A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



here also other charities of considerable value, though 

 several gifts have been lost."* Dalton has nothing 

 for itself.'"' 



WIGAN 



Wigan, 1199 ; Wygayn, 1240 ; Wygan, common. 

 Pronounced Wiggin {g hard). 



The River Douglas, in its unrestricted days, flovred 

 down from the north and turned to the west round 

 the hill upon which Wigan Church stands, thence 

 running north-westward and northward to the 

 Ribble. The township of Wigan consists of the tri- 

 angular area inclosed by the river and a line drawn 

 across in a north-easterly direction from one part of the 

 river's course to the other ; in addition there are the 

 district called Scholes on the eastern side, inclosed 

 between the Douglas and a brook once called the 

 Lorington, and now the Clarington,' which formerly 

 joined it near the southernmost point of its course ; 

 and a small area to the south of the river. It is 

 curious that Wigan is cut off by the river from the 

 rest of the parish and hundred, and has on the north 

 no marked physical separation from Standish, in a 

 different parish and hundred. The area is 2,188 

 acres, including 47 of inland water. The population 

 in 1 90 1 numbered 60,764. 



The church stands on the crest of the hill, which 

 slopes away rapidly to the south and more gently to 

 the north. To the north-west is the hall or rectory, 

 with Hallgate leading to it, and beyond this again the 

 Mesnes — part of it now a public park — or rectory 

 demesne lands. Further away in the same direction 

 lie the districts known as Gidlow and Brimelow,' the 

 latter on the Standish boundary ; while to the west is 

 Woodhouses, near the river. 



On the eastern side of the church is a street 

 representing the ancient Roman road to the north, 

 opening out just at that point into the irregular area 

 in which the market was formerly held, and from 

 which Market Street goes off to the north-west. As 

 the main road goes northward it is called in succession 

 Standishgate and Wigan Lane, with Mab's Cross as 

 dividing mark, and has Swinley and Whitley on the 



west and Coppull on the east. The ground once 

 again rises as the northern limit is neared, attaining 

 about 250 ft. 



The same road, descending south from the church 

 and turning to the west through the more level 

 ground running nearly parallel to the Douglas, is there 

 called Wallgate. The border district to the south of 

 Wallgate is called Poolstock. 



Another road, called Millgate, begins at the old 

 Market-place, and proceeding south-east, crosses the 

 Douglas by a bridge,' near which was formerly the 

 principal corn-mill of the town, and then goes north- ; 

 east through the Scholes and Whelley. There is an 

 easterly branch called Hardy Butts, starting near the 

 river and proceeding through Hindley towards Man- 

 chester, probably on the line of another ancient 

 Roman road. 



Around the church and along the main roads men- 

 tioned the town of Wigan grew up. As the head of 

 a great coal-mining district, the Douglas navigation 

 scheme of 1720,* and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, 

 opened in 1774, have been of great service ; the Lan- 

 caster Canal followed in 1 794, and a branch to Leigh 

 connected the town with the Worsley Canal. The 

 railway companies have also contributed to the pro- 

 gress of the place ; the London & North Western 

 Company's main line from London to Scotland passes 

 through the place,' having a station in Wallgate, to 

 the south of the church. The Lancashire and York- 

 shire Company's Liverpool and Bury line, opened in 

 1848, has a station (i860) in Wallgate, near to the 

 church ; the company's Wigan and Southport branch 

 (1855) turns off here. More recently the Great 

 Central Railway has found access to the town, having 

 a station near Millgate, opened in 1892. 



Wigan is identified with the Coccium of the An- 

 tonine Itinerary ; it stands at the point where the 

 Roman road, north and south, was joined by another 

 important road from Manchester. Its position on a 

 hilltop, surrounded on two sides of its triangular area 

 by a rapid stream, suggests that it had been a British 

 fort. Various Roman remains have been found.* 



The town continued to grow and prosper through- 

 out the mediaeval period, and Leland thus describes 



^"8 Henry Prcscot in 1638 gave ^20 

 ft)r poor householders ; Richard Waltliew 

 in 1643 gave^^ijo; James Fairclough, 

 ^^250, and others smaller sums ; the 1829 

 information concerning the total sum of 

 ,^446 13J. ^d. was that in 1771 £,Z7^ 

 had been placed out on private security. 

