Museum of Wigan Life

The Museum of Wigan Life occupies a Grade II listed building in the centre of Wigan, designed by Alfred Waterhouse in the 19th century. The red-brick structure stands on the former site of Wigan Grammar School and mixes Elizabethan Revival style with Gothic arches. Inside, the ornate entrance hall and first-floor reference library recall the days when George Orwell researched The Road to Wigan Pier here in 1936. Portraits of the two benefactors, Thomas Taylor and Dr Joseph Winnard, remain on display. The building once housed Wigan’s first public library, opened in 1878 with 15,300 reference volumes and 6,808 lending books. The museum is worth the journey because it preserves Wigan’s local history and culture in a carefully restored space. After the library moved to the New Town Hall in 1990, the building became the History Shop and later underwent a £1.6 million refurbishment. Heritage Lottery Fund money and Wigan Council matched funds to re-tile the roof and renovate the ground floor. The Mayor of Wigan opened the new Museum of Wigan Life in July 2010, and it welcomed 16,000 visitors in its first six months. The Whickham Gallery, funded by Monica Whickham’s donation, now hosts changing exhibitions. Visitors find a welcoming reception area, a meeting room and a shop on the ground floor. Upstairs, a family study area and the Whickham Gallery offer space for research and displays. The first floor still shows traces of its library past, including the ornate entrance hall and the reference room where Henry Tennyson Folkard once worked. The building sits in the heart of Wigan, close to other heritage sites managed by Wigan Heritage Services. Its restored interiors and local collections provide a quiet but engaging insight into the town’s past.