224 Pendle Hill. 



queror. The situation, like that of so many other mon- % 

 asteries, is in a warm and fertile country, well wooded 

 and watered, and with plenty of good fishing close at 

 hand ; the monks, like those of Whalley, were of the 

 Cistercian order.* 



The ascent of Pendle Hill involves a rather heavy 

 walk of two and a half miles. It is best to make direct 

 for the "Big end," the height of which is 1850 feet, or 

 352 greater than that of Rivington Pike. The very 

 name of Pendle Hill carries with it, in Lancashire, some- 

 thing impressive, though it may often be indefinably so. 

 It is a synonym throughout the district for the pro- 

 foundest antiquity, and is associated at once with watch- 

 fires and with witchcraft. Yet, except for the explorer, 

 the reward of the climb is indifferent The views, no 

 doubt, are grand, and plenty of mountain-plants may be 

 collected, but there is nothing peculiar. A pleasing 

 association exists, however, in the circumstance that 

 John Ray, the father of English botany, records in his 

 " Synopsis," p. 243, that near the beacon he gathered 

 Bifolium minimum, the plant now called Listcra cordata. 

 This would be about 1690. 



Returning, this time to Bolton, we start thence, by the 

 main line to the north, for RIVINGTON, well known to 

 every visitor to Preston and Blackpool, through its lofty 

 " Pike." Immediately after leaving Bolton we have, 



* For all particulars respecting this celebrated place, see Mr 

 Harland's "Historical Account." 



