Beneath the unremarkable streets of Wigan town centre lies a Roman past that most visitors — and many locals — are unaware of. The Roman settlement of Coccium occupied this location from the first to the fourth centuries AD, and excavations over the decades have found substantial evidence of occupation including a bathhouse complex.
A reconstructed section of the Roman bathhouse can be visited in the Galleries shopping centre, where a display of the hypocaust system — the underfloor heating that was the Romans' most effective piece of domestic technology — has been incorporated into the shopping centre's lower level. It's an odd location, but the display is well-explained and free to visit.