Leigh is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester, historically part of Lancashire in England. It sits between Wigan and Manchester and is notable for waterways such as the Bridgewater Canal and the large nature reserve at Pennington Flash, a former mining flood basin now valued for birdwatching and watersports.
Once built on textiles and coal, Leigh still shows its industrial heritage in terraces and canal-side buildings, but now leans more on retail, light industry and local leisure. The town has a strong rugby league culture centred on Leigh’s club and facilities such as Leigh Sports Village, and ongoing regeneration projects aim to refresh the high street while keeping a distinctive community character.
Postcode districts covering Leigh
Most populated places nearby
- Manchester 12.4 miles
- Liverpool 17.4 miles
- Birkenhead 23.7 miles
- Preston 20.4 miles
- Oldham 17.4 miles
- St. Helens 9.6 miles
- Wigan 5.9 miles
- Warrington 8.2 miles
- Burnley 23.1 miles
- Blackburn 17.8 miles
- Bolton 7.3 miles
- Stockport 16.1 miles
Neighbouring places
- Leigh Central & Higher Folds Ward 0.6 miles
- Leigh South Ward 1.2 miles
- Atherton South & Lilford Ward 1.2 miles
- Higher Folds Built-up area 1.4 miles
- Leigh West Ward 1.5 miles
- Bickershaw Built-up area 2.1 miles
- Hindley Green Ward 2.2 miles
- Glazebury Built-up area 2.2 miles
- Atherton Built-up area 2.3 miles
- Astley Built-up area 2.4 miles
- Atherton North Ward 2.5 miles
- Tyldesley Built-up area 2.7 miles
Example postcodes in Leigh
WN7 4RS, WN7 4DJ, WN7 2DH, WN7 2JL, WN7 5JT, WN7 5BQ, WN7 4GQ, WN7 5JZ, WN7 1HL … See all
Transport links
- Manchester Airport 14.2 miles
- Liverpool John Lennon Airport 17.9 miles
- Hag Fold Railway Station 2.5 miles
- Atherton Railway Station 2.6 miles
Hotels in Leigh Ad
Schools in Leigh
- Bedford Hall Methodist Primary School Primary
- Bedford High School Secondary
- Christ Church C of E Primary School, Pennington Primary
- Expanse Learning (Expanse Group Ltd) Special
- Leigh C of E Primary School Primary
- Leigh Central Primary School Primary
- Leigh St John's C of E Primary Primary
- Leigh St Mary's C of E Primary School Primary
- Leigh St Peter's C of E Primary School Primary
- Leigh Westleigh Methodist Primary School Primary
- Newton Westpark Primary School Primary
- Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School Leigh Primary
- St Thomas' C of E Primary School, Leigh Primary
- Twelve Apostles Catholic Primary School Primary
- Westleigh St Paul's C of E Primary School Primary
Local points of interest
- Haydock Park Racecourse Recreation 4.5 miles
- University of Bolton Stadium Stadium 5.6 miles
- Salford City Stadium Stadium 6.2 miles
- Wigan Athletic FC Stadium 6.4 miles
- Octagon Theatre, Bolton Theatre 6.5 miles
- DW Stadium Stadium 6.5 miles
- The Trafford Centre Shopping centre 7.3 miles
- Agecroft Hall Archaeological site 9 miles
- Imperial War Museum North Museum 9.2 miles
- Old Trafford Stadium 9.7 miles
- School Stadium 9.7 miles
- Old Trafford Cricket Ground Stadium 9.9 miles