Historians believe that the town of Wigan started life as a Roman garrison known as Coccium; in recent years major excavations have uncovered evidence of a significant Roman presence around the area of the present-day town centre.
The former ‘Ancient and Loyal’ borough of Wigan was one of the oldest in the country, having been established in 1246 by a charter from King Henry III.
The legacy of the Victorian and Edwardian renaissance can still be seen in present-day Wigan, with many impressive buildings in distinctive red brick, stone and terracotta. Notable amongst these are the Makinson Arcade, the Edwardian Market Place, the local history centre (built by Alfred Waterhouse, architect of Manchester town hall and the Natural History Museum), and the spectacular former court buildings in Crawford Street. The imposing former Mining and Technical College in Library Street became in 1989 the new Town Hall and central library.
The town centre is now home to a state of the art shopping centre in the Grand Arcade and has a thriving night time economy which attracts thousands of customers each weekend.
This page provides up to date crime and demographic statistics for the Wigan Central Ward area. All statistics have been taken from the 2001 Census. Full census breakdown can be found by visiting the national statistics website (external link).
Demographics
The demographic make up of an area can influence how much crime is experienced within that area. The more densely populated an area is the more likely it is to experience higher levels of Crime and disorder. The Wigan Central Ward includes the areas of: Bottling Wood, Longshoot, Swinley, Thorn Hill, Water Heyes, Whitley and Wigan Town Centre. The ward has an overall population of 11,170 spread across 5,119 Households, giving an average of 2.2 people per household.
Deprivation
The level of deprivation is measured by various factors such as levels of unemployment, health and education. Research suggests that the level of deprivation in an area is strongly linked to the level of crime. Super Output Areas (SOAs) are nationally defined boundaries which were constructed to compare statistics on a small scale. They have an average of 1500 residents in each SOA, there are 200 SOAs in the Wigan Borough. There are 10 lower level super output areas (SOA) within the Wigan Central ward, 2 score in the bottom 10% of SOAs for deprivation nationally. Further indicators of deprivation there are 365 households in the Wigan Central ward without Central Heating, and 1716 Households without access to a car.
Look for more information about Health and Employment statistics
Education
Improving Educational achievement and attendance is key to helping Wigan reduce levels of offending among our youth population. Find out how children are performing in your ward
