Visitors 'blown away' at Haigh

Visitors 'blown away' at Haigh

With thousands more visitors at Haigh, 2026 has seen a great summer at Wigan’s ‘jewel in the crown’.

From April-July 2026, the Haigh estate welcomed more than 275,000 visitors; an increase of 12 per cent on the year before.

Councillor Chris Ready, cabinet portfolio holder for communities, said: “The progress we’ve seen across the estate over the last year has been remarkable. More and more people are discovering and exploring this jewel in the crown of our borough and the businesses here on site are benefitting too.
With the Food Festival weekend, the opening of Plantation Gates and the Lodges and of course the return of the land train, this has been a great year at Haigh and it’s only set to get better.
More than 1,900 people visited the restored Plantation Gates and Lodges during July and August, with one comment from the visitor’s book saying, "I am blown away by what has been achieved at the Plantation Gates. It is incredible and I want to thank everyone involved in the amazing restoration."

The renovation, funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund has allowed visitors to see inside the Lodges for the first time ever.

Feedback for the restoration, in particular the immersive experience in the North Lodge, has been overwhelming positive.
A message left in the visitor book reads: ‘Very informative and creative, the art installation looks amazing.’

Plantation Gates Lodges are open Friday, Saturday and Sunday 10am-2pm and throughout school holidays. The land train operates Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10am.

Find out more about the transformation of Haigh and follow Haigh Hall on Instagram.