What was wigan called in roman times

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 "hut". Further evidence comes from some street names in Wigan which have Scandinavian origins.

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. Wigan was incorporated as a borough in 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 —, allowing the lord of the manor to hold a market on every Monday and two annual fairs. The town is recorded on the earliest surviving map of Britain, the Gough Map made around which highlights its position on the main western north-south highway with distance markers to Preston and Warrington. Edward II visited Wigan in in an effort to stabilise the region which had been the source of the Banastre Rebellion in 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 , 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 , most people in the town were Royalists and James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby, a prominent and influential Royalist in the civil war, made Wigan his headquarters.

His forces successfully captured Preston but failed in assaults on Manchester and Lancaster and two attempts to capture Bolton. Abandoning attempts to secure Lancashire, he took his forces to the Isle of Man to secure his holdings there. The Earl of Derby was absent when Wigan fell, despite fortifications built around the town, Wigan was captured by Parliamentarian forces on 1 April , the takeover was complete in two hours and the town was pillaged before the defences were broken down and the Parliamentarians retreated.

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".

Lilburne arrived at Wigan to find the Royalists leaving to march towards Manchester but with his force consisting mostly of cavalry recognised it would be dangerous to engage in the narrow lanes around the town and decided to wait for his foot soldiers to arrive and flank the town. The Royalists seeing an opportunity to engage the divided force turned around to engage but Lilburne decided to hold his ground deploying cavalry on Wigan Lane and infantry in the hedgerows to the sides, The Royalists made several charges but after two hours were unable to break the Parliamentarian line and were forced to flee after being overwhelmed by superior numbers.

Although Stanley was injured he managed to find refuge in the town. David Craine states, "those who did not fall in the fighting [were] hunted to their death through the countryside". A monument on Wigan Lane marks the place where Sir Thomas Tyldesley a Major General commanding the Royalist troops fell, it was erected 28 years after the battle in by Alexander Rigby, Tyldesley's standard bearer.

Wigan was described by Celia Fiennes, a traveller, in as "a pretty market town built of stone and brick". In , the moot hall was rebuilt, funded by the members 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 , the hall was rebuilt in Wigan's status as a centre for coal production, engineering and textiles in the 18th century led to the Douglas Navigation in the s, the canalisation of part of the River Douglas and later the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

The canal from Liverpool to Leeds was originally to serve Wigan on a spur, transporting cloth and food grown on the West Lancashire Plain to the Port of Liverpool. When construction restarted in the s after a decades pause with coal rising in importance during the intervening years due to the progress of the Industrial Revolution the route was altered at the request of mill owners with the spur becoming the primary route and Wigan a hub for transport of coal from the Lancashire coal pits to Liverpool and Leeds.

As a mill town, Wigan was an important centre of textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution, but it was not until the s 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 there were eight cotton mills in the Wallgate part of Wigan. In 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 there were 54 collieries in and around the town, about a sixth of all collieries in Lancashire. In the s 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 midth century.

The only known route between them is west to Fulwood and then south via Walton-le-Dale. This totals 24 miles. If there were a route via the south bank of the Ribble to Walton-le-Dale this would reduce the distance to 22 miles. A direct route however would be a better match at Ribchester to Over Burrow is 29 miles and is a reasonable match to the 27 miles to Galacum, Ribchester to Lancaster being only Wigan to Manchester is 17 miles, a good agreement.

In proving a Roman road, one must appreciate that the general construction consisted of a built-up causeway with side ditches. The contruction comprised of a foundation layer of a large stones and then layers of smaller stones building up a cambered ridge, some two feet or more above general ground level. This pronounced ridge, known as an or 'agger', and the straight alignments with changes of direction, often on high points, are the common visual features.

In areas where suitable stone was readily available, excavation or borrow pits can sometimes be found alongside the roads. The Croasdale crossing appears to have several. Where stone was not available then the foundation course could be made up of clay.

The appears to have been the case on the Fylde. They were probably the first contructed roads in the country and the term "highway" aptly describes their built-up nature. How the Romans designed or set out their roads is the subject of much debate. The more you study their roads the more it becomes obvious they were expert surveyors - routes were not selected by chance.

They were originally identified and traced by the 19th century antiquarian Rev. Edmund Sibson and then later endorsed by W. Thompson Watkin. Both Sibson and Watkin were keen advocates for Wigan being the Roman station of Coccium which appears in an early 3 rd century AD document called the Antonine Itinerary. The name Coccium appears in the 10th Iter of the Itinerary lying between Bremetennacum 20mp and Mamucium 17mp.

Bremetennacum has been confirmed as Ribchester by the discovery there of an engraved stone RIB in the 16th century rediscovered in — and, for etymological reasons, Manchester has always been assumed to be Mamucium. Location of Coccium Wigan, as can be seen on this map, is not on the direct route between these two places, so not surprisingly, over the years other candidates for Coccium have been claimed and sometimes still are. This is on the well established direct Roman road connecting Manchester with Ribchester.

However, despite extensive searches over years, both here and further south at Affetside , a substantial settlement or fort along this route has never been found. Wayoh Bridge. Blackrod was preferred by the 18th century antiquarian J. His projected route, however, was leading to Lancaster not Ribchester. He also insisted that the fort lay on the banks of the River Douglas north east of Blackrod. Belmont has also been suggested more recently but Belmont Road is an unlikely candidate for a Roman road.

Standish was identified by E. Wigan is twinned with the French city of Angers, in the Loire Valley. The two councils exchange 'ambassadresses' every year. Wigan Metropolitan Borough is the 9th largest Metropolitan district in the country covering 77 square miles. In population terms the Borough is the 12th biggest in the country at around , Wigan itself has around 90, residents.

Wigan is the most westerly borough in the county of Greater Manchester, lying halfway between Liverpool and Manchester - although most residents still think of themselves as Lancastrians.

The present hall was built between and Haigh woodlands were laid out in the s, giving work to unemployed Wiganers during the cotton famine caused by the American civil war. In the hall and its grounds were bought by the then Wigan Corporation and it is now run by Wigan Council's leisure services department. Wigan has one of the country's most famous swimming clubs - the Wigan Wasps - responsible for training scores of top swimmers, like former Olympic medallist June Croft. And finally