When Romans ruled our town ...
Ancient Wigan WAS a Roman military stronghold, archaeologists now believe.
Results of last year's "very exciting" town centre dig have left the experts in no doubt that our town once hosted an important barracks.
And one leading authority has now concluded that we are indeed the mysterious settlement of Coccium, mentioned in writings but whose exact whereabouts has been the subject of some conjecture.
Oxford Archaeology North's Dr Ian Miller, who led last summer's
research in Wigan town centre, revealed the findings while guest speaker at the Federation of Local History Societies convention at Lowton Civic Hall.
He pointed out today that the group is still working on the data recovered from last year's excavations behind the Municipal Buildings and combining it with the results from the 1980s excavations at The Wiend.
But it is now approaching the stage where some "firm" and ground-breaking conclusions could be drawn.
Dr Miller, who is based in Lancaster, said that the dig also provided
important evidence for the character of medieval and post-medieval Wigan, alongside our Roman heritage.
And this will eventually be presented in the published work.
He said: "The first conclusion must be that the data is very significant, in terms of both refining the accepted chronology of Roman Wigan, and perhaps adding to a better understanding of the Roman conquest of the North West in the first century AD.
"In particular, having re-assessed the 1980s data and combined it with the 2008 excavation, we are currently of the opinion that we have found the remains of a Roman military barracks, rather than what was previously interpreted as a second-century workshop.
"Re-assessment of the pottery associated with this building has
strongly suggested that it is of a first-century date, perhaps associated with the Roman conquest of the North West in 69/ 70 AD."
Intriguingly, he points out, this Wigan barracks appears to have been abandoned and "perhaps even demolished" by the early second century.
And certainly before the bathhouse was erected on the opposite side of Millgate.
Work on the bathhouse has concluded that this building is almost certainly of a Hadrianic date (c 120AD).
But that prompts another mystery.
The bathhouse was clearly a "very important building" which, Dr Miller suggests, reflects the perceived status of Wigan at that time in the Romans in Britain world.
But it is NOT connected directly with the barrack block.
Dr Miller said: "The design of the bathhouse implies that it was built by the Roman military, but we cannot yet say with complete confidence who were the intended recipients.
"I am prepared, however, to stick my head above the parapet and say that I believe Wigan to be Coccium."
He said that, although there are still some "issues of dating" to be resolved, it was now their intention to settle this matter.
The story will be told in a book out early next year.
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Weather for Wigan
Thursday 23 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 10 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Light rain
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