Pendle is a local government district and borough of Lancashire, England. It adjoins the Lancashire boroughs of Burnley and Ribble Valley, the North Yorkshire district of

Craven Craven may refer to: * Craven in the Domesday Book, an area of Yorkshire, England, larger area than the district ** Craven District, a local government district of North Yorkshire formed in 1974 Places * Craven, New South Wales, Australia, see ...

and the West Yorkshire 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 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 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 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, 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 Boroughs of Nelson and Colne, 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, Barrowford, Brierfield, Earby and Trawden, and from parts of

Burnley Rural District Burnley was a rural district of Lancashire, England from 1894 to 1974. It was named after but did not include the large town of Burnley, which was a county borough. The district and its council was created in 1894 under the Local Government Act ...

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. They are today referred to collectively as West Craven.

Neighbouring districts

Politics

MP

The Pendle constituency is represented in Parliament by the Conservative 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 councillors:- 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. Subsequently becoming the President of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the world governing body 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, Dawn Butler, 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, Silentnight and the Daisy Group.

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: 2001. * The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment: 1 July 2006.

References

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