Lonely sycamore

Limb Valley Bole Hill lead smelting site

This rather photogenic, lonely sycamore tree is all that remains of a northward extension of the Bole Hill Plantation woodland on the northern edge of the Limb Valley. The cultivated field in the foreground is shown as wooded on the 1st edition six-inch to one mile Ordnance Survey map published in 1854. The western Sheffield suburb of Fulwood is visible in the distance.

There are many 'Bole Hills' in Sheffield and along the west-facing sandstone and gritstone escarpments of the Eastern Edges. Their elevated locations were ideal for wind-blown furnaces ('boles') for smelting lead ore which was brought in by pack-horses from the Peak District mines further to the west.

Recommend to view large on black!