[1] Formed around a crossroads, the town has grown as urban expansion between Manchester and Liverpool extends outwards.

The name Standish is derived from the Old English stan, meaning stone, and edisc, a park or enclosure.

[8] The Standish family were the main coal owners in the area, with their estate being mined since the 14th century.

[9] By 1896, Wigan Coal & Iron owned the Broomfield, Giant's Hall, Gidlow, John, Langtree, Robin Hill, Swire and Taylor Pits.

The West Coast Main Line is on the eastern side of the town, around a mile from the centre.

[12] Standish has soil and subsoil of clay and the underlying rocks are the coal measures of the Lancashire Coalfield.

[2] Under the Local Government Act 1972, the Standish-with-Langtree Urban District was abolished, and Standish has, since 1 April 1974, formed an unparished area of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, a local government district of the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester.

[20] St Wilfrid's Parish Church is the only building with a Grade I listing in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan.

[20] In the Market Place in front of the church is a late medieval cross, stone stocks and a 14th-century well.

Standish has the 22-acre Ashfield Park which contains a mixture of woodland, open green-space and recreational facilities.

[26] Standish is on the Wigan to Chorley bus route, with the Bee Network 632 stopping every 20 minutes.

Standish was also historically served by trams, run by Wigan Corporation Tramways, which ceased operation in 1931.

Locally known as 'The Line', it underwent a significant upgrade in 2018 as part of the Standish Cycleway project.

The Line follows the route of a disused railway, running from the village centre to the former Robin Hill Colliery near Shevington Moor.