690 5SBF5 IGAN : AN HISTORICAL SKETCH WITH A NOTE ON ITS FREE UBLIC LIBRARY : FOR THE MEET- ING OF THE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, ON AUGUST 23rd, 1898. BY HENRY TENNYSON FOLKARD, ^.S.A. THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES 300 copies printed for presentation only. -\X7IGAN : AN HISTORICAL SKETCH WITH A NOTE ON ITS FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY : FOR THE MEET- ING OF THE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, ON AUGUST 23rd, 1898. BY HENRY TENNYSON FOLKARD, F.S.A. VX7IGAN: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH WITH A NOTE ON ITS FREE IDA PUBLIC LIBRARY: FOR THE MEET- ING OF THE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, ON AUGUST 2 3 rd, 1898. BY HENRY TENNYSON FOLKARD, F.S.A. THE " Ancient and Loyal " Borough of Wigan Roman has earned its well-known title by an historical Period. existence which may be traced from the days when it formed an important Roman military station (the Coccium of Antoninus) down to the present time. The Roman station at Wigan stood upon the summit of the elevation in the centre of the town, on which the Parish Church now stands, and the three Roman roads from Wilderspool, from Manchester, and from Walton, converged upon it.* The fortifications erected by the Romans round the station have been well described by the late Rev. A. E. P. Gray, F.S.A., who saysf "There was an agger or earthwork, with a ditch outside it, running round the hill ; this crossed the Standish Gate, at the bottom of the hill, near the point where Dicconson Street and Church Street now meet, it followed the course of the former street, and then turning to the left crossed the Mesnes close to where New Market Street now runs ; turning * Watkin (W. T.). Roman Lancashire. Liverpool, 1883, P- 2 - f Wigan Parish Magazine, vol. iii., p. 114 (1879). I again, it seems to have enclosed the Hall Gate, and to have gone down King Street West across the Wall Gate, and down King Street to the Free Library, where it bent northwards and crossed the Mill Gate, where the later walls did ; after this point it would naturally run along the top of the slope overlooking the Douglas as far as St. George's Church, where it turned down Church Street to the place from which we started." The station at Wigan was placed between the larger ones at Ribchester and Manchester, accordingly the discoveries have been few. In 1837, a number of Roman coins were found of the reigns of Probus, Victorinus, Gallienus, and Tetricus ; and about the same date a Roman urn containing a quantity of burnt bones. About 1850, a very fine coin of Vitellius (A.D. 69) was found in a field adjoining the " Mesnes" and the Roman road leading to Walton : its weight is 113 grains, or nearly that of a sovereign, and the gold is very pure. In 1879, Mr. J. Paul Rylands, F.S.A., practically discovered a portion of a Roman altar in the Wigan Parish Church. The head of it only is visible, and it was found during the alterations at the church in 1847, under the communion table, being then built up into the splay of the east side of the window of the church tower, which forms the north transept. The semi-effaced inscription to be read upon it is of the seventeenth century ; an illustration is given. CW KKE .s The name of Wigan is derived from "wig" in Anglo-Saxon signifying a fight, the "*w" forming the plural of the noun. After the departure of the Romans, the Britons fought for their indepen- dence on the banks of the Douglas, and tradition has it, that led by the semi-mythical hero, King Arthur, they achieved several brilliant successes. After the Norman Conquest, Wigan, which had been for a considerable period a borough by prescription, was made a free borough by King Henry the Third, whose Charter, dated 1246, granted to John Mansel, parson of the Church of Wigan, sets forth " That his vill of Wygayn may be a borough for ever, and that the burgesses of the same borough may have a guild merchant 3 Derivation of Name. Charters. with a treasury and other liberties, etc." The old Statute Merchants' Seal is only known to us by a much defaced impression appended to a deed of King Henry the Sixth (1455), which has been restored and emblazoned in one of the windows of the New Council Chamber, the elaborate decora- tions of which were carried out heraldically at the suggestion of the present writer,* so that the chamber should contain an interesting record relating generally to the history of the various municipalities of the County Palatine, and especially to that of Wigan and its neighbourhood.* j The Wigan has no Arms in the ordinary meaning of Common the phrase, but the Common Seal of the Town, in Seal. use since the commencement of the seventeenth century, or earlier, has been accepted in substitu- tion. The Charter of Henry III. was confirmed to the town by Edward II. (1314) and subsequent monarchs down to Charles II., whose charter of May i6th, 1662, confirmed to the Mayor, Bailiffs, and Burgesses of Wigan, all their ancient privileges, and ordains that the Corporation shall consist of a Mayor and eleven other Aldermen, a Recorder, two Bailiffs, and a Common Clerk. This king, taking into account the constant loyalty of the town during the great Civil War, in his * Folkard (H. T.)