53°33N 2°38W, pop (2001e) 301 400. Town in Greater Manchester, NW England, UK; 27 km/17 mi NE of Liverpool, on R Douglas and the LeedsLiverpool Canal; a borough since 1246; railway; engineering, cotton, foodstuffs, packaging; Wigan Pier, now a museum, made famous by George Orwell, in The Road to Wigan Pier (1932); football league team, Wigan Athletic (Latics).
Wigan is a large town in the North West of 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, Ince-in-Makerfield and Orrell . Together this area is 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.
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;
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.
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.
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. 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
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. After the 1914-18 war there was a boom followed by a slump from which Wigan's textile industry did not recover. 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. Wigan has occasionally embraced the Orwellian link, as it has provided the area with a modest tourist base over the years. 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.
Civic history
Wigan was one of the few industrial towns of the 19th century to have already received a charter as a borough. 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.
Culture
Music
Wigan has been well known for its popular music since the days of George Formby Snr and George Formby Jnr. 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 &
Wigan remains a centre of popular music for young people, with a number of alternative pubs/clubs in the town centre.
Public transport
Rail
There are two main rail stations in Wigan. 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.
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:-
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.
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.
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.
Wigan is one of relatively few towns in the UK to have an international-standard swimming pool in the town centre. The resident swimming club, Wigan Wasps, which has now changed its name to Wigan BEST has produced Olympic standard swimmers, including medal winner June Croft.
Notable People
Richard Ashcroft, Lead singer of The Verve Billy Boston, Rugby League Hall of Fame inductee, Kay Burley, TV Newscaster Leslie Cannon, trade union leader 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, now at Saracens Rugby Union. 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. 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.
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