Ordnance Survey evidence indicates that this part of Wincobank Wood has been continuously wooded since at least 1851 (NAA 2001, 64). Wincobank Wood is shown by documentary evidence to have been present in 1563 and is probably much older. Documentary evidence from around 1600 lists the wood as 'Springe' indicating that it was managed by coppicing (www.heritagewoodsonline.co.uk). Archaeological remains within this part of the wood include the univallate Wincobank hill fort (Scheduled Monument no 13375) radiocarbon dated to around 500 BC (Cumberpatch 1999) - This monument encircles the top of the sandstone hill with a single rampart with an external ditch and counterscarp bank. This enclosure also features the fragmentary remains of a WWII Searchlight and Anti-Aircraft Battery, which lie on the southern rampart of the fort. The Iron Age use of the site is thought to have included temporary or permanent occupation. To the west and south west of the site can be found a number of pits thought to represent the remains of prospection pits along an outcrop of coal. These are thought to date from the 17th century onwards, when the exploitation of Sheffield's woodlands for minerals became commonplace (NAA 2001, 73). Many such pits are believed to have been filled in by Sheffield City council in the 1960s during replanting operations. The landscape and character of this area at the time of the hillfort's use and earlier is uncertain.