Brightside is an industrial area of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

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 in ...

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 * Factory * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Paper mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * Sugarcane mill * Textile mill * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic ...

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 a method of weaving used to make products such as furniture and baskets, as well as a descriptor to classify such products. It is the oldest furniture making method known to history, dating as far back as . Wicker was first documented ...

and

Neepsend Neepsend is a suburb of the city of Sheffield, it stands just north-west of the city centre. The main area of Neepsend covers the flood plain of the River Don from Lady's Bridge at the Wicker up to Hillfoot Bridge. The suburb falls within th ...

. The first work on the

Sheffield and Rotherham Railway The Sheffield and Rotherham Railway was a railway line in England, between the named places. The North Midland Railway was being promoted but its route was planned to go through Rotherham and by-pass Sheffield, so the S&RR was built as a connecti ...

was the opening of a cutting in Brightside in 1837.

Brightside railway station Brightside railway station is a former railway station in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The station served the communities of Shiregreen and Brightside#Brightside, Brightside and Wincobank and was situated on the Midland Main Line on Holy ...

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 Shiregreen and Brightside ward—which includes the districts of Brightside, Shiregreen, and Wincobank—is one of the 28 electoral wards in City of Sheffield, England. It is located in the northern part of the city and covers an area ...

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 the ...

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 Greentop Community Circus Centre is the only circus school in Yorkshire, England, and was established in 1995 on the TV programme ''Challenge Anneka'', and is one of three UK circus schools providing accredited level training courses in circus s ...

. 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 Sheffield, Brightside was a Borough constituency, parliamentary constituency in the Sheffield, City of Sheffield. Created for the 1885 United Kingdom general election, 1885 general election, and replaced at the 2010 United Kingdom general elect ...

was also the name of one of Sheffield's six

Parliamentary constituencies An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provid ...

until declining population lead to the formation of the larger

Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2016 by Gill Furniss, a member of the Labour Party. History Following its review of parliamentary representation in South ...

References

External links

Sources for the history of Brightside
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