Clay wood is first depicted clearly on the Sanderson map of 1835. Hunter (1869, 10) refers to a friends memory of its 'amphitheatrical pride stretching down to the very brink of the Sheaf that flowed at its base, and rising upwards to the lofty summit that overhangs the eastern side of town'. The quoted section bemoans the loss of the wood and reveals it only survived so long due to its unfavourable position for agriculture. This would seem to be a remnant of a once much larger wood that formed part of the Sheffield deer park but in fact the woodland was replanted in the mid 19th century. A Fairbanks plan of 1794 shows the area as pasture. Legibility is fragmentary due to the wooded nature.