John Leland c.1536

Thursday 22nd July, 2010

John Leland was an antiquarian who visited Wigan sometime between 1536 and 1542. This is his brief description of the town:

“Wigan pavid, as bigge as Warington and better buildid. There is one paroch chirch amidde the towne: summe marchauntes, sum artificers, sum fermers.”

“Mr. Bradeshau hath a place caullid Hawe a myle from Wigan. He hath founde moche canel like se coole in his grounde very profitable to hym, and Gerade of Ynse dwellith in that paroch.”

Wiganers would be pleased that Leland found Wigan to be “better built” than Warrington. It is sometimes forgotten that Wigan was a thriving prosperous town with fine buildings and paved roads during the reign of Henry VIII.

It continued to be so until the advent of the industrial revolution when the town began to compromise much of its grandeur for the perceived need to infill its former burgess plots with grotesquely inferior dwellings. These were haphazardly constructed to house the influx of potential workers hoping to take advantage of the town's rapidly expanding coal and cotton industries.

It is to be expected that merchants and artificers were to be found in Wigan at that time but many of today's inhabitants would be surprised at the presence of farmers in the town during the 16th century. It indicates that Wigan was still a rural town.

Leland mentions the parish church “amid” (in the centre of) the town. All Saints has been an important feature since earliest times.

Two Wiganers are mentioned by name: “Mr. Bradshaw” and “Gerard of Ince”. Leland also provides us with an early reference to the presence of cannel coal on the Haigh estate and its role in the prosperity of the Bradshaw family.

John Leland – the man

In 1533, John Leland became Henry VIII's antiquary. He had previously been chaplain and librarian to the king. He was very well educated having studied at Cambridge, Oxford and Paris.

From about 1536 to 1542 he undertook a series of journeys through the country and noted, “... a whole worlde of thinges very memorable”. His intention was to produce a book entitled “History and Antiquities of the Nation”.

Unfortunately, his mission was never completed. He was certified insane in 1550 and died on 18th April, 1552.

Fortunately the notes of his journeys survived and were eventually deposited in the Bodleian Library, Oxford.

Leland's Description of Wigan as edited by Lucy Tolman Smith (1910)