Ecclesall Woods is an area of woodland in south-west

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

, England, between Abbeydale Road South and

Ecclesall Ecclesall Ward—which includes the neighbourhoods of Banner Cross, Bents Green, Carterknowle, Ecclesall, Greystones, Millhouses, and Ringinglow—is one of the 28 electoral wards in the Sheffield district, in the county of South Yorkshire, En ...

. It covers approximately of mature semi-natural deciduous woodland which was previously used for timber and charcoal, and is currently managed by the city council for the benefit of wildlife and visitor access. There are two roads and over of public footpaths running through the woods. The Abbeydale miniature railway is also located within the woods. They are a Local Nature Reserve.

Notable features

There are two mills sited within the woods and several other items of archaeological interest.

Ryecroft Mill

Ryecroft Mill was a water-powered lead smelting mill on the

Limb Brook The Limb Brook is a stream in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It rises at the village of Ringinglow, flowing east through Whirlow and Ecclesall Woods into Abbeydale in the Beauchief area, where it merges with the River Sheaf. Near this p ...

. The mill dates from at least as far back as the 17th century and was used for lead smelting, and later grinding corn.

Ecclesall Woods Sawmill

There is a modern sawmill within the woods, which was built after extensive storm damage to trees in 1962. It is operated by a private company, but there are plans to use it as both a working sawmill and an information centre.

Ryecroft Bridge

The stone bridge over the Ryecroft Brook is a Grade II listed building.

Q pits

There are a hundred

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

hearths and two hundred Q pits, believed to have been used for manufacture of

white coal White coal is a form of fuel produced by drying chopped wood over a fire. It differs from charcoal which is carbonised wood. White coal was used in England to melt lead ore from the mid-sixteenth to the late seventeenth centuries. It produces more ...

Prehistoric carved stone

A cup and ring-marked stone was discovered in 1981, and has been dated to the late Neolithic or Bronze Age periods. It, and the diameter around it, is a

scheduled ancient monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

Charcoal burner's grave

There is a grave stone dating from 1786, commemorating the death of George Yardley killed in an accidental fire in his woodland home, after an evening in the local hostelry on Abbey Lane. There is also an information plaque about the incident on the wall of the Public House, which is still trading. The grave is a grade II listed structure.

Abbeydale miniature railway

The miniature railway is run by the Sheffield & District Society of Model & Experimental Engineers Ltd. It has two sections: a dual gauge ground level section with gauges of and . There is also a smaller multigauge raised section that has gauges of , and . The society owns several locomotives with a tinkerbell type steam locomotive named 'Septimus' and a diesel locomotive named 'Edward' on the ground level. There are also two electric locomotives named 'Merlin' and 'Vulcan' also owned by the society for use on the raised track. The society also runs a garden railway that operates trains on and gauge track this is known as the 'Ecclesall Woods Light Railway'.

References

External links

Sheffield city council information page on Ecclesall Woods Discovery Centre
Parks in Sheffield Local Nature Reserves in South Yorkshire Forests and woodlands of South Yorkshire Archaeological sites in South Yorkshire {{SouthYorkshire-geo-stub