Dispite this Leigh has a distinct entity from Wigan and still retains its separate identity as a Lancashire Coal mining and Cotton town. The postal address in still "Leigh, Lancashire" although the post code is WN7 (for Wigan).
An excellent source of information on Leigh's history is "A History of Leigh" by John Lunn, edited by Peter Riley" first published in 1958 by Leigh Borough Council, but more recently published in an abridged form by P & D Riley, 18 Bridgeway East, Windmill Hill, Runcorn, Cheshire in 1993 ISBN: 1 874712 09 3.
Leigh as a Parish is very old, Manchester and Wigan both had Roman origins and the road between ran through the North of Leigh where Roman Coins have been found. The writen history only begins when the Normans invaded and there was already a Leigh Parish Church serving six townships with Anglo-saxon names. But Leigh as a town (as opposed to a Parish) did not exist until much later, when the area experienced ecomonic growth based on coal and cotton and the townships of Pennington, Bedford and Westleigh merged together to form an 19th Century Lanashire Coal and Cotton town. Leigh got its charter as a town in 1899, but the coal mines and cotton mills etc. closed in the third quarter of the 20th century leaving very little local employment.
Today Leigh has a population of about 40,000 but is the local center for as many as 150,000 in surrounding towns and villages.
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