In 1252 the Wortleys were granted free warren and chose to create a hunting chase. This stretched across a large area of the current parish of Wortley including this area which was probably unenclosed moorland at the time. The enclosed deer park wasn’t defined until around 1590 and it was known as the New Park as there was already an enclosed deer park north east of the village of Wortley (HSY6217). In around 1700 the deer from Wortley 'Old Park' were moved to the new park and in 1820 there was still 200 deer present. The boundaries of the new park have been lost by the first edition OS maps in 1855. There is still a earthwork boundary on the north east side of the new park and ponds from its time as a deer park. There is significant legibility of the former moorland with the edges of the park blending with the moors to the north. (Hey 1979). 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).