A-Z of Wigan

Wigan has been an important town throughout history. It was granted market charters in 1246 and was the centre of the Banastre Rebellion in the next century. In the English Civil War it was the site of the Battle of Wigan Lane in 1651. Wigan expanded during the Industrial Revolution through its coal mining, engineering and textile industries and with the opening of the Leeds–Liverpool Canal and th...