Sheffield's Woodlands
Much of the woodland in the Sheffield area has undergone changes including partial clearance, the planting of conifers and other exotic species, changes of name and the collapse of traditional woodland management practice. However, much information can still be gleaned from the study of old maps and by walking through the surviving woodland areas.
Through the study of the original names it is possible to gain some idea of the age and original function of woodland areas. For instance, early visitors and colonists used various words to describe woodland areas.
The Celtic word coed, usually corrupted to chet or cet, as well as the Saxon fyrth and graf (grove), hurst (wooded hill or copse), sceaga, now written as shaw (small wood), wudu (wood) and spring (coppice wood) provide clues as to the age and usage of woodland. Scandinavian influence is evident from words such as lundr (grove), skogr (wood), with (wood), storth (coppice wood) and carr (marshy, wooded land), whilst Norman French provides us with copiez (coppice). Any local wood bearing a name including one of the above elements, except the word 'wood' itself, may well have ancient origins and have been managed as a coppice wood over the centuries.
Fyrth is mentioned in local documents dating from 1558. A common in Bradfield was referred to as the 'Fyrthe of Westnall', Greno Wood was once known as Grenofirth and there is a Frith Wood at Coal Aston, just over the county boundary in North Derbyshire. Spring appears as an element in Ladies Spring Wood at Totley, Snaithing Spring at Ecclesall and a mid-17th century survey names one part of Ecclesall Wood to the east of Abbey Lane as Dobbe Crofte Spring.
Lundr, corrupted to lound, lund and land, has survived in both Lundwood in Barnsley and Lound Side in Chapeltown. Carr appears in the names of places such as Elsecar and Deepcar, whilst there is a Carr Wood between Gleadless and Heeley. Owler, the local interpretation for the word alder, also appears in several local place names, including Owler Lane, Owlerton, Owler Bar and combines with carr to give us Owler Carr Wood in North Derbyshire.
Storth, now usually written as Storrs is the name of a hamlet between Stannington and Dungworth, where there is also a wood known as Storrs Wood. Copeiz is evident in several place names in the Rivelin Valley: Coppice Farm, Coppice House and Coppice Wood, whilst there is a Scholes Coppice near Rotherham.
To find out more, we would recommend Sheffield's Woodland Heritage by Mel Jones. This excellent guide to our local woodland history was first published by Sheffield City Libraries in 1989, with a 4th edition being published in 2009 by Wildtrack Publishing (ISBN 978-1-904098-14-0).
