Roughlee
OS Grid ref:- SD843403
The attractive village of Roughlee in East Lancashire lies at the foot of Pendle Hill in the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Lancashire.
In 2006 the village was awarded the Best Kept Small Village in Lancashire in 2006 and in 2007 was voted Champions Class Winner. Roughlee is pleasantly situated situated alongside the stream of Pendle Water. The waterfalls of Pendle Water are a remnant of the mills that used to stand in the village.
Famous for its links with the notorious Pendle Witches, one of whom, Alice Nutter, a gentlewoman, is said to have lived at Roughlee Old Hall. She was tried and sentenced to death at Lancaster Castle and hanged at Gallows Hill in Lancaster on 20th August 1612. During the renovations to the centre of the Village in 2006 a new fingerpost sign was erected pointing the way to the castle. In 2012 a statue of Alice Nutter was erected in the village to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Pendle witch trials.
Roughlee Old Hall, is a characterful building which dates back to the sixteenth century, it has a stone inscription attached to gable, only partly illegible, it is said to read, 'This house was built by M.N. in the year of Our Lord, 1536'. The hall is now split into several separate residences.
John Wesley and his companion William Darney preached at the villlage between 1747-57, they were stoned and chased away the first time. Originally they preached outdoors or in the cottages, but eventually a Wesleyan Chapel was built in Barley Green in 1837. The chapel was demolished in 1967.
Roughlee has the second smallest School in Lancashire, a public house, the Bay Horse Inn, a trout fishery and a thriving village centre building which hosts a variety of social functions throughout the year.
The village is featured in the book The Spook's Battle.
Nearby Places of Interest
Whalley Abbey- founded by Henry de Lacy, third Earl of Lincoln on the 4th April 1296.
Lancaster Castle founded in the tenth century
Ashton Memorial in Williamson Park, Lancaster was commissioned by James Williamson, Baron Ashton as a tribute to his second wife, Jenny and was built between 1907 and 1909.
Butterfly House, Lancaster
Clitheroe Castle-Norman castle keep and museum, said to be one of the oldest buildings in Lancashire, and one of the smallest keeps in England,