This typical post-war public house was built by the brewers Peter Walker of Warrington. It had seven guest rooms, some with television sets, and was officially opened on 10 October 1957 by the company’s chairman, Lord Brocket. The pub is situated on Mesnes (pronounced ‘Mains’) Road. This is a shortened form of ‘demesne’, meaning land retained by the Lord of the Manor, in this case the Rector of Wigan, for his own use.

A print of Webster’s Removals, c1900, with their five-ton steam-driven vehicle the Foden Excelsior

Text about William Wickham

The text reads: As well as ministering to his flock, William Wickham, vicar of the parish of St Andrew’s (from 1878 to 1916) vividly captured the appearance of Wigan and its people.

He was one of the first to take flash photographs underground, and his Douglas Bank Colliery views illustrate the daily life of the collier. Wickham’s popular lantern slide shows were used to raise money to pay for the building costs of his church school.

Prints of the miners’ strike, July–November 1893, at St Andrew’s soup kitchen

Text about Thomas Linacre

The text reads: Mesnes Road (where The Brocket Arms is situated) gets its unusual name as a shortened form of ‘demesnes’, meaning ‘land retained by the lord of the manor’ (in this case the Rector of Wigan) for his own use, and not let to tenants.

The text reads: From 1519 to 1524, Thomas Linacre was Rector of Wigan. An eminent classical scholar, he taught the great Dutch scholar Erasmus and also Sir Thomas More (Lord Chancellor of England, and Catholic martyr).

Linacre was also a royal tutor, a physician to both King Henry VII and his son, Henry VIII, and founded the College of Physicians, in London, of which he became the first president.

External photograph of the building – main entrance