- Wigan County Council Chamber, opened October soth, 1890. Descriptive Sketch. Wigan, 1890. charter specially honoured the Mayor of Wigan by conferring upon him and his successors for ever the dignity of a Justiceship of the Peace for the County Palatine, as well as that of Chief Magis- trate of Wigan. The special privilege thus created of the county magistrateship has unfor- tunately been allowed to lapse. The Charter of Charles II. was considered the governing Charter of the town until the passing of the Municipal Corporations Act, in 1835, when the Corporation included the Mayor, Ex-Mayor, and ten other Aldermen, two Bailiffs, a Recorder, the Town Clerk, and a Treasurer, with two Serjeants-at-Mace, a Sword-Bearer, and two Halberd-Bearers. Several of these charters have been placed in the Wigan Public Library in a glass case for public inspection. The late Rector of Wigan states * that there The was a church at Wigan in King Edward the Church. Confessor's time, but of any subsequent rebuilding or restoration there is no record till the year 1620, when the chancel was rebuilt by bishop Bridgeman, at that time Rector of the Parish. The oldest parts of the existing church are the lower portion of the tower and the lower portions of the two turrets, * Bridgeman (Hon. and Rev. G. T. O.). History of the Church and Manor of Wigan. Part IV. Chatham Society. Manchester, 1890. 5 with stone winding stairs leading to the roof on the north and south of the chancel arch, which are built of red sandstone like that used in the tower. The old tower is an immensely solid structure, the walls of which are nearly seven feet thick, as may be seen where it is cut through to connect the vestry with the choir vestry, or robing room for the choir. It is probable, Mr. Bridgeman continues, that the Gerard Chapel, adjacent to the north aisle of the church, with a family vault beneath it, was built about the same time as the chancel. This chapel descended to the Walmesleys, of Westwood House, Wigan, as successors to the Gerards, of Ince, and was left untouched at the last restoration. Before that took place, the Legh Chapel, or north aisle of the chancel, was used as a vestry, and the site of the present vestry was occupied by a building known as the bone house ; the church at that time was also filled up with unsightly galleries. The commencement of the restoration took place in 1845, when the chancel and the Bradshaigh Chapel were taken down and rebuilt by the Rector and the Earl of Crawford, respectively. The body of the church was pulled down in 1849, and the restoration completed in 1850, under the direction of Mr. E. G. Paley, architect, of Lancaster. The old tower was subsequently raised to make room for the clock. There were formerly three private chapels attached to the parish church. Besides the Gerard Chapel, there were a Legh Chapel and a Bradshaigh Chapel. That belonging to the Leghs, of Lyme, as lords of the manor of Norley, in the parish of Wigan, stood where the organ now is placed, north of the chancel. This chapel was handed over in 1682 by Richard Legh, of Lyme, for a vestry, and was used as such until the present vestry was built. The Bradshaigh Chapel, now the property of the Earl of Crawford, has a very old history of its own. The original chantry attached to the church, and dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin, was founded by dame Mabel, widow of Sir William Bradshaigh, Knight, with the assent of Roger, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry ; Henry, Earl of Lancaster, Seneschal of England ; and John de Langton, Rector of Wigan (1338). The dame Mabel mentioned was daughter and heiress of Hugh le Norreys, lord of Haigh and Blackrod. Those acquainted with Sir Walter Scott's Mab's Betrothed, and with Roby's Traditions of Lancashire, Cross will be familiar with the romantic story of her Legend, second marriage during her husband's long absence from home, in the wars. This venerable tradition is chiefly extracted from the genealogical roll of the Bradshaighs, drawn up in 1647, and now in the possession of Lord Crawford : "Sir William Bradshaighe, second son of Sir John, was a great traveller and a souldger, and married to Mabell, daughter and sole heire of Hugh Norris de Haghe and Blackrode, and had issue, in 8 Edward II. Of this Mabell is a story, by tradition of undoubted veritie, that in Sir William Bradshaghe [his] absence (being ten years away in the holy wars) she married a Welsh knight. Sir William returning from the wars, came in a palmer's habitt amongst the poor to Haghe, who, when she saw, and congetringe that he favoured her former husband, wept, for which the knight chastised her, at which Sir William went and made him selfe knowne to his tennants, in which space the knight