Wingates
{{Short description|Settlement in Greater Manchester, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox UK place
| official_name = Wingates
| coordinates = {{coord|53.559|-2.523|display=inline,title}}
| population =
| os_grid_reference = SD654071
| civil_parish = Westhoughton
| metropolitan_borough = Bolton
| metropolitan_county = Greater Manchester
| region = North West England
| country = England
| post_town = BOLTON
| postcode_area = BL
| postcode_district = BL5
| dial_code = 01942
| constituency_westminster = Bolton West
}}
Wingates is a small settlement located in the town of Westhoughton, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England.{{cite web|url=http://www.gmcro.co.uk/Guides/Gazeteer/gazzt2w.htm|title=Greater Manchester Gazetteer|access-date=5 February 2008|publisher=Greater Manchester County Record Office|at=Place Names T to W|archive-date=18 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718144311/http://www.gmcro.co.uk/Guides/Gazeteer/gazzt2w.htm}} The name is believed to mean 'a gate for the wind', and it seems likely as this is in an exposed position above Westhoughton. It has also been known as Win-yate and Windyates. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies mainly along the A6 road between Blackrod and Walkden.
History
In 1315 a group of men led by Sir William Bradshaigh of Haigh Hall, Sir Henry Lea of Charnock Richard 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 campaign came to be known as the Banastre Rebellion and ended with the deaths of most of the main protagonists.{{cite web | url =http://www.wiganarchsoc.co.uk/content/History/Mabs_Cross.htm| title = Mabs Cross Legend and Reality|access-date = 24 September 2011}}
Culture
Wingates is the home of the championship-winning Wingates Band, one of the best-known brass bands in the United Kingdom.{{cite web| url=http://www.bolton.org.uk/wingates.html| title =Wingates|access-date= 5 February 2008}}
Landmarks
File:St.John the Evangelist - geograph.org.uk - 96516.jpg
John Wesley, 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.{{cn|date=September 2024}}
The Anglican Church of St John the Evangelist was consecrated in 1859. The vicar was Rev William Macrorie, the future Bishop of Maritzburg in the Colony of Natal (later South Africa). The well-known Christian hymn, "Angel Voices, Ever Singing", was written by the hymnwriter Francis Pott to commemorate the dedication of the new organ in 1861 at St John's.{{cite web|url=https://music.churchofscotland.org.uk/hymn/498-angel-voices-ever-singing |title=Angel voices ever singing |publisher=Church of Scotland |date= |accessdate=2020-03-29}}{{cite book |last1=University |first1=Harvard |title=The Harvard University Hymn Book |date=2007 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-02696-4 |page=447 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=feDyJOLd-AYC&dq=Angel+Voices,+Ever+Singing+st+john+wingates&pg=RA1-PA25 |access-date=29 September 2024 |language=en}} The churchyard contains many graves of the victims of the 1910 Pretoria Pit Disaster{{cite web| url = http://www.stjohnswingates.org.uk/brief-history-of-st-johns/|title= Brief History of St. John's|access-date = 10 December 2013|publisher=St John's Wingates|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180902095123/http://www.stjohnswingates.org.uk/brief-history-of-st-johns/ |archive-date=2 September 2018 |url-status=dead}}
From Wingates the A6 leads north-west to Blackrod and south-east to Walkden. From the church Wingates Lane leads to Lostock and Church Street to the centre of Westhoughton.
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References
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External links
{{Commons category|Wingates, Greater Manchester|Wingates}}
Category:Areas of Greater Manchester
{{GreaterManchester-geo-stub}}