Pendle Hill

For other uses, see Pendle Hill (disambiguation).

Pendle Hill
Pendle Hill from the Ribble Valley
Highest point
Elevation
Prominence	c. 395 metres (1,296 ft)
Parent peak	Kinder Scout
Listing	Marilyn
Coordinates
Geography
Pendle Hill Location in Lancashire
Location	Lancashire, England
OS grid	SD804414
Topo map	OS Landranger 103

Pendle Hill in winter 2010

Pendle from the west. (Longridge Fell is to the right.)

Pendle Hill is located in the east of Lancashire, England, near the towns of Burnley, Nelson, Colne, Clitheroe and Padiham. Its summit is 557 metres (1,827 ft) above mean sea level. It gives its name to the Borough of Pendle. It is an isolated hill, separated from the Pennines to the east, the Bowland Fells to the northwest, and the West Pennine Moors to the south. It is included in detached part of the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

Topography

Pendle Hill is separated from the nearby main bulk of the Bowland Fells by the River Ribble. This isolation means that Pendle Hill is in fact the most prominent child summit of Kinder Scout, far away in the Peak District, rather than a child of Ward's Stone, the highest point in Bowland.

Geology

The sloping plateau summit of Pendle Hill is formed from the Pendle Grit, a coarse Carboniferous age sandstone assigned to the Millstone Grit Group. It overlies a thick sequence of Carboniferous Limestone beds. In chronostratigraphy, the British sub-stage of the Carboniferous period, the 'Pendleian' derives its name from Pendle Hill where an exposure in Light Clough is taken as the type locality.

Much of the lower slopes are mantled by thick deposits of glacial till or boulder clay dating from the last Ice Age. The historic decomposition of sphagnum moss on the hill has led to it being covered in peat.

The steep slopes of its eastern and southern flanks have given rise to a series of landslips.

History

The name "Pendle Hill" combines the words for hill from three different languages (as does Bredon Hill in Worcestershire) In the 13th century it was called Pennul or Penhul, apparently from the Cumbric pen and Old English hyll, both meaning "hill". The modern English "hill" was appended later, after the original meaning of Pendle had become opaque.

A Bronze Age burial site has been discovered at the summit of the hill.

The hill is also famous for its links to three events which took place in the 17th century: the Pendle witch trials (1612), Richard Towneley's barometer experiment (1661), and the vision of George Fox (1652), which led to the foundation of the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) movement.

The most popular route for ascending the hill begins in the village of Barley, which lies to the east. This route also provides the steepest ascent. Other nearby villages include Downham, Roughlee, Newchurch-in-Pendle, Sabden and Pendleton.

A local saying suggests the area around Pendle Hill experiences frequent rainfall: "If you can see Pendle it's about to rain, if you can't, it's already started." When the weather is fine Pendle is a popular hill-launch for paragliders and, with a north-westerly wind, for hang gliders.

Quakers

In his autobiography, George Fox described a vision on Pendle Hill in 1652, during the early years of the Quakers:

As we travelled, we came near a very great hill, called Pendle Hill, and I was moved of the Lord to go up to the top of it; which I did with difficulty, it was so very steep and high. When I was come to the top, I saw the sea bordering upon Lancashire. From the top of this hill the Lord let me see in what places he had a great people to be gathered.

— George Fox: An Autobiography, Chapter 6

Today Pendle remains strongly linked to the Quakers, giving its name to one of their centres for religious and spiritual study and contemplation near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States.

Witches and the supernatural

The story of the Pendle witches is a notorious and well-documented example of cases brought against alleged witches in 17th-century England. The hill continues to be associated with witchcraft; large numbers of visitors climb it every Hallowe'en, although in recent years people have been discouraged by the authorities.

The area is popular with ghost hunters after Living channel's show Most Haunted visited it for a live investigation on Halloween 2004. The show's presenter, Yvette Fielding, said it was the scariest episode they had made.

Pendle Hill and the surrounding area are the setting for the fourth book in Joseph Delaney's The Wardstone Chronicles, called The Spook's Battle.

A panoramic image of Pendle Hill in 2012 showing the northeast slopes, known as the Big End, overlooking Black Moss Reservoirs on the edge of Barley-with-Wheatley Booth. The footpath from Barley (not pictured) to the summit can be seen ascending from left to right. (The full-size image is 10 times larger.)

A panoramic image of Pendle Hill in 2012 showing the northeast slopes, known as the Big End, overlooking Black Moss Reservoirs on the edge of Barley-with-Wheatley Booth. The footpath from Barley (not pictured) to the summit can be seen ascending from left to right. (The full-size image is 10 times larger.)

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

• Walking Pages: Pendle
• A circuit of Pendle Hill from Barley
• Computer generated summit panorama Pendle Hill index
• Images of Pendle hill on Flickr