Very little is known about Wigan in the Prehistoric period. There are
only 17 entries in the Sites and Monuments record and 10 of those are chance
finds i.e. they could have be brought into the area from elsewhere at a later time.
You can find more details of these finds in our
Newsletters No. 22.
Around the district, however, there are just a few enigmatic sites which could possible claim great antiquity. These include "Toot Hill" at Bryn and "Boar's Den" at Wrightington. The latter is described as a Bronze Age bowl barrow 50m in diameter and 2.5m high. It has never been excavated and is now a scheduled monument.
Also in 2003 the University of Manchester's Archaeology Unit discovered a flint scraper in, what appeared to be, a large Prehistoric ditch when excavating the site at Gadbury Fold on the outskirts of Atherton. For more details of this see Newsletter No. 66. Subsequent environmental sampling, however, suggest the ditch was open in the early Medieval period (but this still may not necessarily disprove its antiquity).
1" OS map of 1829 showing Toot Hill (click image for larger view). The Sites and Monuments Record describes it as Prehistoric. The site has now disappeared under industrial development.
Flint Spear Head reputedly found in Cale Lane New Springs
(recently featured in Newsletter No.
100)