fled ; but neare to Newton Parke Sir William overtooke him and slue him. The said dame Mabell was enjoined by her confessor to doe pennances by going onest every week barefout and barelegg'd to a crosse ner Wigan, from the Haghe, whilest she lived, and is called Mabb X to this day ; and ther monu- ment lyes in Wygan Church." Sir William was outlawed during the space of a year and a day for this offence, but he and his lady are said to have 8 lived happily together ever afterwards. The remains of the ancient cross still known as Mab's Cross, stand at the top of Standishgate, at the entrance of Wigan Lane, and consist of the base of a pillar and a portion of a four-sided shaft, much worn away by time. The tomb of Sir William and his lady will be found in the Bradshaigh Chapel, on the south side of the chancel, from which it is separated by a handsome screen. The knight lies beside dame Mabel, clad in a coat of mail, cross-legged, with his sword partially drawn from the scabbard on the left side and on his shoulder his shield charged with two bends ; she in a long robe, veiled, her hands elevated and conjoined in the attitude of prayer. Sir William, as Roby remarks, could not have been in the holy wars, seeing he was born about the year 1280. Sir Walter Scott avoids the difficulty by omitting the word holy ; and the late Rector of Wigan suggests that it is more likely that he was taken prisoner in the Scottish wars. There is another version of the story preserved in the Harleian MSS, 1563,* which differs in many particulars from the one given. Part of the old Haigh Hall, pulled down in the time of James, Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, * See Burke's Visitation of the Seats and Arms of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain, vol. ii., p. 9. 9 grandfather of the present peer, bore the name of " Mab's Gallery, "and her ghost was said to haunt it. The Church contains other monuments re- lating to the Bradshaighs and Earls of Crawford, the Gerards, the Walmesleys, and others, and recently a beautifully painted glass window has been placed in the Bradshaigh Chapel by Lady Mabel Marian Lindsay and Lady Jane Evelyn Lindsay, in memory of their father, Alexander William, the late Earl of Crawford and Balcarres. The elaborate designs were drawn by Lady Jane Evelyn Lindsay, and the work executed by Messrs. Heaton, Butler, and Bayne. Mediaeval On the first return of borough members to the Wigan. House of Commons, the four ancient boroughs of Lancashire, Wigan, Preston, Liverpool, and Lancaster, were required to send two members each (1295), these being the only towns in the whole county summoned to Parliament, and the wages of the members were fixed at two shillings each per diem, which at the present value of money would amount to about thirty shillings a member. Wigan (with one considerable break) from that time continued to send two members to Parliament, until the passing of the Redistribution of Seats Act (1885), when the number was reduced to one. 10 One of the earliest detailed references to Wigan is given in the Itinerary of John Leyland, the Antiquary, who flourished in the reign of Henry VIII.* "Wigan," he writes, " pavid, as bigge as Warrington and better builded ; there is one Paroch Chirch amidde the town, summe marchauntes, sum artificers, sum fermers. Mr. Bradeshaw hath a place caullid Hawe, a myle from Wigan, he founde muche canal like se coole in his grounde, very profitable to hym ; and Gerarde of Ynse dwellith in that paroch." Holinshed,f a chronicler of Queen Elizabeth's time, also mentions Wigan, where, he says, the inns were well provided with " naperie, bedding, and tapisserie, and each commer is sure to lie in cleane sheets wherein no man hath been lodged since they came from the laundresse." If the traveller arrived on horseback his bed cost him nothing, but if on foot it cost him a penny for this luxurious accommoda- tion. About this time the parson of Wigan, the Rev. Edward Fleetwood, ordered the Wigan innkeepers not to charge more than one penny for a quart of ale. Baines, the county historian, informs us that at this period Lancashire was agitated by religious differences, and in no place did the zeal of the contending parties glow more *Leland's Itinerary. 3rd Edition, vol. vii., fol. 56, p. 47. Oxford, 1769. t Holinshed's Chronicles, etc. vol. i, p. 414. 