The earliest written reference to Beeley Wood is in a deed dated from 1161 in which the monks of Ecclesfield Priory were given permission to graze their flock every year from January to Easter in a large wood stretching from Birley Edge down to the River Don.
Beeley Wood is a surviving part of this large wood and part of it is still called Priory Wood.
In this 12th century document the wood was referred to as "BYLLHAUWODE" which is derived from the two Old English words Billa and haga and means Billa's enclosure and suggests that the woodland was originally attached to an Anglo-Saxon farm belonging to Billa.
Further mention was made in a document released upon the death of Thomas de Furnival in 1332 when Beeley Wood was named as one of eleven locations under the heading of Woods, Moors and Commons.
Under this agreement people were allowed to graze their animals in the wood.
However, by the 16th century Beeley Wood had become a coppice wood in which the pasturing of animals was discouraged.
At the end of the 16th century Beeley Wood was one of eleven coppice woods in Sheffield which were mentioned in a document drawn up for Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury.

By the 1890s the coppicing of Beeley Wood along with the other coppice woods in Sheffield was coming to an end because of reduced profits and woodland management problems.
The wood was allowed to become a "high forest" with the strongest growth of a coppiced tree allowed to grow into a fully grown standard tree.
Many of the older and sickly trees were cleared away at this time and replaced by saplings of trees that were not native to the Sheffield area, such as beech, sweet chestnut, common lime and sycamore.
In late 1898 the Duke of Norfolk's forester planted Beeley Wood with 60 acres (24 ha) of timber trees such as ash, elm, sycamore, birch, lime, sweet chestnut and beech.
The young trees were ordered from a nursery in Cheshire and were delivered to Wadsley Bridge railway station.
In 2011 the Forestry Commission approved funding for a five-year plan to improve the unmanaged habitat of the wood; under the scheme an area of 9.6 acres (3.9 ha) will be coppiced and a further 2.7 acres (1.1 ha) will be thinned to allow more light and warmth into the wood and therefore improve conditions for wild flowers, insects and birds.
In February 2016 the Environment Agency removed the middle two-thirds of Beeley Wood Lower Weir on the River Don as part of a scheme to allow the free migration of fish and let the river return to a more natural form.
The earliest written reference to Beeley Wood is in a deed dated from 1161 in which the monks of Ecclesfield Priory were given permission to graze their flock every year from January to Easter in a large wood stretching from Birley Edge down to the River Don. Beeley Wood is a surviving part of this large wood and part of it is still called Priory Wood. In this 12th century document the wood was referred to as "BYLLHAUWODE" which is derived from the two Old English words Billa and haga and means Billa's enclosure and suggests that the woodland was originally attached to an Anglo-Saxon farm belonging to Billa. Further mention was made in a document released upon the death of Thomas de Furnival in 1332 when Beeley Wood was named as one of eleven locations under the heading of Woods, Moors and Commons. Under this agreement people were allowed to graze their animals in the wood. However, by the 16th century Beeley Wood had become a coppice wood in which the pasturing of animals was discouraged. At the end of the 16th century Beeley Wood was one of eleven coppice woods in Sheffield which were mentioned in a document drawn up for Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury. 
By the 1890s the coppicing of Beeley Wood along with the other coppice woods in Sheffield was coming to an end because of reduced profits and woodland management problems. The wood was allowed to become a "high forest" with the strongest growth of a coppiced tree allowed to grow into a fully grown standard tree. Many of the older and sickly trees were cleared away at this time and replaced by saplings of trees that were not native to the Sheffield area, such as beech, sweet chestnut, common lime and sycamore. In late 1898 the Duke of Norfolk's forester planted Beeley Wood with 60 acres (24 ha) of timber trees such as ash, elm, sycamore, birch, lime, sweet chestnut and beech. The young trees were ordered from a nursery in Cheshire and were delivered to Wadsley Bridge railway station. In 2011 the Forestry Commission approved funding for a five-year plan to improve the unmanaged habitat of the wood; under the scheme an area of 9.6 acres (3.9 ha) will be coppiced and a further 2.7 acres (1.1 ha) will be thinned to allow more light and warmth into the wood and therefore improve conditions for wild flowers, insects and birds. In February 2016 the Environment Agency removed the middle two-thirds of Beeley Wood Lower Weir on the River Don as part of a scheme to allow the free migration of fish and let the river return to a more natural form.
Beeley Wood