Wigan Album

I've seen some old photos of Wigan but this must be one of the best.

Where the group of men are stood, was that corner building The Dog and Partridge, in later years?. I recollect the General Post Office being further down to left, and out of the picture. Is the post office still there?.

I know the pub is still the original building but the other buildings on the right were they pulled down and rebuilt or restored?

Albert - the Dog and Partridge is the building between the lamp post and the church tower.
This photo could be very early indeed. The photographer J. Cooper was already established in Wigan in 1869. He was also landlord of the Royal Oak in Standishgate.

This photo is a 'double exposure' there is another photograph mixed in with it.

I remember 'Ashton's Retail and Wholesale Tobacconist' had a shop just to the right of where the men are standing then just beyond was where the Bobby on point duty stood at the Market Place - Library Street junction.

The building top right, it seems higher than the church. This can't be an undoctored photo

Albert, Yes, the general post office is still there.

Albert, The Dog and Partridge was, and still is, the building to the left of the church. It has since been The Bee's Knees and Last Orders, but common sense prevailed and it is now back to The Dog and Partridge. The Post Office is still where you remember it. This scene has almost never altered in Wigan's history and may that remain.

If you look at Google maps the height of the building (top right in this photo at the very back) appears "taller" than or at least as "tall" as the Parish Church. This building is still there, its called the Moot Hall Chambers, and was built in 1884, so this is by no means Wigan's earliest photo.
The Wigan Town Trail informs us that "......it has French Renaissance style with oriel windows of a later and rich Baroque flavour windows. These elegantly curved windows ....... etc., etc.," Architects Issitt and Verity.