Revealing the new archives facility at Leigh Town Hall

Wigan Council’s state-of-the-art archive facilities opened in June 2021 at the newly renovated Grade II listed Leigh Town Hall.

With historic records dating back 800 years the archives and local studies service collects, preserves and catalogues thousands of records from schools, churches, hospitals, businesses, families, estates, people, and makes them available to the public.

Thanks to a £1.3m grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and match funding from Wigan Council, visitors were welcomed back into Leigh Town Hall.

The Archives scheme is part of a wider project to completely refurbish Leigh Town Hall and create modern office accommodation for council teams.

Local History Exhibition

Visitors will be able see a brand-new exhibition which celebrates the history of Leigh, Atherton and Tyldesley through the amazing collections held in the borough’s historic archives. This new family attraction will also host a programme of activities and events for everyone.

• Visit our What’s on page to see what activities and events are happening

What else can I see?

The new archive facilities include:

• A refurbished searchroom with improved access to collections - book to visit the refurbished searchroom
• A conservation studio for repairing and digitising archives, you can explore our digitised collection on our online Wigan Archives
• State-of-the-art strongrooms for storing and preserving the borough’s historic records
• An education space where schools will participate in an exciting new programme of activities and workshops.

Get in touch

If you have any questions about the new archives facility or how to get involved, we would love to hear from you. Just fill in our simple online form:

• Contact us about the new archives facility at Leigh Town Hall.