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 around Pendle Hill in Lancashire, and were charged with the murders of ten people by the use of witchcraft. All but two were tried at Lancaster Assizes on 18–19 August 1612, along with the Samlesbury witches and others, in a series of trials that have become known as the Lancashire witch trials. One was tried at York Assizes on 27 July 1612, and another died in prison. Of the eleven who went to trial – nine women and two men – ten were found guilty and executed by hanging; one was found not guilty.
The official publication of the proceedings by the clerk to the court, Thomas Potts, in his The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster, and the number of witches hanged together – nine at Lancaster and one at York – make the trials unusual for England at that time. It has been estimated that all the English witch trials between the early 15th and early 18th centuries resulted in fewer than 500 executions; this series of trials accounts for more than two per cent of that total.
Pendle
Coordinates: 53°52′08″N 2°09′50″W / 53.869°N 2.164°W / 53.869; -2.164
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 and the West Yorkshire districts of Calderdale and the City of Bradford. It has a total population of 89,840 (mid-2014 est.).
Early history
The name Pendle comes from the Cumbric word 'Pen' meaning hill (or head), a reference to Pendle Hill. 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 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
Pendle Borough Council
Pendle Borough Council is a district council in England, that has authority covering the borough of Pendle in Lancashire.
Council elections
2006 local elections
In 2006, Pendle Borough Council gained an Asian Liberal Democrat councillor, a BNP councillor and two councillors for the nationalist England First party.
In 2007 the council banned one of its employees from wearing a St George's bandana because "it could be considered offensive and racist".
2010 local elections
In the 2010 election the council was composed of the following councillors:-
References
Pendle (UK Parliament constituency)
Coordinates: 53°50′42″N 2°12′14″W / 53.845°N 2.204°W / 53.845; -2.204
Pendle is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Andrew Stephenson, a Conservative. The constituency was newly created for the 1983 general election, being largely formed from the former Nelson and Colne Constituency.
Boundaries
The major urban centres in Pendle are Nelson and Colne, with smaller towns Barnoldswick and Earby added to existing ones such as Higham and Pendleside and Craven since boundary changes in the 1970s that brought them into Pendle Borough, Lancashire from Yorkshire.
Parliament accepted the Boundary Commission's Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies calling for slight changes in the run-up to the 2010 general election since which Pendle has the same electoral wards as the Borough:
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