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Newchurch in Pendle | |
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Newchurch in Pendle | |
Location within Lancashire | |
OS grid reference | SD821393 |
Civil parish | |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | BURNLEY |
Postcode district | BB12 |
Dialling code | 01282 |
Police | Lancashire |
Fire | Lancashire |
Ambulance | North West |
UK Parliament | |
Newchurch in Pendle is a village in the civil parish of Goldshaw Booth, Pendle, Lancashire, England, adjacent to Barley, to the south of Pendle Hill. It was formerly part of Roughlee Booth until its transferral in 1935.
Famous for the Demdike family of Pendle witches who lived there in the 17th century. Newchurch used to be called 'Goldshaw Booth' and later 'Newchurch in Pendle Forest', however, this was shortened to 'Newchurch in Pendle'. [1]
St Mary's Church at the centre of the village is steeped in history. The church is not easily visible from the road, as it lies on the downward side of a steep hill, with a row of houses at the top and the primary school, St Mary's Church of England School, to the side. There was a chapel of ease on this site in 1250 and a later chapel was dedicated in 1544. The tower, although restored, is the only remaining part of that building.
The current church was probably built in the 17th century, it was only completed in 1740. The "Eye of God" is built into the west side of the tower [1] as a deterrent from evil spirits. To the east of the porch, up against the south wall, is the grave of a member of the Nutter family (carved with a skull and crossbones). Local legend has it that it is the last resting place of Alice Nutter, one of the famous Pendle witches. [1] However, executed witches were not normally buried in consecrated ground, and the skull and crossbones is a common memento mori device used to remind onlookers of their own mortality. So it can be fairly confidently asserted that the legend is in fact a myth. The ancient ceremony of rushbearing is performed. A procession is led around the village, the new Rushbearing Queen is crowned and is followed by a service of thanksgiving in the church. [2] [3]
Blackburn Hundred is a historic sub-division of the county of Lancashire, in northern England. Its chief town was Blackburn, in the southwest of the hundred. It covered an area similar to modern East Lancashire, including the current districts of Ribble Valley, Pendle, Burnley, Rossendale, Hyndburn, Blackburn with Darwen, and South Ribble.
Higham is a village in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England, south of Pendle Hill. The civil parish is named Higham with West Close Booth. The village is 2 miles (3 km) north-east of Padiham and about 4 miles (6 km) south-west of Nelson along the A6068 road.
Pendle Hill is in the east of Lancashire, England, near the towns of Burnley, Nelson, Colne, Brierfield, 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 in the Pennines, separated from the South Pennines to the east, the Bowland Fells to the northwest, and the West Pennine Moors to the south. It is included in a detached part of the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Blacko is a village and civil parish in the Pendle district of Lancashire, England. Before local government reorganisation in 1974 the village lay on the border with the West Riding of Yorkshire. The parish has a population of 672. The village is on the old turnpike road from Nelson to Gisburn (A682). The village enjoys views towards Boulsworth Hill to its southeast, the former cotton town of Nelson, about two miles to its south and Pendle Hill to its west across the valley of Pendle Water.
Barley-with-Wheatley Booth is a civil parish in the Pendle district of Lancashire, England. It has a population of 298, and contains the village of Barley and the hamlet of White Hough or Whitehough. To the west of Barley is Pendle Hill; its summit, at 557 metres (1,827 ft), is within the parish.
Sabden is a village and civil parish in the Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England. Sabden is located south of Pendle Hill, in a valley about three miles north west of Padiham. The parish covers 2,450.9 acres (991.85 ha), of which 103.2 acres (41.75 ha) is occupied by the village. It lies in the Forest of Pendle section of the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Fence is a village in the civil parish of Old Laund Booth, Pendle, Lancashire, England, close to the towns of Nelson and Burnley. It lies alongside the A6068 road, known locally as the Padiham bypass. The parish has a population of 1,586.
Wheatley Lane is a village in Pendle, Lancashire, England. It is close to Nelson, Barrowford and Burnley. It lies to the north of the A6068 road, known locally as the Padiham bypass, or "The New Road".
Roughlee is a village in the civil parish of Roughlee Booth, in the Pendle district, in the county of Lancashire, England. It is close to Nelson, Barrowford and Blacko. The village lies at the foot of Pendle Hill, well known for the Pendle Witches, and includes the hamlet of Crowtrees.
Goldshaw Booth is a civil parish in the Pendle district of Lancashire, England. It has a population of 248, and contains the village of Newchurch in Pendle and the hamlets of Spen Brook and Sabden Fold. Pendle Hill lies to the north.
Alice Nutter was an English Recusant noblewoman accused and hanged as a result of the Pendle witch hunt. Her life and death are commemorated by a statue in the village of Roughlee in the Pendle district of Lancashire.
St Mary's Church is in the village of Newchurch in Pendle, Lancashire, England. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. It is active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Blackburn, the archdeaconry of Blackburn and the deanery of Pendle. Its benefice is combined with that of St Thomas', Barrowford.
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 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.
Rushbearing is an old English ecclesiastical festival in which rushes are collected and carried to be strewn on the floor of the parish church. The tradition dates back to the time when most buildings had earthen floors and rushes were used as a form of renewable floor covering for cleanliness and insulation. The festival was widespread in Britain from the Middle Ages and well established by the time of Shakespeare, but had fallen into decline by the beginning of the 19th century, as church floors were flagged with stone. The custom was revived later in the 19th century, and is kept alive today as an annual event in a number of towns and villages in the north of England.
Malkin Tower was the home of Elizabeth Southerns, also known as Demdike, and her granddaughter Alizon Device, two of the chief protagonists in the Lancashire witch trials of 1612.
The Forest of Pendle is a hilly area to the east of Pendle Hill in eastern Lancashire, roughly defining the watershed between the River Ribble and its tributary the River Calder. The area is not a forest in the modern sense of being heavily wooded, and has not been so for many centuries. Historically a somewhat larger area than the modern forest was one of the several royal forests of the area, under the control of Clitheroe Castle, or Honour of Clitheroe. Over its history, the forest has gone from being protected and regulated as a medieval royal forest, to being labelled as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Pendle is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. The council is based in Nelson, the borough's largest town. The borough also includes the towns of Barnoldswick, Brierfield, Colne and Earby along with the surrounding villages and rural areas. Part of the borough lies within the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Old Laund Booth is a civil parish in the Pendle district of Lancashire, England. It has a population of 1,459, and contains the villages of Fence and Wheatley Lane.
Goldshaw Booth is a civil parish in Pendle, Lancashire, England. It contains 14 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, two are at Grade II*, the middle grade, and the others are at Grade II, the lowest grade. The parish contains the village of Newchurch in Pendle and is otherwise rural. Almost all the listed buildings in the parish are houses, farmhouses, farm buildings, and associated structures. The other listed buildings are a church and two memorials in the churchyard.
Roughlee Booth is a civil parish located in Pendle, Lancashire. It is approximately 449.43 hectares in size and situated in the Forest of Bowland AONB. It borders on the parishes of Blacko, Barrowford, Old Laund Booth, Goldshaw Booth and Barley-with-Wheatley Booth. It is part of the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). It contains the village of Roughlee and hamlets of Crow Trees and Thornley Holme. According to the United Kingdom Census 2011, the parish has a population of 318, a decrease from 328 in the 2001 census.
Media related to Newchurch in Pendle at Wikimedia Commons