Museum of Wigan Life facts for kids
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The Museum of Wigan Life
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| Established | 1878 (Wigan Public Library) 1990 (The History Shop) 2010 (Museum of Wigan Life) |
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| Location | Library Street, Wigan, Greater Manchester, England |
| Type | Heritage centre |
| Visitors | 16,000 (April–October 2010) |
| Public transit access | Wigan North Western and Wigan Wallgate train stations, Wigan bus station |
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Listed Building – Grade II
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| Designated | 1988 |
| Reference no. | 1384510 |
The Museum of Wigan Life is a cool place in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. It's a public museum and a center for learning about local history. The building itself is very old and special. It was designed by a famous architect named Alfred Waterhouse. This building used to be Wigan Library. A famous writer, George Orwell, even did research there for his book The Road to Wigan Pier in 1936. The museum works with other museums in the Greater Manchester area.
Contents
Discovering the Museum's Past
From Library to Museum: The Early Years (1878-1990)
The building that is now the Museum of Wigan Life opened in 1878. It was the town's very first public library. A well-known architect, Alfred Waterhouse, designed it.
Two generous people, mill owner Thomas Taylor and Dr Joseph Winnard, paid for the library. Each gave £12,000. Dr Winnard's money bought all the books. You can still see portraits of these two important people at the museum today.
The library was built where Wigan Grammar School used to be. It opened its doors on May 7, 1878. This building is so important that it's a listed building (Grade II). This means it's protected because of its special history and architecture. Its style is mostly like the Elizabethan Revival period. It also has some cool Gothic details, like its red brick arches.
When it first opened, the library had two main floors. The ground floor had a fancy entrance hall, a lending library, and a newsroom. People could borrow books and read newspapers there. The first floor held a reference library and a meeting room. A third floor was used for storage and later as a staff room. It also had a flat for the caretaker.
The library carefully chose its books. Experts from all over the country helped pick new books. After eight months, the reference library had 15,300 books. The lending library had 6,808 books. The newsroom was very popular, so an extra room was built in 1892.
The History Shop Era (1990-2010)
By 1990, the library needed more space. So, it moved to the New Town Hall. In 1992, a new group called Wigan Heritage Services opened "The History Shop" in the old library building.
The History Shop planned to host different exhibitions. Some would travel, and others would be permanent. It also kept Wigan's local history collection. This included old parish registers and census records. These were available in a study area on the first floor.
At first, the History Shop shared the building with the Wigan Careers Service. But in 1995, the Careers Service moved out. Wigan Heritage Services then took over the whole building. They received £260,000 in funding. This money came from the National Lottery and Monica Whickham. She was the last daughter of a Wigan vicar, William Whickham. Because of her generous donation, the art gallery near the Library Street entrance was renamed the Whickham Gallery.
The Museum of Wigan Life Today (Since 2010)
The History Shop closed in 2009 for a big makeover. It was going to reopen as the Museum of Wigan Life. The refurbishment cost £1.6 million. The Heritage Lottery Fund gave £500,000. Wigan Council and Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust matched this money.
The building was greatly improved, both inside and out. The roof got new tiles. The ground floor exhibition space was updated. It now focuses on different parts of Wigan's life and culture. New features were added, like an extra staircase and a family study area. The reception, meeting room, and shop were also made new.
The museum officially opened on July 1, 2010. The Mayor of Wigan, Michael Winstanley, led the opening ceremony. In its first six months, the newly renovated museum welcomed 16,000 visitors.
