Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• (carbonum in) Horburylightes 1461,1462 MinAcct

• Horburylyght 1492 ib

• Horbury Leights 1696 PRHrb

• Horbery lightes 1635 Comm

• Great Lights & Little Lights 1849 TA

• Lights side 1661 PRHrb

• Lights Colepits 1718 PRHrb

Etymology

Horbury Lights (lost), (carbonum in ) Horburylightes 1461, 1462MinAcct 60, 99, Horburylyght 1492 ib 02, Horbury Leights 1696 PRHrb, Horbery lightes 1635Comm , Great Lights & Little Lights 1849TA , cf. also the Lights side 1661 PRHrb, Light Side Close (s ) 1775 (in a local Tythe Book ), 1849TA , and Lights Colepits 1718 PRHrb. The location of this place and of Ossett Lights in the neighbouring township of Ossett (188infra ) is fixed by the TA map: Great Lights (grid 96–292190), Little Lights (292192) and Light Side Close (295193) are just south of Ossett Spa and on the bank south of the stream that forms the boundary between the two townships. The Ossett fields are half a mile north at Low Common; Common Lights (291203) and Lights Bottom (293202) are on the west bank of the stream which is the boundary between Ossett and Lupset. Phonologically these names could be from OE  leoht 'light' (cf. leoht adj.), but this does not easily account for them, unless the allusions to carbonum and the Colepits imply some kind of regular burning of coal for some purpose such as iron-smelting. Topographically, however, OE  leaht 'water-channel' is preferable; in each case it would be used of the streams by which these fields stand, v. Addenda.