The
Unofficial Website Grange Park Heritage Woodland
Kimberworth
Grange Park Heritage Woodlands consist of five areas of woodland totalling more
than thirty hectares on the edge of Kimberworth, approximately four kilometres west of the
centre of Rotherham. Walkworth Wood is the largest and adjoins Barber Wood, which in turn
merges into Ockley Bottom (previously known as Droppingwell Wood). To the west lie the adjacent
woodlands of Gallery Bottom and Kennel Wood. Walkworth Wood, Ockley Bottom, Gallery Bottom and
Kennel Wood were purchased by Rotherham Borough Council in 1929. Barber Wood was purchased
later in the 1940s. After the Second World War much of the area was open cast mined and parts
of the woodland were lost.
Walks through Walkworth Wood and Barber Wood can be accessed near the entrance to Grange Park Golf Club. Near the bottom end of Barber Wood you can see Thundercliffe Grange. This property once belonged to Lord Howard of Effingham. It became an institution - I think it was a hostel or home for the mentally ill, but it was rescued by a co-operative of workers from Rotherham Council who bought the building and converted it into private apartments. The Grange is not open to the public.
Gallery Bottom once formed part of the medieval Kimberworth Deer Park, first mentioned in the 13th century, whilst Walkworth Wood is first mentioned around 1600 as a coppice woodland belonging to the 7th Earl of Shrewsbury. These two woodlands are therefore ancient woodlands, meaning that they are known to be more than four hundred years old. There is no history for the other woods but it is believed that they too are likely to be ancient. The woods became part of the estates of the Duke of Norfolk and when the Norfolk estates were broken up in 1727, they passed to the Earl of Effingham. They remained as coppiced woodland until after 1777 when Thundercliffe Grange was rebuilt and parts were incorporated into the new park. Grange Colliery, a deep shaft mine existed from 1845-1962 and had its own railway line through Ockley Bottom.
The woodlands are also of historic and archaeological interest. Walkworth Wood and Gallery Bottom contain 'bell pits' associated with shallow coal mining. Gallery Bottom also contains the remains of three fish ponds thought to be associated with the monastic settlement at Kirkstead Abbey Grange. All of the woodlands are bounded by old stone walls and or by boundary banks.
The woodlands are mostly mature oak with smaller amounts of other trees, especially ash, hawthorn and holly, and includes a wet alder carr. Many ancient woodland plants can be found there and there are many species of birds. In Barber Wood there are the remains of old quarries that may have supplied the stone for Thundercliffe Grange, as well as old mine workings. The wood is full of rhododendrons which are wonderful in May when in bloom. Ockley Bottom largely covers colliery spoil and it is difficult to discern its ancient origins.
As in many of these places fly tipping and bikie boys are regular and persistent problems. The last time we walked there on a wet and windy day in October 2002 the car park at the top end had been blocked off. We couldn't decide if this was to stop the fly tippers or if it had been done by the fly tippers themselves but we didn't let it stop us as we parked on the road. Although not part of the Heritage Woodland Site there are some open areas in the vicinity. The former spoil heaps near to the main road have become established heathland with gorse and bogland with rushes and grasses. Watson's tip still remains, toxic even though grassed over.