Wigan
Contrary to widespread belief this great industrial town is not a product of the 19 th century, but one of the oldest settlements in Lancashire.
As far back as the 1 st century AD a Celtic Brigantes settlement existed on the site, and this was superseded by the Romans who built a small fort there called Coccium as a part of their defences against marauding Picts and Scots. Little remains of these ancient encampments, but construction work in the mid 19 th century unearthed various burial urns. The town's name is derived from Wic-Ham, probably Anglo-Saxon or Breton in origin, but following the Roman withdrawal, the settlement fluctuated between the rule of Mercia and Northumbria so the derivation in uncertain.
The Middle Ages brought a more settled period and in 1246 the town received a Royal Charter, and had two local representatives in Parliament. A staunchly Catholic town like many others in the county, Wigan naturally supported Charles I in the English Civil War. The Earl of Derby, whose home Lathom House lay on the outskirts of the town, was a favourite of the king and Wigan became the Royalist base for attacks upon Cromwellian Bolton. Eventually, the Parliamentarians won the day and exercised bitter revenge upon Wigan - The town's fortifications were destroyed and both the parish church and the moot hall were looted. The Battle of Wigan Lane, fought in 1651, witnessed the final Royalist defeat and is commemorated by a monument, which stands where a principal Royalist commander was cut down.
Coal was already being mined in the Wigan region as early as 1450, and by the 19 th century there were over 1000 pit shafts operating in the surrounding area. Wigan's development as an industrial town was further enhanced by construction of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal; now coal could be transported from the heart of the town directly to the cotton mills of Lancashire, coal was the raw fuel for the expanding textile industry. The famous Wigan Pier was the major loading bay where coal from local collieries was loaded onto canal barges. The comedian George Formby senior made fun of the pier in his act, thus it became a music hall joke. The word 'pier' originally referred to a solidly built landing place, which is what Wigan Pier was, but Victorians later applied the word to fancy iron and wood structures projecting into the sea. The joke was that outsiders coming to Wigan looking for the pier were unable to find anything resembling its new meaning. In 1937, George Orwell's ‘The Road to Wigan Pier' brought renewed attention and immortality to the old wharf. Today the pier has been beautifully restored with five renovated warehouses, an educational centre and exhibition on Wigan in the early 1900's; a waterbus takes visitors to the largest working mill engine in the world, Trencherfield Mill.
The parish church of All Saints, founded in the 13 th century, but rebuilt in the 19 th century, has much fine stain glass by William Morris, and some interesting 14 th century monuments. Pennington Flash is a large reclaimed lake, now a wildlife reserve and country park. Haigh Hall, lying to the north of town, is a mid 19 th cent mansion set in 200 acre Haigh Country Park. Formerly the estate of the Earls of Crawford, the park includes mixed woodland as well as leisure areas.