Notable Former Residents of Winckley Square: Famous and Infamous

A number of guided walks have been arranged to celebrate the people of Winckley Square throughout March.
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March 6

Join Peter Wilkinson to hear the stories of the Former Residents – famous and infamous. Winckley Square is more than the gardens and the buildings that surround them. It’s also about the lives of the people who populated this area for over 200 years. Men and women who had a profound impact on Preston and far beyond. Our guide will introduce you to characters from the past and share their stories. Starting with the vision for the Square and the first house in 1799 we will encounter real people who made history.

The Miller Mansion, North East Corner of Winckley SquareThe Miller Mansion, North East Corner of Winckley Square
The Miller Mansion, North East Corner of Winckley Square

March 8

8 March is International Women's Day. We will celebrate the lives of women in the past who campaigned for equality: women’s suffrage, slavery abolition and mother and child well-being. All are associated with the Winckley Square Quarter. When people hear the stories of these real women, they are often astonished, shocked, or just plain resigned to the fact that back then life wasn’t ‘fair’. When we learned in school that life was unequal, we understood it as part of the broad sweep of history. However, come and meet the actual women affected by it, stand where they stood, hear how they firstly resisted the status quo and then drove change. Understand better how the norms of the time were designed to keep them ‘out’ of the world of male comfort and hear how they were pioneers in breaking down structural barriers and paving the way for others to claim their rightful place as equals.

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March 21

Would you like to discover more about the life of Edith Rigby, Preston's most famous suffragette? The walk starts in the centre of Winckley Square Gardens and takes you to where Edith was born. The walk progresses to Miller Park where she was suspected of tarring Lord Derby's Statue. If you look carefully, you can still see the tar. Hear about Edith's time in prison and how she and many more women who wanted the vote were subjected to the 'Cat and Mouse Act'.

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