The Making of Wigan

By Mike Fletcher

The Making of Wigan summarises the evolution, and highlights the significant changes, in one of Lancashires most important towns, from Roman origins through to modern times. Tribute is paid to the resilience and determination of Wiganers in time of adversity, particularly during the English Civil War and when dealing with the Trauma of two World Wars.The towns prosperity and economy expanded during much of the nineteenth century, helped by coal and cotton, but also saw mixed fortunes, as Wigan experienced poverty and unemployment alongside the decline of its traditional industries. In more recent years Wigan has been transformed into a modern urban centre, but remains proud of its history.The book details the developments of the towns transport systems, local collieries with working conditions, strikes, accidents and mining developments all included. Also covered is the history of Wigans cotton history and the many changes to the town centre buildings and the leisure and recreation activities available to locals. Wigans involvement in the English Civil War and in both World Wars is covered along with Jacobite Rebellions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Apr 30, 2005
• ISBN: 9781783035885

Book preview

ESTABLISHING THE TOWN

Although Emperor Claudius landed a significant force on the south coast in AD 43, it was Suetonius Paulinus who led his army north in AD 61, encountering the tribes of the Deceangli, Cornovil and Corieltauvi in what is now modern-day Cheshire. Despite making some progress, including the construction of the first fort at Deva (Chester), Paulinus would be recalled to defend the south from rebels, and it would be General Cereali who first entered Brigantia (the home of the Brigantes) a decade later. And yet, despite constructing the first fort at Mamucium (Manchester), he too was recalled to defend the south, and the conquering of the Brigantes was finally achieved in AD 75 by Gnaenus Julius Agricola. Brigantia would become one of the prime centres of activity by the Romans, with new forts at Ribchester and Lancaster, and industrial settlements at Walton-le-Dale, Wilderspool, on the outskirts of Warrington, and of course, Coccium at Wigan.

Roman Wigan

Most historians agree that Coccium was a military site, though not a fort. Because Wigan’s oldest streets end with the place-name element -gate – Millgate, Wallgate and Standishgate – many people think that Wigan was once a walled town: this is not the case, for -gate in this context comes much later in the town’s history, originating from the Norse word Gata, meaning street or roadway. No archaeological excavations carried out in and around Wigan has ever discovered the remains of a defensive wall ditch. Although it lacked palisades, its location, on a raised mound in the middle of a valley alongside the River Douglas, offered natural protection.

Although the date in which Coccium was created is not known for certain, most historians agree it was probably early in the second century, after a new road had been built linking Wilderspool and Walton le Dale, which would have passed through Coccium. Coccium’s location was perfect for a supply depot, replenishing troops to the military sites of the northern territories. However, within a few years, other roads were constructed, and many converged at Coccium, suggesting that the town had risen in stature.

Roman occupation. During the construction of the gasworks in 1822, for example, a Roman cemetery was unearthed, and in 1831 the Reverend Sibson of Ashton carried out extensive work, and established that several Roman roads actually converge on Wigan. Around the middle of the century construction work carried out in the centre of the town led to a number of significant discoveries: a couple of Roman urns near the centre of the town; the remains of a Roman altar (revealed during restoration work to Wigan’s medieval parish church); and a great many coins have been unearthed, covering the reigns of the various Emperors, including a large hoard found near Mesnes Park in 1850. Unfortunately, the massive building programme during the century had destroyed more of Wigan’s Roman heritage than it had saved.

Redevelopment of Wigan during the early 1980s, created an opportunity for Manchester University’s archaeological team, led by Philip Mayes, to carry out a number of significant excavations, which have provided the best evidence to date of Coccium’s purpose and status within the region: discovering hearths, furnaces, iron slag, and the extraction of cannel coal, which, along with other associated items of Roman industrial activity, led them to conclude that Coccium must have been a significant industrial centre.

Further excavations around the Weind – one of the oldest surviving thoroughfares in modern Wigan – in June 1983, unearthed construction trenches that indicated the presence of a large, significant building on this site. Although its purpose remains unknown, Mayes informed the Wigan Observer on 25 June that it indicated that Coccium was ‘a more significant site than just an auxiliary fort’. Later, following the discovery of a section of Roman road, the archaeologists concluded that Coccium must have been a large military supply and manufacturing base, perhaps created during the advance of General Agricola in AD 79 – 80, playing a vital role in the supply chain between the larger settlements.

e9781783035885_i0003.jpg

Manchester University’s archaeological team, led by Philip Mayes, carried out a number of significant excavations around the area of the Weind – one of the oldest sur viving thoroughfares in moder n Wigan – in June 1983. The Author

