 Kirklees Brook runs to the west of Brandlesholme and in the 18th century mills stood on the site of the old Kirklees Bleachworks, now demolished and redeveloped into a new housing estate named Miller Brook.In 1884, a French chemist, Hilaire de Charbonnet, Comte de Chardonnay, moved to the area to work on a cellulose-based fabric that became known as "Chardonnay silk".A forerunner of rayon it was an attractive cloth, but like celluloid it was very flammable.