1807. II fervently than in Wigan. Queen Elizabeth's commission for promoting the ordinances of the church according to the rights of the reformed faith, held sittings occasionally under the presidency of the Earl of Derby, in Wigan. " The popish recusants," as they were then styled, were rigorously pursued in the borough, and the rector, the Rev. E. Fleetwood, exerted himself energetically against his Roman Catholic parishioners. The Descending to another great era in English Civil War. history, Wigan is to be found among the foremost of the boroughs in the County Palatine, and when in the year 1636 Charles I. determined to enforce the levy of ship-money, Wigan, from its then superior wealth, was called upon to contribute ^50, whereas from Preston was only required 40, from Lancaster 30, and from Liverpool ^25. In the great civil war which ensued, Wigan took a prominent part. As early as 1636 it became a sort of central garrison for the king, and throughout the whole period of the war it upheld its character of the " ancient and loyal town of Wigan." In 1642, Captains Bradshaw and Venables marched out of Wigan towards Bolton with 250 men, and encountering a Parliamentary force on their way, after a severe struggle, routed 12 them. This victory, according to the Parlia- mentary despatches, inflated the Cavaliers with pride, for on their way back to Wigan they knocked down the pulpit in Hindley Chapel, played at cards in the pews, and tore the bible to pieces, sticking the leaves upon the posts about the town, and calling it the "Roundhead's Bible." This initial success was soon followed by repeated disaster. In 1643, Sir John Seaton, the Parliamentary general, after capturing Preston and Lancaster, marched to Wigan, where the Earl of Derby had thrown up strong entrench- ments, and formed a camp in the "parson's meadow," on the banks of the Douglas. A desperate battle followed on the ist of April, the Royalists being totally defeated. The number of prisoners taken amounted to 800 men, with a thousand stand of arms, and 2,000 in treasure. In the following month the Earl of Derby regained possession of the town, and was again defeated after a sharp struggle. During this fight a body of Royalist marksmen took refuge in the church tower, and kept up a galling fire on the enemy. They did not surrender until Colonel Roseworm threatened to blow up the whole church unless they desisted. Finding that the people of Wigan remained firmly attached to the Royalist 13 cause, Colonel Ashton, the Parliamentary commander, ordered the outworks and fortifica- tions of the town to be demolished, and caused the gates and posts at the entrances to Standish- gate, Wallgate, Hallgate, and Millgate, to be thrown down and destroyed. From this time until the year 1648, Wigan was left alone, although much Royalist treasure was known to be concealed in the place ; but when, in this year, Oliver Cromwell had driven the Scotch army under the Duke of Hamilton from Preston, he pursued the flying troops through Wigan, where they had found quarters on the night of the i8th of August, and overthrew them at the pass of Winwick. The Battle Three years afterwards (1651), the appearance of Wigan of Charles II. in the field again raised the Lane, 1651. h P es of the Royalists, the Earl of Derby once more assumed command in Lancashire, and marched with a small body of horse, some 600 men, from Preston to Wigan. At the same time Colonel Lilburne started from Manchester with ten troops of dragoons and some regiments of militia to intercept him. On the 25th of August, 1651, the colonel reached Wigan Lane, and lined the hedges on both sides with his infantry. Upon the earl's approach shortly afterwards with a body of cavalry, he was received 14 with a heavy musketry fire. Surprised, but undaunted, the earl rapidly divided his small force into two bodies of about 300 each, and taking the van, gave the rear to Sir Thomas Tyldesley. The trumpets then sounded the charge, and the gallant band of cavaliers twice cut their way through the main body of the enemy ; but attempting a third assault they were surrounded and overpowered, and Sir Thomas Tyldesley, Lord Widdrington, and many others were killled. Sir Robert Throgmorton, knight marshal, left for dead, was rescued and sheltered by a poor woman ; afterwards concealed by Sir Roger Bradshaigh, and eventually recovered. The Earl of Derby had two horses shot under him, and, wounded himself, escaped to Wigan, where he remained in hiding till night-time in the Old Dog Inn, which is situated in the maze of passages then shut in by the Mill Gate, the Market Place, and the Wiend. Here the wall was already in ruins, for he escaped through it and fled to Worcester, accompanied by a few faithful followers. The " Hole-i'th-Wall " public house, close to the spot, still preserves the memory of this incident. The Battle of Worcester proved more disastrous than the fight in Wigan Lane. The unfortunate Earl of Derby fled from thence into Lancashire, was shortly afterwards captured, 15 tried at Chester, sentenced to death, and beheaded at Bolton on the I5th of October, 1651. In 1679, a monumental pillar was erected in Wigan Lane by Alexander Rigby, Esq., to mark the spot where Sir Thomas Tyldesley was killed ; it was restored and renovated by the Wigan Town Council in 1886. Rebellion The Invasion of the North of England by the of 1715. Scotch army, under the Earls of Derwentwater, and other Jacobite leaders in 1715 scarcely extended so far south as Wigan, but after the suppression of the rebellion, five of the rebels, namely James Blundel, James Finch, John Macilliwray, William Whalley, and James Burn were publicly executed in the Wigan Market