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Fence, Lancashire

Fence, LancashireTowns and villages in the Borough of Pendle
St Anne's Church, Fence geograph.org.uk 427402
St Anne's Church, Fence geograph.org.uk 427402

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 (which includes the adjoining village of Wheatley Lane) has a population of 1,586.Fence is a small village along 'Wheatley Lane Road', It abuts the sister village of Wheatley Lane. Because of this, Fence and Wheatley Lane are often referred to together as 'Fence'. The present village now terminates to the west past St Anne's church, where the new bypass cuts the line of the old road. Fence was in the Hundred of Blackburn. Up until late medieval times, it lay in the Forest of Pendle, the hunting preserve of the King. The name of the village, is derived from the fact that an enclosure was erected in the area, within which the King's deer were kept. This became known as the "Fence", and the community that built up around it over time took the name. In 1507, Henry VII "surrendered [the parcel called the Fence] to the use of the tenants of Higham, West Close and Goldshaw Booth, to be held by them and their heirs for ever." The first mention of Fence, is in a document of 1402, as 'Fens in Penhill'. Being near Pendle Hill, Fence has a long shared history with other Pendleside villages, and the Pendle Witches, some old local surnames are shared with the historical witches; for example, the Nutter family name. Cuckstool Lane, which runs south from the War Memorial was the original site of the village ducking stool, where (the story has it) suspected witches were immersed in a pond, or more likely 'cuckolds', those suspected of adultery. Hoarstones, which lies inside Fence, was the site of an ancient stone circle, and also the starting point for the 1633 witchcraft trials (see the entry under Wheatley Lane). The older properties on the village consist largely of small stone built cottages, with later housing developments from the 1960s onwards. There is unbroken countryside with fine walking country to the North to Pendle Hill and surrounding areas. The villages are served by St Anne's church (CoE), two Methodist chapels and a primary school.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Fence, Lancashire (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Fence, Lancashire
Barrowford Road, Borough of Pendle Old Laund Booth

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Wikipedia: Fence, LancashireContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 53.833 ° E -2.26 °
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Address

Barrowford Road

Barrowford Road
BB12 9EG Borough of Pendle, Old Laund Booth
England, United Kingdom
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St Anne's Church, Fence geograph.org.uk 427402
St Anne's Church, Fence geograph.org.uk 427402
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Wheatley Lane, Lancashire
Wheatley Lane, Lancashire

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". Wheatley Lane is an extended village consisting of a ribbon development along 'Wheatley Lane Road' and abuts the sister village of Fence. The present village has now effectively absorbed the original hamlets of Wheatley Lane and Higher & Lower Harpers. Historically, it lies in Old Laund Booth, in the Hundred of Blackburn. Up until Late Mediaeval times it lay in the Forest of Pendle, the hunting preserve of the King. The older properties on the village consist largely of small stone-built cottages, with some later Victorian terraces and some 1950s council properties. Since the 1960s the remaining open fields on either side of the road have been developed for housing. There is unbroken countryside with walking country to the North to Pendle Hill and surrounding areas. There is a Methodist Chapel and attached primary school in the village, and to the east, on the edge of the village, one of the few remaining Inghamite Chapels, which has an extensive graveyard. It is the burial place of Thomas Whitham who won the Victoria Cross in 1917. Local tradition has it that the Harpers Inn, a local hostelry, was also originally built as a Methodist Chapel, but when the money ran out, it was sold and completed as a pub. The original name was the 'Who'd have thought it'. Sports are catered for by Pendle Forest Sports Club. Wheatley Lane has links with the Pendle Witches. In 1633, Edmund Robinson of Wheatley Lane reported that he had been taken by a witch to a barn at Hoarstones where he had seen 40 witches engaged in various devilish activities. He subsequently identified 19 witches and they were sent to trial in 1634, including Jenet Davies, a witness at the 1612 trial, and the daughter-in-law of Alice Nutter (one of the previous Pendle Witches). However, the judge deferred sentence and sent seven of them to London for further examination; only three survived the ordeal. After an enquiry all 19 were acquitted and Robinson later admitted that the story was a fabrication.

Burnley built-up area
Burnley built-up area

The Burnley Built-up area is an urban area or conurbation which extends from the town of Burnley to Padiham, Brierfield, Nelson, Barrowford and Colne in Lancashire, England. The area takes in parts of the boroughs of Burnley and Pendle, and also small parts of Hyndburn and Ribble Valley. It also includes a number of villages such as Blacko, Trawden and Worsthorne. In 2011 the area was recorded at having a population of 149,422. It is the third most populous urban area in Lancashire after Preston and Blackpool, with slightly more people than the urban areas of Cambridge or York. These settlements along the Leeds and Liverpool Canal expanded in the nineteenth century. The area's economy was dominated by cotton manufacturing and in the four decades after World War I the number of cotton workers reduced by over 50%. The population of approximately 187,000 in 1931, declining to 156,000 in 1961.In the 2001 census, the Burnley/Nelson urban area had a population of 149,796 and an area of 3,027 ha (11.69 sq mi). The were six sub-divisions, with 73,021 in Burnley, 28,998 in Nelson, 20,118 in Colne, 11,091 in Padiham, 10,047 in Brierfield and 5,261 in Barrowford.The built-up area defined in the 2011 census had an area of 3,572 ha (13.79 sq mi), and population of 149,422. This definition includes, at the western extremity, the predominantly industrial parts of Altham in the Borough of Hyndburn and Simonstone in the Ribble Valley. The gender makeup of the population was 73,364 male and 76,058 female. 65.1% of residents aged 16 to 74 were classed as economically active, with 2.1% long-term unemployed. The largest employment sectors were manufacturing 19.1%, wholesale and retail trade including motor vehicle repairs 17.5%, and health and social work 14.6%. The ethnic makeup of the whole urban area was 81% white and 17% Asian. Other ethnic minorities were around 2%.The Centre for Cities define a theoretical city of Burnley based on a primary urban area equivalent to the total area of the boroughs of Burnley and Pendle. In 2019 this encompassed an estimated population of 181,030 in an area of 280 km2 (110 sq mi), with an annual gross domestic product (GDP) of £5.1 billion. At 21.34%, more people are employed in the manufacturing industry than any other PUA in the UK, and it also ranks highly for the value of goods exports per job. The figure of 17.6% of the working age population with no formal qualifications is also the highest and the average weekly earnings of £402.49 is the lowest. As a result, despite having the lowest mean house price of £113,036.96, it also has the lowest housing affordability ratio.