Pendle is a

local government district The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...

and

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, England. It adjoins the Lancashire boroughs of

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

and

Ribble Valley Ribble Valley is a local government district with borough status within the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. The total population of the non-metropolitan district at the 2011 Census was 57,132. Its council is based in Clitheroe. ...

, the

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

district of Craven and the

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

boroughs of

Calderdale Calderdale is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England, whose population in 2020 was 211,439. It takes its name from the River Calder, and dale, a word for valley. The name Calderdale usually refers to the borough through which the u ...

and

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

. It has a total population of ().

Early history

The name Pendle comes from the

Cumbric Cumbric was a variety of the Common Brittonic language spoken during the Early Middle Ages in the ''Hen Ogledd'' or "Old North" in what is now the counties of Westmorland, Cumberland and northern Lancashire in Northern England and the souther ...

word 'Pen' meaning hill (or head), a reference to

Pendle Hill Pendle Hill is in the east of Lancashire, England, near the towns of Burnley, Nelson, Colne, Brierfield, Clitheroe and Padiham. Its summit is above mean sea level. It gives its name to the Borough of Pendle. It is an isolated hill in the Pe ...

. Hence the name of the modern district derives from the prominent landmark at the west of the district, which already in the Middle Ages gave its name to the

royal forest A royal forest, occasionally known as a kingswood (), is an area of land with different definitions in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The term ''forest'' in the ordinary modern understanding refers to an area of wooded land; however, the ...

which spread to its east.

Pendle Forest The Forest of Pendle is the name given to an area of hilly landscape to the east of Pendle Hill in eastern Lancashire, roughly defining the watershed between the River Ribble and its tributary the River Calder. The forest is not identical to t ...

is still the name of a significant rural part of the district, though it has long ago ceased being a forest. The ancient lordship of Pendle Forest has been under the

Honour of Clitheroe The Honour of Clitheroe is an ancient grouping of manors and royal forests centred on Clitheroe Castle in Lancashire, England; an honour traditionally being the grant of a large landholding complex, not all of whose parts are contiguous. In the ...

since medieval times, and a title continues to be held by a modern version, the Barons Clitheroe.

Witch trials

The area is closely associated with the trials of the

Pendle witches The trials of the Pendle witches in 1612 are among the most famous witch trials in English history, and some of the best recorded of the 17th century. The twelve accused lived in the area surrounding Pendle Hill in Lancashire, and were charged ...

, among the most notorious such trials in English history.

Creation of the modern district

The current district with this name was created in 1974 as a result of local government reorganisation from the former

Municipal Borough Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...

s of

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

and

Colne Colne () is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. Located northeast of Nelson, north-east of Burnley, east of Preston and west of Leeds. The town should not be confused with the unrelated Colne Val ...

, the former

urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...

s of

Barnoldswick Barnoldswick (pronounced ) is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle, Lancashire, England. It is within the boundaries of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire, Barnoldswick and the surrounding areas of West Craven have been a ...

Barrowford Barrowford () is a large village and civil parish in the Pendle district of Lancashire, England. It is situated to the north of Nelson on the other side of the M65 motorway, and forms part of the Nelson conurbation. It also comprises the area of ...

, Brierfield,

Earby Earby is a town and civil parish within the Borough of Pendle, Lancashire, England. Although within the boundaries of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire, Earby has been administered by Lancashire County Council since 1974 and regularly cel ...

and

Trawden Trawden is a village in the Trawden Forest parish of Pendle, at the foot of Boulsworth Hill, in Lancashire, England. The village co-operatively owns and runs its library, shop, community centre and pub. Activities As a way of encouraging pe ...

, and from parts of Burnley Rural District and

Skipton Rural District Skipton was a rural district in the West Riding of Yorkshire from 1894 to 1974. It was named after Skipton, which constituted an urban district on its southern border. The district was expanded in 1937 by taking in the parishes of Steeton with ...

. The Barnoldswick, Earby and Skipton parts are historically in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

. They are today referred to collectively as

West Craven West Craven is an area in the east of Lancashire, England in the far northern part of the borough of Pendle. Historically the area was within the ancient county boundaries of Yorkshire and was administered as part of the Skipton Rural District o ...

