The
Unofficial Website Bassingthorpe Spring
Kimberworth
Bassingthorpe Spring is a small woodland about two kilometres north-east of the
centre of Rotherham. The woods are cut in two by Fenton Road, with the larger part of the site
opposite to Wingfield Secondary School. The piece by the school is known as Hudson's Rough.
There were once three woods here, Munsbrough Wood, Cliffridding Wood and Stripman Birkes.
Stripman Birkes had disappeared by 1900 whilst the remaining woods were reduced in area by the
building of Kimberworth Park housing estate and Fenton Road.
Records from around 1600 list Bassingthorpe Spring as a coppice woodland belonging to the 7th Earl of Shrewsbury. It was afterwards part of the estates of the Dukes of Norfolk and was purchased by Rotherham Borough Council in 1950. The name 'Spring' indicates that the wood was managed as a coppice or 'spring' wood. It is therefore an ancient woodland, one that has been in existence for at least 400 years old. The coppiced timber was burnt for charcoal which was used in the smelting of iron ore.
The woods are largely composed of scrub oak (sessile oak or chaparral) of recent growth and birch with small areas of ash, wych elm and wild cherry. Many plant species characteristic of ancient woodlands are found there and there is also a wide population of birds.
Until recently Bassingthorpe Spring had been unmanaged for several decades and suffered from fires, motorbikes and fly tipping. A new programme of restoration and management is now in place. Old Munsbrough Lane, a hollow way bounded by banks, passes through the wood and there is evidence of mining activity if you know what to look for.