This area of plantation woodland is directly related to the depopulation of the water catchment area of Langsett reservoir. This reservoir was constructed to the south in 1904 in response to the growing demand from the population of Sheffield to the South east. Farmsteads were depopulated and grazing was stopped in order to safeguard the water quality. Some field boundaries survive within the plantation so legibility of the enclosures is partial. Fields in this area were small and irregular indicating possible early enclosure and improvement of moorland. The date of origin of the moorland is uncertain but it had probably developed in this area by the Roman period (see Bevan 2003 for discussion of environmental evidence in the area). The name Kiln Bank Brook also indicates a possible brick kiln in the area.