progress of the Industrial Revolution. The route was altered at the request of mill-owners, with the spur becoming the primary route and Wigan a hub for the transport of coal from the Lancashire coal pits to Liverpool and Leeds.

As a mill town, Wigan was an important centre of textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution, but it was not until the 1800s that cotton factories began to spread into the town. This was due to a dearth of fast-flowing streams and rivers in the area, but by 1818 there were eight cotton mills in the Wallgate part of Wigan. 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. As well as being a mill town, Wigan was also an important centre for coal production. It was recorded that in 1854 there were 54 collieries in and around the town, about a sixth of all collieries in Lancashire.

In the 1830s, Wigan became one of the first towns in Britain to be served by a railway; the line had connections to Preston and the Manchester and Liverpool Railway. This was the first in a network of public and industrial railways which served the town during the period, much of which has since closed. Wigan began to dominate as a cotton town in the late 19th century and this lasted until the mid-20th century.

Irish connections

Wigan has had a large Irish community. Being almost equal distance from Liverpool and Manchester, it received high immigration rates of Irish people in the 1800s following the Great Famine (Ireland). Wigan's population, including the Ince and Pemberton townships, doubled from 39,000 in 1851 to 77,000 in 1881, with the immigration of Irish to the town the biggest factor. The Irish mainly settled in the central areas of the town, such as Scholes and Ince, with the area around Belle Green Lane referred to as Irishtown. St Patrick's church in Scholes was built in 1847 on the back of huge swathes of Irish immigration.

The local amateur rugby league club Wigan St Patricks has the Irish shamrock on the club badge with green and black being the club colours. The Wigan accent has even been affected by the great number of Irish coming to the town. The local word "moidered", known elsewhere as "mithered", is said to have derived from pronouncing the word mithered in an Irish accent. The Brian Boru Club in Ashton-in-Makerfield was established in 1889 and is the oldest Irish club in the UK.

20th century

In 1911, the town was described as an "industrial town...occupying the greater part of the township, whilst its collieries, factories...fill the atmosphere with smoke". After the Second World War, there was a boom followed by a slump from which Wigan's textile industry did not recover. While the town's cotton and coal industries declined in the 20th century, the engineering industry did not go into recession. The last working cotton mill, May Mill, closed in 1980.

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. Some have embraced the Orwellian link, as it has provided the area with a modest tourist base over the years. Others regard this connection as disappointing, considering it an insinuation that Wigan is no better now than it was at the time of Orwell's writing.

Source and attribution

Adapted from “Wigan” by English Wikipedia contributors. Main paragraphs and sections are retained; tables, reference markers and technical markup are omitted. This is an encyclopedic adaptation, not a personal review. Original revision and contributor history ↗. Text is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗. Check current visitor access, tickets and transport with the relevant operator.