Hugset wood is known to be the location of ironstone mines from at least 1607 when it is mentioned in a mining lease (Bayliss 1995, 19). It continued to be mined for ironstone and coal, which is probably the cause of the major replanting that has taken place and the reduction in size of the woodland since 1855. The site has been substantially replanted with conifers but some of the natural woodland remains so legibility is significant. This area was heavily wooded in the medieval period and the woods would have been a valuable resource in their own right as well as for mining. There were several tanning yards around Dodworth, which required oak bark, and large amounts of charcoal would have been needed for the iron smelting furnaces at Stainborough (Sykes 1993, 234).