The parish of Leigh was formed in the
12th century and comprised the six townships of Bedford, Pennington, Westleigh, Astley,
Atherton and Tyldesley-with-Shakerley.
Leigh Church, in the township of
Westleigh, is the graceful Parish Church of St Mary, whose original 1516 tower still
stands, though refaced to match the rest of the 1873 rebuilding. It is very similar in its
construction to the church of Winwick, but the architecture is inferior. A private
chapel on the north belongs to the Tildesley family, and contains the remains of Sir
Thomas Tildesley, the most distinguished of the royalist leaders at the battle of Wigan
Lane.
Leigh was divided in its allegiance
during the Civil War, some being for the King and others for Parliament. A battle was
fought in the town on the 2nd December, 1642, when 3,000 Chowbenters beat back the Earl of
Derby's Cavalier troops from Chowbent to Lowton Common, where the Earl's forces were put
to rout. The Earl of Derby passed through Leigh again in 1651, when he spent his last
night in the King's Arms in Leigh, before going on to his execution in Bolton.
Eighteenth century Leigh had a thriving
domestic textile industry, most workers weaving in their own homes, but with one or two
factories for hand-loom weavers.
The Bridgewater Canal was extended from Worsley to the middle of Leigh in 1795, and in
1819 a branch was cut from the Leeds-Liverpool Canal at Wigan to meet the Bridgewater at
Leigh Bridge, giving access from Leigh to all parts of Lancashire, Yorkshire and the
Midlands. Transport by rail was introduced in 1828 with the opening of the first public
railway in Lancashire - the Bolton to Leigh Railway.
In the second half of the 19th century coal began to be an important industry. As the
coalfields of Wigan were worked out, the Leigh coalfield was looked on as its successor,
and coalmining became the largest user of labour after the textile industry.
Leigh was granted a Charter of Incorporation as a municipal borough in 1899. Eight years
later the Town Hall was built.
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Bob Unsworth