Woodland probably of ancient origin. Smithy Wood is marked on a map thought to date to 1726 (copy in Crossley 1995, 383). The place name Saville Spring indicates that coppicing was occurring, there was a tradition of this sort of management in the woods in the area from the 16th century (ibid, 388). Coppice management stopped being the dominant woodland management practice in South Yorkshire in the mid 19th century (Jones 1997, 48) but the exact local date is unknown. There is no legibility of the coppice management practices in the current woodland but the dense tree cover gives significant legibility of the former landscape.