Scholes, Greater Manchester

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Scholes is an urban area within the town of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England in the historic county of Lancashire. It lies immediately to the east of the town centre and is separated from the commercial area by the River Douglas / Asland, which flows through the town. It is noted for its council estate and series of tower blocks, which are prominent features in this area of the town. It is located at OS grid reference SD585055.

The historic county of Lancashire has several places called Scholes, of which Scholes in Wigan is of greatest significance with two much smaller places, parts of Eccleston (St.Helens) and Ince Blundell (Sefton).

The district of Scholes was a ward of Wigan, east of the town centre. As described in the Victoria Histories of the Counties of England, Lancashire (VCH Lancs, Vol. 4), the district formerly had four wards: St George and St Patrick, the innermost divided by a street called Scholes, and Lindsay and St Catherine’s outside. It is now contained in the Wigan Central ward.

The Church of St Catherine was consecrated in 1841 and has a small graveyard attached .... Robert Ford who died in 1772 took possession of the ‘manor house’ in Scholes and were besieged for some days, to the excitement of the town.

http://www.scholesfamily.co.uk/scholes/origins/place.htm