TheForest of Pendle is a hilly area to the east ofPendle Hill in easternLancashire, roughly defining thewatershed between theRiver Ribble and its tributary theRiver 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 severalroyal forests of the area, under the control ofClitheroe Castle, orHonour of Clitheroe. Over its history, the forest has gone from being protected and regulated as a medieval royal forest, to being labelled as anArea of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The forest is not coterminous to the modern local government district ofPendle, which is larger, and the modern version of the forest has come to contain areas to the north and east of Pendle Hill which are partly in the district ofRibble Valley.
In 1086, at the time of theDomesday Book, Pendle forest was part of the extensive forests in Blackburnshire, in the eastern part of what would become Lancashire. The entire area between the rivers Ribble andMersey had been granted byWilliam the Conqueror toRoger the Poitevin, and he in turn had granted most of this area to thede Lacy family ofPontefract. It was they who apparently built Clitheroe Castle soon after. The Forest of Pendle was within their manor ofIghtenhill.
Within the honour of Clitheroe, two sets of forests were administered separately, those of Bowland, and those ofBlackburnshire. The Blackburnshire forest had four detached parts: Pendle,Trawden,Accrington andRossendale.
As early as 1311 [the Forest of Pendle] was divided into eleven places of pasture for cows, of which the principal names, as they appear in a commission ofHenry VII, are still preserved. The whole forest, formerly named Penhill vaccary, and sometimes theChase of Penhill, was perambulated in person by the firstHenry de Lacy; and about 1824, this ancient ceremony was repeated. In the 11th ofEdward II, when Richard de Merclesden was master-forester of Blackburnshire, William de Tatham was warden or keeper of Pendle[1]
Already during theMiddle Ages under the de Lacys, the Forest of Pendle, like other forests, cattle started to be kept in the forest, and more agricultural development and settlement was allowed. There was also horse breeding and a deer park at Ightenhill.[2]
Given in 1507 the names of these pastures or vaccaries where recorded as:[3]
The general area suffered from Scottish attacks after the English defeat in theBattle of Bannockburn, but Pendle suffered particularly after its lordThomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster was executed for rebellion against the king.
FromTudor times the forests began to be sold off to private holders with increased rights, and Pendle was developed further than it had been previously.
Pendle Forest, like all the forests of Blackburnshire, was once entirely contained within the ancient parish ofWhalley, which was much larger than modern versions of that parish.Newchurch in Pendle became the chapel of the forest, and eventually became the recognised centre of a parish.
Other townships which developed within the ancient forest includeBarley,Barrowford,Blacko,Fence,Reedley,Roughlee,Higham andWheatley Lane.
Today Pendle Forest is no longer a chase, but what is left of it is protected as a detached part of the designated "Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty" (AONB) of the modern version of theForest of Bowland.
The most populated part of the ancient forest are not in the modern AONB. This includes the line of townships along the Barrowford road, from Higham to Barrowford, north of the River Calder and Blacko on the road from Barrowford to Gisburn, on the east of the forest. Parts south ofPendle Water and the River Calder, such as Reedley andIghtenhill, are now suburbs of the modern town ofBurnley. To the less populated north and east some Ribble Valley district areas such asSabden,Twiston andDownham have been added to the forest AONB.
Original forest townships still within the AONB include Newchurch,Barley and Roughlee.
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