Pendle Hill is located near the towns of Burnley, Nelson, Colne, Brierfield, Clitheroe, and Padiham in Lancashire, England. Its peak rises 557 meters (1,827 feet) above sea level. The Borough of Pendle is named after it. It’s a lonely hill in the Pennines, divided from the South Pennines to the east, the Bowland Fells to the northwest, and the West Pennine Moors to the south by the South Pennines. It is located in a section of the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty that is separate from the rest of the forest.
The hill is well-known for its connections to three historical events from the 17th century: the Pendle witch trials (1612), Richard Towneley’s barometer experiment (1661), and George Fox’s vision (1652), which led to the establishment of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).
On Pendle’s southwest slope, there is an old local tale that the Devil once leapt from Hameldon Hill to an outcropping with views of Sabden, leaving footprint marks in the sandstone. After walking the short distance to Apronfull, he collected pebbles and flung a boulder towards Clitheroe Castle. An accident occurred at that time that caused the boulder to drop near Pendleton and pile up rocks on a little rise there.
Mist Over Pendle, by Robert Neill, and The Spook’s Battle, by Joseph Delaney, are both set at Pendle Hill and the surrounding area, respectively.
A massive artwork, titled ‘1612,’ was made by local artist Philippe Handford to commemorate Pendle Hill’s 400th anniversary, and it consisted of 1,500 meters (4,900 feet) of horticultural fleece.
Pendle Witches
One of the most well-known and well-documented incidents involving accusations of witchcraft in 17th-century England is that of the Pendle witches.
The Pendle witch trials, which took place in 1612, are among the most well-known and well-documented witch trials in English history. The twelve accused were charged with the killings of 10 individuals using witchcraft in the region around Pendle Hill in Lancashire. All except two were tried, together with the Samlesbury witches and others, in Lancaster Assizes on August 18–19, 1612, in a series of trials that became known as the Lancashire witch trials. On July 27, 1612, one was tried in York Assizes, while another died in jail. Ten of the eleven accused — nine women and two men – were found guilty and hanged, while one was declared not guilty.
The fact that the clerk of the court, Thomas Potts, published the proceedings in his book, The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster, as well as the fact that nine witches were hung in Lancaster and one in York, made the trials unique in England at the time they occurred. According to some estimates, there were less than 500 executions carried out in England over the early 15th and early 18th centuries as a whole during the period covered by the witch trials.
Elizabeth Southerns (a.k.a. Demdike), her daughter Elizabeth Device, and her grandchildren James and Alizon Device were six of the Pendle witches. Anne Whittle (a.k.a. Chattox), and her daughter Anne Redferne were the other six. Jane Bulcock, her son John Bulcock, Alice Nutter, Katherine Hewitt, Alice Grey, and Jennet Preston were the other defendants in the case. They were all women. Sorcery accusations may have been brought against certain traditional healers in and around Pendle, who may have earned a livelihood via the use of herbs and talismans or charms. In many cases, the claims sprang from personal vendettas between two rival families, the Demdikes and the Chattoxes, who were both attempting to earn a livelihood by curing, beggaring, and extorting people.
In Popular Culture
Doctor Who’s eleventh season’s eighth episode, “The Witchfinders,” takes set during the 17th-century Pendle witch trials in England.
After a live investigation on Halloween 2004 by Living channel’s Most Haunted, the place has become a famous haunt for ghost seekers. Yvette Fielding, the show’s host, stated it was the most frightening episode they had ever filmed.
YouTube video producers like Exploring with Josh and Exploring with Fighters have also lately visited the ancient location of Pendle Hill in an effort to employ current ghost hunting technology to communicate with the ghosts that inhabit there.
More facts and information will be added soon. Until then, check out our collection of haunted places and the facts that surround them.
Last Updated on August 22, 2022 by Horror Facts