Neighbouring districts

Politics

MP

The Pendle constituency is represented in Parliament by the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

Member of Parliament,

Andrew Stephenson Andrew George Stephenson (born 17 February 1981) is a British politician serving as Lord Commissioner of the Treasury since October 2022. He served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing and Communities from September to Octobe ...

, since 2010. Since its creation in 1983 its boundaries have been coterminous with those of the borough, however the constituency boundaries were redrawn in 1997 due to local government boundary changes in the 1980s.

Borough

Elections to the borough council are held in three out of every four years, with one third of the seats on the council being elected at each election. Following a review of the ward boundaries, the total number of Councillors was reduced in 2021 from 49 to 33. Since the election in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

have had overall control of the council and, as of the election of

, the council is composed of the following

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

s:- In 2001 changes occurred which established 20

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

in the borough and set the number of councillors to 49.

Brian Cookson Michael Brian Cookson OBE (born 22 June 1951) is the former president of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), having been elected to the post in September 2013 at the 2013 UCI Road World Championships. Cookson previously served as presiden ...

OBE retired in March 2013 from his position as Executive Director for Regeneration, a post he had held for nine years, in parallel (after 2007) with that of President of

British Cycling British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation) is the main national governing body for cycle sport in Great Britain. It administers most competitive cycling in Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It represents Bri ...

. Subsequently becoming the President of the

Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues racing ...

(UCI), the world

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ge ...

for sports cycling. In June 2017, a Conservative councilor, Rosemary Carroll, was suspended after sending a racist post on social media comparing Asians to dogs. This controversy expanded after the local elections in 2018, when the councilor was readmitted into the Conservative Party, allowing the Conservative party to gain a majority on the council. The Pendle Labour party accused the Pendle Conservative Party of condoning racism after the reinstatement. The

Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities The Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities (previously Shadow Minister for Women, Shadow Minister for Women and Equality, Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities) is a position in the United Kingdom's Official Opposition, and sits in ...

Dawn Butler Dawn Petula Butler (born 3 November 1969) is a British Labour Party politician who has been a Member of Parliament (MP) for Brent Central since 2015. Butler was elected as the MP for Brent South at the 2005 general election. She served in ...

, called upon the Conservative Party Chairman,

Brandon Lewis Brandon Kenneth Lewis (born 20 June 1971) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor from September to October 2022. He previously served as Chairman of the Conservative Party from 2018 to 2019 and ...

, to issue a statement saying that the councilor in question would not be part of the Conservative group on the council. This followed a statement from Lewis congratulating the Pendle Conservatives on winning a majority on the council. In 2020 changes occurred which reduced the number of wards in the borough to 12 and the number of councillors to 33. The new wards created were: Barnoldswick, Barrowford & Pendleside, Boulsworth & Foulridge, Brierfield East & Clover Hill, Brierfield West & Reedley, Earby & Coates, Fence & Higham, Marsden & Southfield, Waterside & Horsfield, and Whitefield & Walverden.

Councillors

Economy

The three main employers in the borough are

Rolls-Royce plc Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is a British multinational aerospace and defence company incorporated in February 2011. The company owns Rolls-Royce, a business established in 1904 which today designs, manufactures and distributes power systems for ...

, Silentnight and the

Daisy Group Daisy Group Limited (formerly known as Freedom4 Group plc and Pipex Communications plc) is a British company that sells Internet and telecommunications services, including internet hosting, broadband Internet connections, and VOIP. History T ...

Places in Pendle

Freedom of the Borough

The following people and military units have received the

Freedom of the Borough The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...

of Pendle.

Individuals

Steven Burke Steven James Burke (born 4 March 1988) is a former English track and road cyclist, who rode for the now disbanded cycling team.

: 3 August 2012.

Military Units

* The

Queen's Lancashire Regiment The Queen's Lancashire Regiment (30th, 40th, 47th, 59th, 81st and 82nd Regiments of Foot) (QLR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the King's Division. It was formed on 25 March 1970 at Connaught Barracks in Dover through ...

: 2001. * The

Duke of Lancaster's Regiment The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border) (LANCS) is an infantry regiment of the line within the British Army, part of the King's Division. Headquartered in Preston, it recruits throughout the North West of England. The Du ...

: 1 July 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pendle, Borough of Local government in the Borough of Pendle Non-metropolitan districts of Lancashire Boroughs in England