A Transitional Period

The Romans’ departure during the early years of the fifth century, left Britain in a state of chaos, as northern tribes invaded and occupied areas we know today as Northumberland, Yorkshire and Lancashire. Life came under British tribal rule, and new settlements, like Bryn and Ince, were established around Wigan. Later, following the arrival of the Saxons, other settlements, such as Billinge and Adlington were established

During this period many myths and legends have been created of battles fought by the native Britons against their Germanic invaders, and the heroes that rose up against their new masters. Surely the most famous are the legendary exploits of King Arthur. Nennius, the Welsh historian, mentions that King Arthur fought one of his battles beside a River Dunglas: whether this can attributed as a variation in the spelling for the River Douglas, which passes through Wigan, is uncertain.

Apart from creating new settlements the Saxons also occupied existing Romano-British settlements, such as Chester, Manchester, and Wigan. As colonisation continued, new, large and important kingdoms were created: Wigan was contained within the kingdom of Northumbria, which stretched as far south as the River Mersey.

Saxon life would be shattered by the invasion of the Great Army of the Danes in AD 866. As the invaders swept across the country kingdoms fell, including Northumbria and Mercia: Wigan was attacked and looted in AD 893, when the Danes were heading south-west to attack Chester. The victors established settlements around Wigan – the name Scholes, a district on the edge of the town centre, dates from this period.

With the final defeat of the Danes at the Battle of Brunanburh, on the banks of the River Brun (near modern-day Burnley), Athelstan, grandson of Alfred the Great, was hailed as ‘King of the Saxons’ and the country was ruled as one nation: former kingdoms, such as Mercia and Northumbria, were reduced to earldoms, and subdivided into wapentakes. As Mercia returned to its natural border along the River Mersey, and Northumbria located north of the River Ribble, the land in between, Inter Ripam et Mersham (which included Wigan), became a separate royal domain, containing six wapentakes: West Derby, Salford, Blackburn, Leyland, Warrington and Newton.

The Barony of Makerfield

William I divided his kingdom amongst Norman knights, who maintained the wapentakes, though referred to them as hundreds. Wigan, contained within the Newton Hundred, was too insignificant to rate a mention in the Doomsday Book; the Newton Hundred only receives a small mention itself, consisting of a few lines, described as ‘the poorest hundred within the region’.

In 1073, Inter Ripam et Mersham was awarded to Roger de Poitou, the eldest son of Roger of Montgomery, Earl of Shrewsbury, who had shown great valour on the battlefield, and would prove to be a thorough administrator. De Poitou made West Derby the main hundred within his lands, increasing its status by constructing an impressive castle, and doubling its size by absorbing the smaller hundreds of Warrington and Newton.

Wigan’s inclusion within the West Derby Hundred automatically raised its status, but De Poitou went a stage further and created the Barony of Makerfield, making Wigan its administrative centre. This medieval barony stretched far and wide and contained twenty-one manors: Wigan, Orrell, Pemberton, Ince, Hindley, Billinge, Winstanley, Ashton, Abram, Haydock, Golbourne, Lowton, Newton, Kenyon – and even manors on the outskirts of Warrington, like Winwick, Arbury, Middleton, Southworth, Croft, Poulton and Woolston.

De Poitou’s ambitions became his downfall. He played a significant role in two rebellions against the monarch: first against William Rufus, and second in 1101 against Henry I. Although De Poitou escaped punishment for his part in the first rebellion, his involvement in the later rebellion saw him banished from the county. Following his expulsion the Barony of Makerfield was awarded to the Banastre family, although the Banastres were not the only powerful family in the area.

Haigh Hall, Wigan’s grandest residence, was built around 1180 by the Norris family (a family more associated with Speke Hall near Liverpool, which they acquired through marriage in 1272) who held significant local influence, and controlled the barony with almost supreme authority. During the difficult reign of King John, for instance, they initially supported the monarch, though in the lead-up to the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215, they switched sides and backed Robert de Grelley, Baron of Manchester, who applied influence on the king to agree to the terms of this historic document. Nevertheless, despite the family’s influence, all things come to an end, and Warinus Banastre, Lord of Wigan, would be the last of the dynasty to control the town. Following his death in 1245, he was replaced by Roger de Mansel, who became rector of Wigan, and succeeded to the title of Baron, making himself solely responsible for the raising and collection of local taxes.

