Wingates is a small settlement located in the town of

Westhoughton Westhoughton ( ) is a List of towns in England, town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, southwest of Bolton, east of Wigan and northwest of Manchester.Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. The name is believed to mean 'a gate for the wind', and it seems likely as this is in an exposed position above

Westhoughton Westhoughton ( ) is a List of towns in England, town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, southwest of Bolton, east of Wigan and northwest of Manchester.Historically History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

part of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, it lies mainly along the A6 road between

Blackrod Blackrod is a town and civil parish situated within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. Nestled in the historic County of Lancashire, Blackrod is positioned 3.9 miles (6.3 km) northeast of Wigan and 6.6 mi ...

and

Walkden Walkden is a town in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, northwest of central Salford, and of Manchester. Walkden has been designated as one of seven main town centres in the City of Salford, and now largely functions as a r ...

History

In 1315 a group of men led by Sir William Bradshaigh of

Haigh Hall Haigh Hall is a historic country house in Haigh, Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. Built between 1827 and 1840 for James Lindsay, 7th Earl of Balcarres, it replaced an ancient manor house and was a Lindsay family home until 1947, when it wa ...

, Sir Henry Lea of

Charnock Richard Charnock Richard is a small village and civil parish in the borough of Chorley, Lancashire, in England. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 1,748. History The village was named in the early 13th century by the local ...

and Sir Adam Banastre met in the village to plan a campaign of violence against Sir Robert de Holland of Upholland, chief retainer of the powerful

Earl of Lancaster The title of Earl of Lancaster was created in the Peerage of England in 1267. It was succeeded by the title Duke of Lancaster in 1351, which expired in 1361. (The most recent creation of the ducal title merged with the Crown in 1413.) King Henry ...

. The campaign came to be known as the

Banastre Rebellion The Banastre Rebellion was an uprising in Lancashire, England, in 1315 against the Earl of Lancaster and his supporters. A group of disaffected knights decided to revenge themselves on the Earl of Lancaster by attacking his chief retainer and t ...

and ended with the deaths of most of the main protagonists.

Culture

Wingates is the home of the championship-winning

Wingates Band Wingates Band is a brass band based in Wingates, a settlement near the town of Westhoughton in North West England, north-west England. It is considered one of the country's finest contesting bands and competes in the Brass Band Sections in Bri ...

, one of the best-known

brass band A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting primarily of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands (particularl ...

s in the United Kingdom.

Landmarks

John Wesley John Wesley ( ; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a principal leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies ...

, the co-founder of the Methodist church, preached a sermon at Barnaby's Farm at Wingates in April 1784, an occasion commemorated by a memorial plaque on the side of the A6. The

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

Church of St John the Evangelist was consecrated in 1859. The vicar was Rev

William Macrorie The Rt Revd William Kenneth Macrorie (1831–1905) was bishop of Maritzburg, while John Colenso was bishop of the Diocese of Natal. Macrorie was born at Liverpool on 8 February 1831, was eldest son of David Macrorie, a Liverpool physician, by ...

, the future Bishop of Maritzburg in the

Colony of Natal The Colony of Natal was a British colony in south-eastern Africa. It was proclaimed a British colony on 4 May 1843 after the British government had annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia, and on 31 May 1910 combined with three other colonies t ...

(later

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

). The well-known Christian hymn, "

Angel Voices, Ever Singing "Angel Voices, Ever Singing" is an English Christian hymn. It was written in 1861 by the Church of England vicar Francis Pott (1832–1909). It was written for the dedication of an organ. Text The hymn's words were written by Rev. Francis Pott ...

", was written by the hymnwriter Francis Pott to commemorate the dedication of the new

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

in 1861 at St John's. The churchyard contains many graves of the victims of the 1910

Pretoria Pit Disaster The Pretoria Pit disaster was a mining accident on 21 December 1910, when an underground explosion occurred at the Hulton Colliery Bank Pit No. 3, known as the Pretoria Pit, in Over Hulton, Westhoughton, then in the historic county of Lancashi ...

From Wingates the A6 leads north-west to

and south-east to

. From the church Wingates Lane leads to Lostock and Church Street to the centre of