Geography of Sheffield county, from bituminous (ideal for domestic heating) to "Thick Coal", of a semi-anthracitic quality, appropriate for use in iron-smelting and in engine furnaces. Associated with the Upper Coal Measures were valuable iron ore deposits, occurring in the form of nodules. Large quantities of locally occurring fireclay were also exploited, as well as ganister (a clay used to make refractory furnace linings). The city of Sheffield derives its name from the River Sheaf which Until the 17th century was written as "Scheth" or "Sheath". Sidney Oldall Addy equates the origins of this word with the Old English "shed" (as in "water-shed")
Geography of Sheffield county of South Yorkshire, and borders on Nottinghamshire's forests and the Derbyshire Dales. The city lies directly next to Rotherham with the M1 designating much of the border between them. Although Barnsley Metropoliton Borough also borders Sheffield to the north, the town itself is a few miles further. Directly to the west of the city is the Peak District National Park and the Pennine upland range, while the lowlands of the South Yorkshire Coalfield lie to the east. The southern border is shared with Derbyshire. Over the past hundred years this has been moved south as the Sheffield urban area