a market town, parliamentary and municipal borough of England, Lancashire, 40 miles S. by E. of Lancaster, and 17 W.N.W. of Manchester, on the river Douglas, and the Liverpool and Leeds Canal. It is an ancient place, and is divided by the river, which is crossed by several bridges, into two parts; that on the right bank being the older, and the suburb called Scholes, on the other side, more modern. Though a straggling and irregular town, it is not ill built; but from the numerous collieries and furnaces in the town and neighbourhood, where most of the inhabitants are employed, it has a very blackened and dirty appearance. In recent years many good new streets have been built, and the whole town has been much improved and extended. The parish church, a fine old edifice in the perpendicular style, with a square tower, occupies the summit of a hill overlooking the old town, but closely surrounded on almost all sides with buildings. A second church, St George's, was erected here in 1781; and a third, St Catherine's, in the modern part of the town, in 1841. There are also several district churches within the parish; and the Presbyterians, Methodists, Independents, Baptists, and Roman Catholics have places of worship. Among the public buildings of Wigan are to be numbered the Town Hall, rebuilt in 1720, and the Commercial Hall, a large brick edifice, erected in 1816 for the sale of cloth and hardware. There are here, besides a free school, which has existed since the time of James I., national and infant schools, a mechanics' institute, with a library and museum, a news-room, dispensary, and poorhouse. The manufactures of the town are extensive and various. Besides the large collieries in the vicinity, which give employment to many of the people, there are in the town iron and brass foundries, manufactories of nails, agricultural implements, cutlery, machinery, and chemical substances; paper and flour mills, cotton factories, woollen and linen works. By means of the Liverpool and Leeds Canal, and the many railways that meet at Wigan, trade is facilitated, and easy communication is afforded with all parts of the country. Markets are held twice a week, and fairs three times a year; and an active trade is carried on. The borough is governed by ten aldermen and thirty councillors, of whom one is mayor; and it is represented in Parliament by two members, a privilege which it enjoyed as early as 1295. In the vicinity are many beautiful walks and drives, and some fine mansions and villas. Within the bounds of the parish rise several sulphureous springs, which have been found beneficial in several complaints. Wigan probably owes its origin to a castle built here by the Saxons, although some have supposed that it was a Roman station. Many bloody conflicts are said to have taken place here during the wars between the Saxons and the Britons. In the civil war of the seventeenth century the town was strongly attached to the royalist cause; and a battle was fought here in 1651, in which the king's troops under the Earl of Derby were defeated by Colonel Lilburne. A monument has been erected in the town to Sir T. Tyldesley, who fell in this engagement. In 1745, Wigan was visited by the Pretender on his march southwards. Pop. of the borough (1851) 31,941.