Wigan Local History and Heritage Society Information Page

24/10/2026

Archives: Wigan & Leigh

09/10/2026

Not Wigan but fascinating.

08/10/2026

Victorian Wigan with Graham Stirrup

Join Wigan Local History & Heritage Society on Monday 12 October 2026 at 7 pm at Real Crafty for our next talk.

Discover how industrialisation transformed Wigan and the everyday lives of its people. Graham will explore a town shaped by factories, mills and pits, where growing wealth existed alongside hard work, low wages and cramped living conditions.
Graham began his career as a mechanical engineering apprentice at the National Coal Board workshops at Kirkless, New Springs. His work in the coal industry sparked a lasting interest in social history, and he has been giving talks across the North West for more than 20 years.
All are welcome and admission is free. We just ask that you buy a drink to support Real Crafty, a local business offering a large range of draught beers, wines and hot beverages.
Free on-street parking is available after 6 pm.
We look forward to seeing you there.

17/09/2026

WigansChurchesWednesday

St. Matthew’s church. Highfield

September 21st is St. Matthew’s Day so it is our pleasure to post about the wonderful church in Highfield dedicated to him. Architectural historians speak very highly of St. Matthew’s, consecrated in 1894, and its architects, Austin and Paley.

The stone work in the chancel is noteworthy especially the beautifully carved sedilia (the seats for the clergy) , and the reredos behind the altar. All paid for, of course, by Colonel Henry Blundell (1831 – 1908), Conservative MP for Ince and owner of Pemberton Collieries in memory of his wife Beatrice, one time lady in waiting to Queen Victoria, who died in 1884.

We particularly like the three modern stained glass windows, all designed by Harry Harvey (1922 – 2011) of York, in the side chapel. The Atherton and Anderson windows are well known as they depict the mining industry, so much a part of the church’s history. But we also like the Foote Window dedicated to the memory of a St. Matthew’s couple, John and Eva Foote, in 1992.

At the top of the window are flowers and birds above the depiction of a man repairing the engine of a truck. Next appears the parish hall with a man in front of it pushing a wheel barrow. Finally at the bottom is a woman knitting a sock, two visitors about to greet her.

Gordon Cooke’s wonderful 1993 book ‘History of St. Matthew’s’ explains (nearly) all. The Footes, who lived on Pemberton Road, loved gardening so their daughter, Mrs. Lovejoy who donated the window, asked for garden birds, roses and sweet peas to feature in the window. Mr. Foote worked as a mechanic for a local building firm so that is him under the bonnet of a truck. He was also one of the volunteers who helped build the Parish Hall in the 1950s and there he is again with the wheel barrow. Unfortunately, Mr. Cooke does not mention the lady knitting the sock, but we can surely assume that it is Mrs. Foote and that she was a keen knitter and that the two other people visiting are perhaps her daughter and a friend.

Mr. Cooke tells us that the Footes sat in the same seats in church every Sunday and were always immaculately dressed. They did not own a car but John rode round the area in the firm’s pick-up truck.

We have seen Harvey’s ‘cartoon’, of the Foote window. The cartoon is the full scale drawing artists produce to help make the window. It is possible that this was taken to the Parochial Church Council meeting when the window was first being discussed. A photograph of the cartoon can be found in the Gallery on our website.

A group of people are very active in keeping the churchyard tidy and in celebrating the history of the area and you can see them on Facebook at ‘Highfield Clean and Green’.

Find out more about St. Matthew's on our website
https://whobuiltwiganschurches.co.uk/churches/st-matthew-
highfield/

St Matthew’s CE Church, Highfield

Highfield Clean & Green

Thanks to Christine Thompson for the photo.

17/09/2026

It’s officially the second week of the school year🎓✏️

This photograph shows the outside view of Wigan Museum and Wigan Local Studies, but did you know that this used to be the site of the old Wigan Grammar School?

In 1723, the second building of Wigan Grammar School was constructed here, on the corner of Rodney Street and Library Street. By 1873, this site was chosen to build Wigan’s first Free Public Library. A year later, the grammar school was demolished and relocated to Parson’s Walk, and construction began on the library building. Four years later, in 1878, Wigan’s Free Public Library opened for the first time; the same building remains to the present day as Wigan Museum and Wigan Local Studies! 😊

Meanwhile, the third Wigan Grammar School building was constructed next to Mesnes Park in 1879. This was then demolished in 1936 and replaced by a new, larger school. This building remains today as the Thomas Linacre Centre.

For more information about local schools and buildings, you can drop-in to Wigan Local Studies, located on the first floor of Wigan Museum.

⏰We're open Tuesday-Friday, 10am-4pm and Saturday, 10am-2pm.

17/09/2026

09/09/2026

A huge thank you to Claire Hannah at What’s Happening in Wigan for helping us publicise our Beyond Haigh Hall research project.

We have already identified more than 600 people who lived or worked at Haigh Hall and across the wider estate, and we are now asking their descendants to help us tell their stories.
Did your parent, grandparent, great-grandparent or another relative work at Haigh Hall or on the Haigh estate? If so, we would love to hear from you.
Please get in touch if you have family photographs, letters, documents, diaries, newspaper cuttings, memories or stories connected with them. Even a name, date, job title or small detail could help us identify an individual and restore their place in Haigh’s history.

There is a Google Form within Claire’s article which you can use to contact us and share any information you may have.
Please read the article, check your family records and share the link with relatives, local history groups and anyone with connections to Haigh. Sharing it could help us reach a descendant who has the missing piece of the story.

More than 500 people who worked at Haigh Hall and across its wider estate have already been identified, but now researchers want to discover the stories behind the names.

08/09/2026

BEYOND HAIGH HALL The Untold Stories of the Estate and Its People

Join Wigan Local History and Heritage Society for the first in a continuing series of talks exploring the Haigh estate and its people.
Our research has uncovered more than 600 people connected with Haigh Hall and the wider estate, far too many to cover properly in one evening. Each talk will therefore explore a different aspect of their working lives and personal stories.

TALK ONE: INSIDE HAIGH HALL
Who kept Haigh Hall running behind the scenes?
This first talk presented by members of the research team will uncover the lives of the servants and other staff who worked inside Haigh Hall.
Drawing on census records, household accounts, wages books, personal diaries and original research, it will explore their work and reveal personal stories of love, friendship, loyalty and tragedy.

Everyone is welcome and admission is free.
Please support our hosts at Real Crafty by buying a drink or two from their amazing selection.

Monday 14 September 2026 at 7.00 pm Real Crafty, Wigan
Presented as part of Heritage Open Days.