Historic Hallamshire: History in Sheffield's Countryside

'If This Were to Be Lost': Relating Environmental Justice and an Ethic of Care in Everyday Shared Spaces

“…In 2013, residents of a housing estate close to Smithy Wood sought to register it as a green within the terms of the 2006 Act. The name of the fifteen-hectare wood derives from the ironstone seam lying beneath which was worked, originally by monks, as early as the 1160s (Jones, 2009). The site is now naturalised and considered to be valuable in ecological terms (Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust, 2017), even though it has suffered neglect and harm due to damaging activities, such as 4x4 racing, seemingly sanctioned by the landowner.…”

“…Local residents relied heavily on a historical appraisal of the wood (Jones, 2009) to support their application, adding this to 'our reasons for wanting to retain this area as our village green, it is our history'. iv This strong sense of the wood constituting the community's history is not just a consequence of the wood being deemed 'ancient', with associated topographical features such as medieval bell pits, but also derives from the wood's more recent (1920s) history as the site of coke smelting works, and its consequential significance within a broader industrial landscape.…”