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Walled Wigan

Q

I'm a keen amateur historian, mainly interested in the Edward I period, I also like all aspects of local history. Recently I've been thinking that the town used to be walled, with names like 'Standishgate' and 'Wallgate'. Do you know if this is correct and if so where the walls were? Also could you tell me why the Roman ruins under the new shopping centre weren't given any press time so that the town could realise that its not just a Victorian coal town?

A

There are lots of theories about walls around Wigan town centre. There certainly must have been something around the town, as we know from historical references that the boundaries were very well defined. Chains barred the roads into the centre and if you were caught "harbouring a foreigner" (i.e. allowing a non-Wiganer to stay in town over night) you could be fined.

The 'gate' references do not help us here as this comes from the old Norse word 'Gata' meaning road. Wallgate is thought to come from Walach Gata or Welsh Road meaning the road to were the Welsh (or British) lived, having been driven out by the Anglo-Saxons. During the Civil War we also know that the Parliamentarian, Colonel Assherton pulled down the walls after sacking the the town. Sinclair, in his book on the Civil War in the Wigan area, actual shows these walls on a map, from what evidence he doesn't say.

In the 19th century the Rev Thompson Watkin, in his book on Roman Lancashire, reported seeing a bank and ditch all around the town. He thought it was Roman in origin, however, if it existed, it was more likely much later, either Medieval or from the Civil War period. Nothing of this or any other wall has ever been found in excavations recent or otherwise.

It was very upsetting to see the Roman remains appear then disappear so quickly without much press attention (despite our efforts to promote them). There was however a couple of open days (the second being well attended). The archaeologists were under tremendous pressure to complete the work in their allotted time (allotted by the developers who did give them an extra 6 weeks to finish).