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The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868

"HAIGH, a township and ecclesiastical district in the parish of Wigan, hundred of West Derby, county Lancaster, 2 miles N.E. of Wigan, its post town and railway station, and 17 N.W. of Manchester. It is situated near the river Douglas and the Leeds and Liverpool canal. The soil is clayey, and the land chiefly arable. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in the iron works and coal-mines, the latter producing the celebrated Cannel coal. There are also several cotton factories. This lace was for many generations the property of the ancient knightly family of the Bradshaighs of Haigh Hall. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Chester, value £150, in the patronage of the Rector of Wigan. The church is a plain stone edifice, dedicated to St. David, with a campanile turret containing a clock and one bell. The charities produce £194 per annum, of which £55 goes towards the support of Turner's school, and £137 for Lady Bradshaigh's almshouses. There is a chapel for Roman Catholics, and a National school for both sexes, also a Sunday-school. Haigh Hall, the magnificent seat of the Earl of Crawford, was built in the reign of Edward II. It stands in the midst of a well-wooded park, in which is situated a summerhouse built of Cannel coal, beautifully polished. The Earl of Crawford is lord of the manor."