There is very little evidence of prehistoric activity in the area, especially pre-Iron Age, however Celtic names in the area around Wigan - such as Bryn, Makerfield, and Ince - indicate that the Celtic people of Britain were active in the area in the Iron Age. The first people believed to have settled in the Wigan area were the Brigantes, a Celtic tribe who controlled most of northern Britain. In the 1st century, the area was conquered by the Romans. The late 2nd century Antonine Itinerary mentions a Roman settlement called Coccium 17 miles (27 km) from the Roman fort at Manchester (Mamucium) and 20 miles (32 km) 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", cocus, meaning "cook". Roman finds from Wigan include coins, a Mithratic temple beneath the parish church, possible evidence for the remains of a Roman fort at Ship Yard, and what is most likely a mansio - effectively a Roman hotel - with its own hypocaust and bath house. Despite evidence of Roman activity in the area, there is no conclusive evidence of Wigan being the same site as Coccium and it has been suggested that it could be located at Standish to the north of Wigan.
In the Anglo-Saxon period, the area was probably under the control of the Northumbrians and later the Mercians. In the early 10th century there was an influx of Scandinavians expelled from Ireland. This can be seen in place names such as Scholes - now a part of Wigan - which derives from the Scandinavian skali meaning "shelter". Further evidence comes from some street names in Wigan which have Scandinavian origins.
Although Wigan Parish Church was mentioned in the Domesday Book, the current building dates to the 15th century. Although 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 a church in the manor of Neweton is Wigan Parish Church. The rectors of the parish church were lords of the manor of Wigan, a sub-manor of Neweton, until the 19th century. The incorporation of Wigan as a borough happened 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 on every Monday and two annual fairs.
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 Upholland 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".
In the English Civil War, the people of the town were Royalists. James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby, who was a prominent and influential Royalist made Wigan his headquarters. Despite fortifications build around the town, Wigan was captured by Parliamentarian forces on 1 April 1643. The take over was complete in two hours and the town was pillaged before the defences were broken down and the Parliamentarians retreated. The Earl of Derby was absent when the town fell. 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 Royalists under the command of the James Stanley, Earl of Derby, and elements of the New Model Army under the command of Colonel Robert Lilburne. The Royalists were defeated, and although Stanley was injured he managed to escape. As Lord of Mann, he 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, a Royalist, who was killed at the Battle of Wigan Lane.
Trencherfield Mill is an example of one of Wigan's mills being converted for modern use. Wigan was described by Celia Fiennes, a traveller, in 1698 as "a pretty market town built of stone and brick". In 1720, the moot hall was rebuilt, funded by the member 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, the canalisation of part of the River Douglas, and later the diversion of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in the 1790s at the request of the mill owners, to transport coal from the Lancashire coal pits to Wigan's mills and was also used extensively to transport local produce. 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. Wigan began to dominate as a cotton town in the late 19th century, and this lasted until the mid-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.
The name of the town was originally Tref Wygayn - homestead of a Celtic chief called Wygayn
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