 James Fairclough also gave ,^100 to 

 establish a bread charity, and in 1828 ,^5 

 a year was received from the rents of the 

 Moss estate, and added to the share of 

 Edmund Molyneux's benefaction. Thomas 

 Barton in 1674 gave to the poor of Up- 

 hoUand ^^3 65. %d. charged on an estate 

 there, and paid in 1828; Thomas 

 Mawdesley, by his will of 1728, devised 

 his copyhold lands — the Little, Rushy, 

 and Meadow Baryards — to the use of the 

 poor as an addition to * Barton's dole * ; in 

 1828 ;^17 loj. was received, and, with 

 the preceding gift, divided among the poor 

 in sums of 2j. or 2j. 6f/. The Rev. 

 Thomas Holme in 1803 left {,\ao for a 

 gift of blankets ; it was in operation in 

 1828. 



Of the above the Fairclough charity 

 has benefited by the working of mines, 

 and now has an income of ,^40 from the 

 Moss estate and ,^124 from consols aris- 



ing from the investment of mining rents ; 

 the money has been distributed indiscrimi- 

 nately in doles of bread and flannel, &c. 

 The rent-charge of ,f 3 61. %d. on Barton 

 House Farm is still paid, and distributed 

 with Mawdesley'fi charity, the total vary- 

 ing from ,^16 to j^2 3 a year; tickets 

 worth 2J. 6d. each are given to the 

 selected applicants. The Holme bequest 

 produces ^^4 i6j. a year, expended on 

 blankets for the poor. 



''" It shared in the charities of Peter 

 Latham (Croston), and Edmund Moly- 

 neux and John Gaunt (Wigan). Thomas 

 Ashhurst was supposed to have made a 

 rent-charge of 25J. to the poor, paid in 

 1786 by the owner of Ashhurst Hall; but 

 in 1828 nothing could be ascertained. 

 The share of the Latham charity coming 

 to Dalton is now ;^68, and is distributed 

 in doles of clothing, valued at from loi. 

 to j^i, and rarely in money gifts. 



1 Bridgeman, IVigan Ch. (Chet. Soc. 

 new ser.), 239. Bottling Wood WM in 

 the northern part of Scholes. 



' Between these and Wigan town the 

 Birley Brook flowed south to the Douglas. 



* This is supposed to have been the 

 first bridge constructed over the Douglas. 



68 



In 1348 Henry Banastre of Walton 

 granted to John son of Oliver (? Amory) 

 the Walker, a strip of land stretching 

 from the Millgate and the Stanrygate to 

 the Douglas ; also land called the Mill 

 Meadow, with a cottage adjoining Scheie 

 Bridge; Towneley MS. GG, no. 2221. 

 In 1477 John Crosse of Liverpool con- 

 firmed to John Burgess of Wigan a par- 

 cel of land near Schole Bridge, between 

 Scholes and the lane leading to Ince ; 

 ibid. no. 2335. 



'Atam' Bridge, between Wigan and 

 Pemberton, was the subject of a dispute 

 '° 133+) Coram Rege R. 297, m. 11 

 Rex. Each township should keep in re- 

 pair its own half of the bridge, which had, 

 however, become so broken that there 

 was no longer any crossing. 



* This scheme was formed as early aa 

 1 71 1 [Hht. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 

 450) ; the Act was passed in 1720 (9 

 Geo. I, cap. 28). It was purchased by the 

 Leeds and Liverpool Canal in 1783. 



' As the Preston and Parkside (New- 

 ton) Railway this portion of the system 

 was opened in 1838. 



* Watkin, Roman Lanes. 199 j Pal. 

 Note Bk. iv, 133. 



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