THE GLEADLESS VALLEY
Until the middle of the 19th century, the Gleadless Valley was an isolated rural area lying between the small villages of Heeley and Norton. At least four farms are known to have existed in the Leeshall area since before the 17th century. As Sheffield grew to take in Heeley and Meersbrook, the valley began to be used by residents of nearby urban areas for walks and recreation. In order to serve these people, recreational facilities including allotments, sports grounds and Leeshall Golf Course were established in the western part of the valley from the 1920s onwards.

Although the nearby Arbourthorne estates were built in the 1930s, the Gleadless Valley continued to be farmed until the 1950s, retaining a rural landscape of hedge-lined fields, woodlands and scattered farms. Urban development of the valley began in the late 1950's and continued into the 1960's, with the valley's housing estates being built to accommodate approximately 17,000 people. This development was remarkable for the way in which a network of open spaces based around the valley's existing mature woodlands was retained, both within the development, and between it and neighbouring built up areas. Most of these open areas have remained to the present day.

The Meers Brook, the major watercourse in the Gleadless Valley, is of historical importance as it once formed part of the boundary between the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. The name of the river dates from this time, 'Meer' being the Saxon word for boundary. The river continued to form part of the county boundary between Yorkshire and Derbyshire until as late as 1933.

ARCHAEOLOGY
Boundary banks and ditches, probably of medieval age, are present along both the eastern and western edges of Rollestone Wood. That close to the western edge is very clear, consisting of a substantial bank associated with a broad ditch, approximately 10-15 metres wide and over 5 metres deep. This feature, which can be traced for over 125 metres, is thought to be a wood bank, used to keep out livestock when coppice was growing. Coppicing is a form of woodland management in which deciduous trees are cut back to just above their base to form coppice stools. These then sprout quickly, forming numerous poles, of value in construction and as a fuel. The process can be repeated again and again, usually at about 15 to 20 year intervals.

Archaeological surveys of the valley's woodlands have revealed extensive evidence for the production of a range of woodland products. Charcoal platforms show that charcoal, an important raw materials and fuel in South Yorkshire's early iron and steel industry, was produced in the wood. Whitecoal, a material somewhat similar to charcoal but used in lead smelting rather than iron and steel production, is also known to have been produced in Rollestone Wood. Evidence for this comes from the the presence of characteristically shaped whitecoal pits (also known as Q-pits because of their shape).

Areas of smaller pits and depressions in parts of Rollestone Wood are thought to be the result of the digging of surface coal. The remains of trackways have also been identified in parts of the wood.

ANCIENT WOODLAND STATUS
As for many other woodland areas, the history of the Gleadless Valley woodlands can be deduced from a variety of sources. Much of this evidence makes it clear that the valley's woodlands are 'ancient woodlands', meaning that they have been in existence since at least 1600 and in all likelihood for far longer than this.

The earliest known documentary evidence for woodlands in the Gleadless Valley dates from 1462 and refers to 'Herdyng Wood', the name given to the then more extensive area of woodland now split up to produce the two woodland areas of Herdings Wood and Rollestone Wood and The Lumb.

Another way in which ancient woodlands can be distinguished from more recently established woodlands is their diverse flora and fauna. Indeed, certain plant species, usually those that spread relatively slowly by vegetative means, are known to be either entirely restricted to, or only rarely found outside, ancient woodlands. These are known as 'ancient woodland indicator species'. Where a number of these species are found together, there is a high likelihood that the wood in which they occur is of ancient origin. A wide range of ancient woodland indicator species occur in woodlands in the Gleadless Valley, including Bluebell, Dog's Mercury, Ramsons, Wood Anemone, Wood Sorrel and Yellow Archangel and many of these can be found in Rollestone Wood.

WOODLAND MANAGEMENT
Rollestone Wood's irregular shape and its location in steep sided stream valleys is typical of the way in which previously wooded areas were gradually taken into agricultural production, leaving those woodlands that still remain on ground unsuitable for agriculture. Rollestone Wood was originally joined to Herdings Wood but once separated it acquired its present name from its 17th century owner.

Most, if not all, of the woodlands in the Gleadless Valley are known to have been coppiced over a long period in order to produce charcoal and other woodland products. Documentary evidence for coppicing in Rollestone Wood dates back to the woodland's first record in 1462. Much of the wood produced by coppicing was used to produce charcoal and whitecoal although coppice products were also used in construction or agriculture.

Having lasted for hundreds of years, coppice management died out in the Sheffield area during the latter half of the 19th century as a result of a decline in demand for coppice products, particularly by the steel industry in which coal replaced charcoal as a fuel. The woods became managed purely for timber and were converted to high forest by the planting of non-native species such as Sycamore and Beech, as well as of some native species such as Oak. Rollestone Wood contains some particularly large blocks of Beech and Sycamore dating from this time.

Parts of Rollestone Wood are known to have been felled in the 1940's to provide the timber required during the Second World War and these areas now have a canopy of young oaks.

FURTHER INFORMATION
More general information on the history of the Heritage Woodlands is available elsewhere on this website.