Place. Rebellion I n tne Rebellion of 1745, the Young Pretender, of 1745. Prince Charles Edward Stuart, passed through the town at the head of his army on the way to Manchester, and returned by the same route when retreating, spending the night of the loth of December in Wigan, the Prince sleeping at the Old Manor House in Bishopsgate. The house is still in existence. Modern The modern history of Wigan is sufficiently well History. known, and requires but little illustration. In the year 1719 an Act was obtained for making the river Douglas navigable from Wigan to the Ribble, 16 and in 1727, a cut parallel with the Douglas was formed. Subsequently this navigation became by purchase a section of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. Since that time the opening out of the Wigan coal field, the net-work of railways, three companies having stations in Wigan, the erection of cotton mills and the like, mark a great revival, substituting commercial prosperity for feudal power. At the present time the County Borough is well up to date as regards public institutions worked for the benefit of its inhabitants. It possesses a Public Park, Gas Works and Waterworks, a Public Market, the Market Square being one of the largest in Lancashire, a Royal Infirmary opened by the Prince of Wales in 1873, a Sanatorium, a Grammar School, Public Baths, and a Free Public Library. The Public Library was opened in May, 1878. The Free The building completely fitted and furnished, was Public presented to the Corporation by the late Mr. Library. Thomas Taylor, at a cost of 12,000. The late Mr. Joseph Taylor Winnard bequeathed a sum of 12,000 for the purchase of books; and other donations amounted to 1,000. The structure is from the designs of Mr. A. Waterhouse, R.A., and consists of a main building, with cross gables 17 at each end, the central portion forming a recess, supported by buttresses. A new annex in the form of a second News Room was added during 1892, and in 1893, Sir Francis Sharp Powell, Bart., the Member for the Borough, presented The Powell Boys' Reading Room and Library. A Delivery Station in connection with the Central Library was opened in 1896. The Wigan Free Public Library and its branches at the present time contain 52,000 volumes of which 35,000 are shelved in the Reference Department. The classification is based on the scheme of the eminent American bibliographer and librarian Mr. Melvil Dewey, with considerable modifications. Prior to the purchase of the books, specialists in the various departments of knowledge were asked to draw up lists of the best works in each of them, thus Mr. Gerard Finch, of Wigan, senior wrangler in 1858, may be specially fathered with the mathematical, astronomical and kindred divisions, Mr. W. E. A. Axon with the books relating to Lancashire and Cheshire, and the numerous other divisions were advised upon by experts, great care being taken to include only works of high merit. I may be permitted to add that there is reason for congratulation on the result of this endeavour to lay a good foundation for the time to come. The 18 Reference Library has acted as a powerful load- stone, and attracted many valuable donations from people who like to think that their gifts will be in good company. The Catalogue, in course of publication, has reached the letter L. I have compiled it upon what is termed the Dictionary plan, namely, author, class, and subject, in one alphabetical arrangement, with in addition, numerous cross references. The contents of collected works, essays, and miscellanies, are set forth in smaller type, and long sets, such as the Abbe Migne's Patrologia, are analysed and indexed. The cata- logue now in print as far as the name Lancashire, amounts to 1,456 closely printed pages. Other special catalogues have been issued, upon mining, local literature, law, and freemasonry (of which we possess a rare collection presented by Lord Crawford). These catalogues all concern the Reference Library and do not touch those provided for the Lending Department. I will conclude by very briefly enumerating a few of the more valuable books shelved in the Reference Library. There are complete sets of the Abbe Migne's Patrologia (both the Greek and Latin divisions, in 382 volumes) ; the Acta Sanctorum ; the Annales des Mines ; the Tran- 19 sactions of the Royal Society (at large) ; also the privately printed issues of the Bibliotheca Lindesiana ; a valuable set of De Bry ; most of the county histories, many of them on large paper; and specially valuable collections in the divisions devoted to the fine arts, mining, topography, local books, and bibliography. Those of you who can find time will, I hope, be able to test for themselves the extent and value of the Wigan Free Public Library. Printed by Strowger & Son, at Clarence Works, Wigan, in the County of Lancaster, and finished on the 22nd day of August, i! UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. Form L9-40m-7,'56(C790s4)444 THE LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES