The Museum of Wigan Life

The Museum of Wigan Life brings together objects from the town’s history in a beguiling collection that’ll delight people who like peering in glass cabinets unsure what treasures they’ll find inside.

The current exhibition, What’s In Store, (running until December 2025) is a wonderfully random collection of artefacts spanning from glass walking sticks to ostrich eggs to Northern Soul posters to 19th century toys. The deliberately eclectic displays show off objects rarely included in more traditionally themed exhibitions.

There’s two permanent exhibits – one devoted to the museum’s impressive collection of Roman and Egyptian artefacts, and one about George Orwell. He visited the reference library upstairs when researching his socialist text The Road to Wigan Pier in the 1930s.

The other much-quoted gentleman honoured at the museum is “We’re just innocent men” meme star and CBBC presenter, Hacker T Dog. His puppet was donated by Wigan local Phil Fletcher and greets you as you come in.

“Y’Alright Cockers!” Or as Orwell said, “Some animals are more equal than others.”