Leigh, Greater Manchester

town in Greater Manchester, UK

Leigh is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. It is on low-lying land northwest of Chat Moss.

Leigh

Obelisk and the Boar's Head
Leigh is located in Greater Manchester
Leigh
Leigh
Location within Greater Manchester
Population41,275 [1]
OS grid referenceSD655005
• London169 mi (272 km) SSE
Metropolitan borough
Metropolitan county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townLEIGH
Postcode districtWN7
Dialling code01942
PoliceGreater Manchester
FireGreater Manchester
AmbulanceNorth West
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Greater Manchester
53°29′51″N 2°30′54″W / 53.4975°N 2.5150°W / 53.4975; -2.5150

Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, Leigh was originally the centre of a large ecclesiastical parish covering six vills or townships. When the three townships of Pennington, Westleigh and Bedford merged in 1875 forming the Leigh Local Board District, Leigh became the official name for the town. It had been applied to the area of Pennington and Westleigh around the parish church for many centuries.[2] The town became an urban district in 1894 when part of Atherton was added.[3] In 1899 Leigh became a municipal borough. The first town hall was built in King Street. It was replaced by the present building in 1907.

References

change
  1. Census 2011: Population and Household Estimates for Wards (PDF), leigh Council, archived (PDF) from the original on 11 June 2016, retrieved 19 May 2016
  2. Farrer, William; Brownbill, J, eds. (1907), "The parish of Leigh: Introduction, church and charities", A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 3, British History Online, pp. 413–421, archived from the original on 21 October 2012, retrieved 7 August 2009
  3. Greater Manchester Gazetteer, Greater Manchester County Record Office, archived from the original on 18 July 2011, retrieved 3 June 2010