The biggest town-centre development in
Wigan’s history has been given the green light and construction may begin as early as
this summer. The ambitious £55 million scheme will cover over 32500 sq. metres and
stretch from Crompton Street, across Station Road, all the way to the bottom of Millgate.
Most of the existing buildings in this area will be demolished including the ABC (Ritz)
Cinema. Notable exceptions are Pennington’s furniture shop (18th century town-house),
the Civic Centre and the two multi-storey car parks. This development presents a great
opportunity for further discoveries of Wigan’s past. In the early 80’s extensive
Roman and Medieval remains were found in the nearby Weind area prior to construction of
the Children’s Library. Greater Manchester Archaeology Unit has therefore stipulated
that extensive excavations must be carried out in this potentially important area, in
advance of the development. Tom Glover and I have been in close contact with GMAU and the
planning authorities to make sure we are kept informed of any developments. Winstanley Hall
 This famous 16th century manor house, belonging to the Banks family, was
eventually sold last year for development into private flats. Work on refurbishment
however, has been held up because of problems with planning permission. The site itself
dates back to the 13th century when the Winstanley family were lords of the manor and a
moat from this period still survives in the grounds of the estate. In 1560 the Winstanleys
abandoned the moated site and built the present hall nearby. Shortly afterwards however
(1596) they sold the estate to James Bankes a London Goldsmith and Banker. Over the years
this family famous for their mining activities in the Wigan area, developed the hall to
its present size. In the1960's the hall was abandoned and since then has slowly
deteriorated - hence the sale, which is hoped would stop the rot. Tim Banks, who still
owns most of the estate, is currently renovating the nearby lodge for private dwelling. He
also wants to develop the surrounding gardens, which include a huge greenhouse. As this
backs onto the medieval moat, an archaeological assessment has had to be carried out. This
work has now been completed by our friend Mark Fletcher from Matrix Archaeology, and his
results will be made available shortly. In the meantime Mark has invited us to view the
site with him so that he can explain some of the detail. A field trip has been suggested
for Sunday morning 8th April. If you are interested please contact me at the meeting.
Roman Road Potential
Last month a handful of diehard society members gathered on Howe Bridge Crematorium car
park on a wet and windy Sunday morning. Mark Haywood, who had spotted something on an
aerial photo, guided us to the spot where he thought the road was located. Using steel
probes he could show that there was some sort of hard surface not far beneath the turf,
especially in the area leading down the to the brook. This seems to correspond with the
width of the road as indicated by the 19th century antiquarians. Also around the area of
the brook there is substantial stonework. This is an ideal site for the use of our new
resistivity meter and when it becomes available (within the next few weeks) another site
visit will be arranged.
Wigan Archaeological Society
Next Meeting
Wednesday 3rd April at the BP Centre (Scout HQ) in Greenough Street, at 7.30 pm as
usual. This month’s speaker is Ben Edwards, former County Archaeologist for
Lancashire, who will be presenting his talk on Vikings and their influence in the North
West.
Hope to see you there. B.A.
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