Brightholmlee

Brightholmlee is a small rural hamlet situated within the City of Sheffield in England. The hamlet falls within the Stannington Ward of the City. It is located 6.2 miles (10 km) north-west of the city centre and 0.6 miles (1 km) west of Wharncliffe Side within Bradfield Parish. Previously a farming community, it consist of four farmsteads, Manor Farm, Old Hall Farm, High Lea Farm and Lee Farm. It is now almost entirely residential with the last working farm being sold for development in 2013.

The name Brightholmlee originates from the Old English language, “Bright” is probably a modern derivation of an Anglo Saxon personal name, such as Brihtric or Beorhtweald, “holm” indicates land surrounded partly by streams, while “lee” means woodland glade. The earliest recorded reference to the hamlet were documented in 1309 and 1314 when Ralph de Brightomlee witnessed deeds at Westmondhalgh and Wigtwizzle. Ralph died in 1335 and his son John inherited lands in Westmondhalgh and Onesacre, after 1345 nothing more is heard of this family. Other documents indicate that Brightholmlee originated at the beginning of the 13th century.

The hamlet is split into two by an old packhorse route called Townfield Road which comes up from the south and continues onto Bolsterstone, it is generally accepted that the houses on the uphill side of the track are several hundred years older than those below. The two oldest buildings in the hamlet are High Lea Farm and Old Hall Farm, both of which date from the 17th century and with the exception of one modern house (Lea Croft) all present day buildings in the hamlet were shown on the 1851 OS map.

High Lea farmhouse is a Grade II listed building, it is a long single storied building with a gabled attic. It is unusual in that it is a rare example of a cruck house as most cruck buildings are barns. It dates from the 17th century, although the core may be earlier, there were originally three dwellings within the building, this was later reduced to two, with a cottage at the uphill end and a farmhouse at the downhill end, today one dwelling takes up the whole of the inside. Old Hall Farm is also Grade II listed, local historian Joseph Kenworthy thought Old Hall dated back to the Tudor period because of the design of the fireplace. It is another timber framed dwelling, with two pairs of crucks. Two wings were later added on either side of the original building, these date from 1620 and 1711 respectively. The farm was the property of the Appleyard family from the 18th century until recent times.

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