Information AboutWigan |
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Wigan is a large town in the North West of England , in the Metropolitan County of Greater Manchester , lying in the historic county of Lancashire . It is the largest town in the Metropolitan Borough Of Wigan , with a population of 89,876 (2004 estimate). Other neighbouring towns are Chorley , St Helens , Bolton and Warrington and it is roughly equidistantly placed between the cities of Liverpool , Manchester and Preston . HISTORY Origins The first people reported to have settled in the Wigan area were the Brigantes . The Romans took over "Chochion", as it was then known, in around 79 AD during one of many War s with the Celts and renamed the settlement “Coccium”. The Romans left some time in the 5th century. By the time of the Middle Ages, Wigan had become a constituent manor of the Barony of Makerfield, and received its Royal Charter from King Henry III in 1246 when it was made into a Borough in its own right. Its new status as a Royal Borough is reflected in the insignia of the town Coat of Arms. 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 Lancashire, and one of the oldest in the country. How the town got its name is mysterious, although we know that it was named after 1086 (it is not mentioned in the Domesday Book ). Some suggest the name is old Welsh Gwigan, meaning settlement whilst others attribute the name to Saxon English or Viking . Some sources cite Wigan as deriving from Old English ''wig'' / ''wiga'' 'warrior' (not meaning the same as modern English Wig !) or ''wicga'' 'insect', but this is as yet unverified Due to its loyalty to the crown during the civil war, the town was bestowed by royal decree with the motto "Ancient and Loyal" which remains the oldest such motto, in the English language. Industry Wigan was once important for Coal Mining and Cotton Textile production. The Leeds-Liverpool Canal 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 centered around the Victorian Era coal mining in Wigan. Local government Wigan was one of the few industrial towns of the 19th Century to already be 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 . Pemberton , previously an independent Urban District was annexed to the borough in 1904. Wigan Pier Wigan is probably most famous for its Pier , once an important loading/unloading building for the mills and collieries, now a popular local Museum and nightclub. Wigan Pier is certainly most famous for a reference in the title and body of George Orwell 's anti-poverty polemic, The Road To Wigan Pier : : ''had'' [my ''heart set on seeing'' [it]. ''Alas! Wigan Pier has been demolished, and even the spot where it used to stand is no longer certain.'' The town has enjoyed a complex relationship with this association. Sometimes embracing it, the Orwellian link 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 , commenting that not much had changed. This was met with widespread local disapproval. CULTURE Music Wigan has been well known for its Popular Music since the days of George Formby Snr and George Formby Jnr. More recently, The Verve were 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), but did not actually come from Wigan (with the exception of Richard Ashcroft (vocals) who hails from the Wigan district of Billinge ). Rather, the band hailed from nearby Up Holland, to the west of the town. Other local names of some repute include The Railway Children, Witness, The Tansads, Limahl of Kajagoogoo and (more recently) Starsailor . The Wigan Casino was, from 1973, the location for Wigans weekly Northern Soul all-nighters, until it was demolished in 1983 after a mysterious fire gutted it. Wigan remains a centre of popular music for young people in the Lancashire area, with the annual Haigh Hall music festival, and the many alternative clubs in the towns centre, including the Northern Lights Club Night which attracts over 500 people every Friday night. LABOUR CLUBS Wigan has long been a heartland of the National Union of Labour Clubs, having at one time thirty Labour Clubs in the town. In recent years this has reduced 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 ) and Wigan Athletic ( Football ). The two teams now share the JJB Stadium . 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 will be their first ever in the top flight. Currently, the team has been in the top half of the table for the entire season and made it to the League Cup Final in February 2006. As Wigan RLFC, the "Warriors" in the Eighties and Nineties were one of England's leading Rugby League teams. While still a potent force in the game, recent changes to the structure and organisation of the game have diluted their dominance. Wigan is one of relatively few towns in the UK to have an international-standard swimming pool in the town centre. The pool itself having been built to exact Olympic standards, but has never been used for official Olympic sanctioned competition, as it failed to meet IOC criteria since it was found to be an inch too short once tiled. 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 . FAMOUS RESIDENTS
Business connections to the town include JJB Sports , Uncle Joe's Mint Balls , and Pataks . The extraordinary (Thomas) Beecham family and the Lindsay art connoisseurs are connected with the town, as is John Charnley’s famous hip replacement department. EXTERNAL LINKS
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