Low Bradfield and High Bradfield

The grey stone church of St Nicholas serves both High and Low Bradfield, with much of it dating from the 14th century. To the right of the churchyard entrance is the Watch House; built in 1745, this housed guards whose function it was to protect the dead from body-snatchers who sold corpses to doctors.

There are spectacular views from the churchyard, from which point the Loxley Valley and the outskirts of Sheffield can be seen (an area once full of mills, grinding sheds, and cottages for workers in the steel industry). Opposite the Old Horns Inn are the village stocks, which were used to punish minor offenders — far from a minor punishment, as just a few hours clamped in the stocks left the culprit stiff, numb, and unable to walk easily.

Torrents of water swept through the Bradfield Valley when Dale Dyke Dam burst in 1864. The then newly built dam, nestling in the valley below the moors, was full for the first time in a massive feat of engineering that had been quite a crowd puller until cracks were discovered in the dam wall. It was nearly midnight when the dam burst and 90% of the 712 million gallons (3,500 million litres) of water escaped, causing heavy casualties whose route down to Low Bradfield and Sheffield can still be traced in the landscape.

Some three minutes after the dam burst, a 50-foot (15-metre) high wall of water hit Low Bradfield, and the newly built Wesleyan school, corn mill, smithy, and a number of cottages simply disappeared under the force of the water.

Today Dale Dyke Reservoir can be seen from the walk — best when standing by the trig pillar on Onesmoor at 1,306 feet (398 metres) — alongside Agden Reservoir in the foreground of Dale Dyke Reservoir and Strines Reservoir at the head of the valley.

Acknowledgment: Text derived from the Out and Out Series; Discovering the Countryside on Foot. Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.