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.

The neighbouring districts are Burnley, Ribble Valley, North Yorkshire, Bradford and Calderdale.

The name Pendle comes from "Penhill", combining the Cumbric "pen" meaning hill and the Saxon "hill", also meaning hill. The name was used for Pendle Hill (literally "hill hill hill"), a prominent outlier of the Pennines. The name was then also used for the ancient Forest of Pendle around the hill, and for Pendle Water, a river which rises on the hill and flows into the River Calder.^[2] The name also became associated with the Pendle witches, tried for witchcraft in 1612, as the accused were all from the area.^[3]

The modern local government district of Pendle was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. It covered the whole area of seven former districts and parts of another two, all of which were abolished at the same time:^[4]

• Barnoldswick Urban District
• Barrowford Urban District
• Brierfield
• Burnley Rural District (part)
• Colne Municipal Borough
• Earby Urban District
• Nelson Municipal Borough
• Skipton Rural District (part)
• Trawden Urban District

The Barnoldswick, Earby and Skipton parts were in the West Riding of Yorkshire prior to 1974. The term West Craven is sometimes used for this area transferred from Yorkshire to Lancashire in 1974. The new district was named Pendle after the hill, forest and river.^[5] The district was awarded borough status on 15 September 1976, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.^[6]

Pendle Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Lancashire County Council.^[8] The whole borough is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.^[9]

Brian Cookson retired in March 2013 from his position as executive director for Regeneration, a post he had held for nine years, in parallel (after 2007) with that of President of British Cycling.^[10] Subsequently, becoming the President of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the world governing body for sports cycling.

In June 2017, a Conservative councilor, Rosemary Carroll,^[11] was suspended after sending a racist post on social media comparing Asians to dogs. This controversy expanded after the local elections in 2018, when the councilor was readmitted into the Conservative Party, allowing the Conservative party to gain a majority on the council. The Pendle Labour party accused the Pendle Conservative Party of condoning racism after the reinstatement. The Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities, Dawn Butler, called upon the Conservative Party Chairman, Brandon Lewis, to issue a statement saying that the councillor in question would not be part of the Conservative group on the council. This followed a statement from Lewis congratulating the Pendle Conservatives on winning a majority on the council.^[12][13]

In April 2024, all of Labour’s 11 borough councillors in Pendle, including the leader of the council, quit the party.^[14][15]

Since the last full review of boundaries took effect in 2021 the council has comprised 33 councillors representing 12 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with roughly a third of the council being elected each time for a four-year term. Lancashire County Council elections are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no borough council elections.^[25]

The three main employers in the borough are Rolls-Royce plc, Silentnight and the Daisy Group.^{[citation needed]}

The borough is entirely covered by civil parishes. The parish councils for Barnoldswick, Brierfield, Colne, Earby and Nelson take the style "town council".^[27]

    Barnoldswick

Colne

Nelson

Barley

Barrowford

Blacko

Brierfield

Bracewell

Brogden

  Cottontree

Earby

Fence

Foulridge

Higham

Higherford

Kelbrook

Laneshaw Bridge

Newchurch in Pendle

Reedley

Roughlee

Salterforth

Sough

Trawden

Wheatley Lane

Winewall

Wycoller

Boulsworth Hill

Noyna Hill

Pendle Hill

Weets Hill

Places in the Borough of Pendle          Forest of Bowland AONB

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Pendle.

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (May 2019)