Fence, ENG - Postcode - BB12 9PD

Description of Fence, Lancashire

Fence is a small village in Pendle, Lancashire, England, not far from the larger cities of Nelson and Burnley. It is part of the civil parish of Old Laund Booth. It is located next to the Padiham Bypass (or A6068), as it is commonly referred to in the area. There are 1,586 people living in the parish (which includes the neighboring village of Wheatley Lane). 

Fence, a small settlement on the 'Wheatley Lane Road' that borders its larger sibling community of Wheatley Lane.

Thus, Fence and Wheatley Lane are commonly merged into a single name. After passing St. Anne's Church to the west, the new bypass ends the current village.

Blackburn's Hundred included a place called Fence. Until the end of the Middle Ages, it was part of the King's private hunting forest, the Pendle Forest. The settlement got its moniker because it was built around a corral where the king housed his herd of deer. The area around it eventually became known as "the Fence," after the moniker given to the structure itself.

The Fence was "surrendered" to Higham, West Close, and Goldshaw Booth tenants in 1507 by Henry VII. They were to "hold it for themselves and their heirs forever."

As "Fens in Penhill," Fence was first mentioned in written form in 1402. Due to its proximity to Pendle Hill and the subsequent history of witchcraft in the area, many of the old local surnames, such as the Nutter family name, are also associated with the historical witches of Pendleside.

Cuckstool Lane, which can be found to the south of the War Memorial, was supposedly the original location of the village ducking stool, where (the legend has it) witches and (most likely) 'cuckolds,' individuals convicted of adultery, were drowned in a pond. Hoarstones, which is located within Fence, is notable for being the origin point of the 1633 witchcraft trials as well as the location of an ancient stone circle.

Small stone cottages dominate the village's older houses, while larger homes were developed starting in the 1960s. As one travels north toward Pendle Hill and the surrounding area, they will find beautiful, uninterrupted landscape.

St. Anne's church (CoE), two Methodist chapels, and a primary school all serve the hamlets.