I had the opportunity to go out quite locally recently up onto the windswept and bleak moorland above Heptonstall in West Yorkshire. The area is what some would call "Bronte Country" as it is very close to 'Top Withins', an isolated, and now derelict farm on which Emily Bronte based her famous novel. This really is a familiar landscape for me as it is similar to where I live in the West Pennine Moors about 20 miles away from this spot. Historically, it was sheep farming country as the land is not fit for anything else. The area is exposed, subject to heavy rainfall and very little else grows apart from grass.
I have tried to find something out about the building as I found it fascinating. The social history on this type of structure is what grabs me - who built, why build it, when? It is a very substantial structure for 'just' a farmhouse, but apart from some writings about it being mentioned in the English Civil War (mid-1600's) there is very little I can find on the Internet, so I have made a few assumptions on similar buildings I have come across in similar bleak Pennine locations. Nearby, there is a pub called "The Pack Horse" which is indicative of the historic method of moving goods around this northern area. I suspect, from looking at older Ordnance Survey maps, that this building also gave shelter for the many pack horse trains crossing the Pennines with textiles. There are a number of walled paddocks surrounding the building in which they could have kept the horses overnight, and a number of rooms in the building in which the men operating the Pack Horse trains could have slept. On the old maps, the tracks passing the building are more distinct, although very obvious at this location when standing looking at the decayed stone walls. There may have been a smithy, as it was not unusual for them to be located in areas where many horses gathered and need shoe repairs etc. There was a quarry located higher up on the moor, so it would have been a lot busier in the 1700's than it is now.
There are a number of photographic compostions for this building and we spent a good hour wandering around looking at the different angles available. It does lend itself to a sunrise shot, where the front elevation wall of the building could be illuminated in the early morning light, but as the sunrise is now about 5:45am that is a very early start. Just as we were packing up our gear to leave, we could see the rain coming in,blowing rapidly over the landscape from the East. I left everything set up to capture some of that drama, and to portray the building in its natural environment.
***Please note that this image is protected by Pixsy. Any unauthorised use of it will be pursued by Pixsy and their legal team***
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