Pendle Hill

The name "Pendle Hill" combines the words for hill from two different languages (including two from the same language at different stages of its history) - as does Bredon Hill in Worcestershire. In the 13th century it was called Pennul or Penhul, apparently from the Cumbric pen and Old English hyll, both meaning "hill". The modern English "hill" was appended later, after the original meaning of Pendle had become opaque. Neolithic and Bronze Age burial sites have been discovered at and around the summit of the hill. There is an ancient local legend that the Devil once jumped from Hameldon Hill to an outcrop overlooking Sabden, on the southwest slope of Pendle, leaving footprints in the…