Wigan

Wigan is a significant town in the English county of Greater Manchester, located on the River Douglas. The town is located in the middle of the two major cities of Manchester (16 miles (25.7 km) to the south east and Liverpool (17 miles (27 km) to the southwest, respectively. It is 10 miles (16 kilometres) to the northeast, and 12 miles (19 kilometres) to the south, to reach the towns of Bolton and Warrington respectively. Wigan is the main community in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and the administrative centre of the borough, which is located within the limits of the ancient county of Lancashire. The town with a population of 103,608 , while the greater borough has a population of 318,100 people.

Wigan was located within the realm of the Brigantes, an ancient Celtic tribe that governed most of what is now northern England at the time of the Roman invasion. As a result of the Roman invasion of Britain, the Brigantes were conquered, and the Roman colony of Coccium was constructed where Wigan now stands.

Following the issuance of a charter by King Henry III of England, the town of Wigan was officially established as a borough in 1246. As part of a Royal charter created towards the end of the Middle Ages, it was one of four boroughs in Lancashire to be founded.

The Industrial Revolution resulted in a huge growth of the economy as well as a quick increase in population. During the Industrial Revolution, Wigan grew into a major mill town and coal mining region; at its height, there were 1,000 pit shafts within 5 miles (8 kilometres) of the town centre. Coal mining came to an end in the latter half of the twentieth century.

A dock on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in Wigan, Lancashire, was made famous by the novelist George Orwell, who was born there. In his novel The Road to Wigan Pier, George Orwell drew attention to the deplorable working and living circumstances that existed in the town during the 1930s. Wigan Pier's warehouses and wharves were transformed into a local history centre and cultural district as a result of the demise of heavy industry in the area. The Wigan Athletic Football Club and the Wigan Warriors Rugby League Football Club both call the DW Stadium their home.