The word "ings" (singular "ing") is of Old Norse origin and means "damp or marshy land that floods", a reference to the area being flooded regularly by the River Aire. Lying alongside the River Aire, the nature reserve includes a large lake and a number of smaller lakes, ponds and dikes. The area has been the scene of industrial and mining operations for 150 years, and, although the valley floods naturally, the permanent waterbodies are the result of subsidence of former coal-mine workings, up to underground, providing habitats for wildfowl and many other birds.