Scholes Coppice, Bray Plantation & Keppel' Field
Kimberworth
Scholes Coppice & Bray Plantation
Bray Plantation and Scholes Coppice are also Heritage Woodlands. Scholes Coppice is an ancient woodland that was once part of Kimberworth Deer Park. The history of the area is even older for the woods contain a large ancient earthwork called Caesar's Camp (previously known as Castle Holmes) which is a fort from the Iron Age, and there are other minor earthworks in the area. You get a good view of Keppels Column from the West side of the coppice. The woodland is also bounded by large woodbines which are, in places, topped by dry stone walls.
Caesar's Camp consists of a single rampart and ditch enclosing a large flat area. It is likely there was a timber palisade on top of the bank. The trees and the undergrowth are all later additions and it is very difficult to make much sense of any of it.
By 1650 the deer park had gone and the area was leased to the ironmaster Leonard Copley. Ironstone was mined and the wood from the coppice was used to make charcoal, used to smelt the ironstone. In 1714 Scholes Coppice was bought by the Watson-Wentworth family and the wood was coppiced for the last time in 1726. It was then incorporated into Wentworth Park and paths and walks cut through it. About 1900 birch and sweet chestnut trees were planted. About half of the wood was lost to open cast mining in the 1940s and this area is now known as Keppel's Field. In 1979 the coppice was gifted to South Yorkshire County Council after the death of the last Earl Fitzwilliam. When the STCC was abolished it became the property of Rotherham MBC. In places the tree canopy is so dense that little can grow underneath. As part of the management scheme for the coppice areas have been cleared to form glades and encourage the growth of young trees.
Bray Plantation is not an ancient woodland but was established early in the 19th Century by Jonathan Bray. The trees are mainly, oak, sweet chestnut, and sycamore with wych-elm. It is however of interest as it contains many prominent mounds, the spoil heaps from 'bell pits' used for shallow coal and ironstone mining.
Scholes Coppice is also an Heritage Woodland.
Keppel's Field
Keppels Column is set at the top of a large field which is criss-crossed by paths and much used by walkers and dogs. I've always called this Keppel's Field but others seem to know it as Scholes Meadow. Whatever you call it is a former open cast site. It used to be part of Scholes Wood but during the Second World War the trees were felled and the site mined by draglines. When the coal had been extracted the remaining soil was thrown back onto the site. There were attempts to grow grass and trees on the site but both failed until the drainage ditches were dug. It is believed this was done by German and Italian PoWs. U-shaped concrete channels were inserted. The land was grazed by cattle during the 1960s.
The field along with Scholes Coppice is a Local Nature Reserve. It is owned by Rotherham Council who manage it for increased biodiversity. There are dry areas and boggy areas, and those in between. Its not a particularly pretty field but it is notable for the wide variety of grasses and wild flowers that grow there in the various habitats and the number of butterflies found there.