Discoveries during closure...
Posted on 31st Jul 2026 by AWL Team
Every year, the Archives Team shuts up shop for a few weeks to get stuck in to some essential behind the scenes work: sorting, cataloguing, appraising, reboxing, and giving the borough’s collections some much needed TLC.
This process always unearths some hidden gems – here are a few of our favourites from 2026.
A plan of Wigan’s workhouse dated 1857. Note the charmingly titled ‘Bad Women’s Yard’, where insubordinate women routinely segregated from other, better behaved inmates to prevent their influence spreading.
Plan of Leigh’s prisoner of war camp The camp was situated on the corner of Etherstone Street. The plan is dated 1st December 1914, two months before the first prisoners arrived. Interesting details include the two layers of fencing: first a barbed wire fence, then a wooden outer perimeter. In spite of these security measures, there were twelve escapees, all of whom were quickly recaptured.
Tyldesley Peace Demonstation Poster In 1937, in the midst of the Spanish Civil War and Hitler’s rapid re-militarisation of Germany, Tyldesley pacifists rallied at the Theatre Royal to publicly ‘proclaim the cause of peace’. This poster helped spread the word.
WWII National Service Application Forms Three years later, the protesters' worthy attempt having proven fruitless, hundreds of Tyldesley women were keen to do their bit for the war effort, and volunteered for National Service. Many, like Ethel Prescott, wanted to leave housewifery behind to become first aiders and ambulance drivers. Hundreds of these forms were submitted to Tyldesley Urban District Council in 1940.
A poster promoting a 1943 'Dig for Victory' week in Leigh. The programme featured film screenings, lectures and Q&A sessions, all aimed at encouraging Leigh folk to grow their own food and make the most of every available space for gardening.
Wigan Mountaineering Association The history of the borough isn’t all war and workhouses: Fiona catalogued the records of many community groups, including the photographs and diaries of Wigan Mountaineering Association, which were donated two years ago. Judging from these pictures, they were an adventurous (if sensationalist) bunch, and clearly didn’t think much of PPE.
Come and view any of these collections when we reopen on 4th August!
By Helen Raymond