In 1246, King Henry III awarded Mansel a charter, which afforded Wigan the right to hold a regular weekly market, every Monday. The town was given even greater status with the granting of its next charter, in 1258, providing the right of holding a fair in the town for three days, twice a year; and the market extended to twice a week, held on Monday and Friday. Through the centuries Wigan would be granted many more charters, each one confirming the powers of the previous one, and establishing a little more authority. Charters were awarded by many monarchs, including: Henry III, Edward I, Edward II and Edward III (who gave two charters), and later by Charles I and Charles II. The charters received from Edward II, in June 1314, still survive today, in the Leigh Record Office.

By the reign of Edward I, Wigan was an important market town, and its market place was a hive of activity. It was King Edward who had summoned Wigan to return its first members of Parliament – along with other royal boroughs, like Liverpool, Preston and Lancaster. Wigan had been given the right by the monarch to return two representatives – William Teinrerer and Henry le Boucher – who had been elected by the burgesses. Nevertheless, the honour of returning members to Parliament was short-lived, as the burgesses soon realised that Parliament was little more than a ‘talking shop’ and held little or no influence over the king; and for the chosen candidates, the burden of office meant being away from their businesses which deprived them of income and caused financial hardship. A combination of these two issues soon meant that, within a few elections, candidates were few and far between, and matters reached such a severity that it resulted in many boroughs, including Wigan, refusing to return members at all; in fact Wigan stopped returning members from the start of the fourteenth century, through to the middle of the sixteenth century, and so Simon Payer and John Mercer would be Wigan’s last Members of Parliament until Tudor times.

e9781783035885_i0004.jpg

Wigan’s Market Place, c.1902. Wigan’s market has a long history, since its creation in 1246, when King Henry III awarded the rector, Roger Mansel, a charter which allowed a market to be held within the town on every Monday. Author’s collection

By the middle of the thirteenth century, Wigan was influenced by the control of several prominent families, such as the Norrises, Banastres, Standishes and Gerards, all of whom owned large halls and land around Wigan, and liked to play a part (no matter how minor) in its development. However, towards the end of the thirteenth century, a new family emerged and would grow to be the most influential family in the region: the Bradshaighs, who acquired Haigh Hall in 1295, through the marriage of Sir William Bradshaigh and Mabel Norris, daughter of Hugh Norris, Lord of Haigh, Blackrod and Speke.

e9781783035885_i0005.jpg

Haigh Hall, c.1930s. Wigan’s grandest residence, though more commonly associated with the Bradshaigh and the Lindsay families, was originally built around 1180 by the Norris family, who are more closely associated with Speke Hall, on the outskirts of Liverpool, which they acquired through marriage in 1272. Today, Haigh Hall has been lovingly preserved. Located within Haigh Country Park, it is used for a variety of functions. Author’s collection

Although medieval towns did not possess a police force as such, they did have a system of law and order. The burgesses ran the Court Leet, which handed out permissions and, when necessary, penalties and punishments to those residents found guilty of crimes. Following the passing of an Act of Parliament in 1285, towns such as Wigan, were patrolled at night by twelve persons elected to the post of sentinel by the Court Leet: they carried lanterns and kept a night watch on the boundaries of the town.

The Medieval Parish

There has been a church at Wigan since early Saxon times: once described as the ‘church of the Manor of Newton’ its medieval parish was very large indeed, stretching as far afield as the townships of Pemberton, Billinge, Orrell, Winstanley, Up Holland, Aspull and Haigh. Randulf of Salisbury is thought to have been the first church rector, though Adam de Freckleton was the first priest to serve there, appointed to his post by order of King John in 1199.

Apart from churches and chapels, medieval Lancashire had many monastic houses – such as Burscough Priory near Ormskirk and Cockersand Abbey on the South Lonsdale coastline – all supported by the county’s richest families, who donated land and finances in the hope of bringing themselves closer to God. The closest of the monastic houses to the town of Wigan was Up Holland Priory, founded in 1317 by Sir Robert Holland, originally as a small chapel of ease dedicated to St Thomas (à Becket), for local perople who found it difficult to travel to Wigan’s parish church on a regular basis. Later, with the approval of the Bishop of Lichfield, it became a priory for the Benedictine Order, containing around sixteen monks. Although it was not a particularly large monastic house, with a Prior and just the handful of monks, it did have several possessions. By far the most important of these was Wigan’s parish church. Up Holland Priory held a special place in the hearts and minds of the locals.

e9781783035885_i0006.jpg

Wigan Parish Church, once referred to as ‘the church of the Manor of Newton’, dates from Saxon times. Much of the present structure is of medieval origin: