Ramsden Row is the earliest housing in the polygon which is present on 1855 maps. The number of short terraces increases between 1892 and 1905. These houses would have been built for workers in the nearby mills and forges on the River Don. They were built on survey enclosure of former common land which was probably part of the Thurgoland enclosure award of 1815 (date English 1985). The houses fit within the former field boundaries very well, some hedge rows may be original so legibility is partial. The origin of the former moorland landscape is uncertain though this area is likely to be moorland by the Roman period (see Bevan 2003 for discussion of environmental evidence in region).