Brightside is an industrial area of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

lying on a hill north of

Attercliffe Attercliffe is an industrial suburb of northeast Sheffield, England on the south bank of the River Don. The suburb falls in the Darnall ward of Sheffield City Council. History The name Attercliffe can be traced back as far as an entry i ...

and the River Don. Brightside was recorded in the fifteenth century as "Brekesherth", when it was home to some

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...

s. Brightside Bierlow was one of the six original divisions of the township of Sheffield, including all the land in the town north of the Don - reaching as far as the

Wicker Wicker is the oldest furniture making method known to history, dating as far back as 5,000 years ago. It was first documented in ancient Egypt using pliable plant material, but in modern times it is made from any pliable, easily woven material. ...

and Neepsend. The first work on the Sheffield and Rotherham Railway was the opening of a cutting in Brightside in 1837. Brightside railway station was opened along with the line in 1838, but closed in 1995. Now the nearest railway station is in Meadowhall (which geographically is in the Shiregreen and Brightside ward) just south of Wincobank. In the 1830s, the only industry in the village was a

forge A forge is a type of hearth used for heating metals, or the workplace (smithy) where such a hearth is located. The forge is used by the smith to heat a piece of metal to a temperature at which it becomes easier to shape by forging, or to th ...

on the river bank. A guide produced for the opening of the railway described Brightside as being "...much frequented by pleasure parties from Sheffield. On every fine Sabbath especially, the sallow artizan may be seen wending his way thither, to inhale the freshness of the country air, and enjoy the beautiful and extensive prospect which the hill affords. The opening of the railway has not been productive of much benefit to it in this respect. Those who, when performing their peregrinations on foot, were compelled to confine them within a circuit of a mile or two round Sheffield, can now ride to Rotherham for sixpence; and the consequence is, that the publicans of Brightside have the mortification of beholding their quondam customers gliding past their very doors to consign to the pockets of the more fortunate retailers of spirits in a more distant town, those gains which they had been accustomed to calculate upon as theirs." St Thomas' Church opened in 1854,William Odom, ''Memorials of Sheffield'', p.143 and now serves at the training school for Greentop Circus. By 1860, industries were growing in the area, with steel and cutlery manufacture being the main trades. Industry continued to grow, and by the early 1970s, it was mostly industrial, and home to a major railway marshalling yard. Sheffield Brightside was also the name of one of Sheffield's six

Parliamentary constituencies An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polit ...

until declining population lead to the formation of the larger

Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough is a List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies, constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament by Gi ...

References

External links

Sources for the history of Brightside
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