Ecclesfield is a village and civil parish in the City of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, about 4 miles (6 km) north of Sheffield City Centre. Ecclesfield civil parish had a population of 32,073 at the 2011 Census. Ecclesfield wards of the City of Sheffield had a population of 35,994 in 2011 (Ecclesfield West and Ecclesfield East wards). The population of Ecclesfield village stood at 7,163 in the most recent census. History Evidence of early settlement in the Ecclesfield area include remnants of Romano-British settlements and field systems in Greno Wood. The earliest known written record of Ecclesfield is from the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is referred to as "Eclesfeld". The meaning of the name is uncertain. Traditionally it has been derived from the Celtic egles, meaning a church, specifically a Romano-British one, and the Old English feld, meaning a woodland clearing. Thus the name could mean "Open land near a Romano-British Christian church". However, an alternative suggestion is that the first element eccles- derives from a Saxon personal name or an association with water. The Domesday Book does not mention a church at Ecclesfield. The present Church of St Mary, one of only five Grade I listed buildings in Sheffield, largely dates from the late 15th century, but incorporates features from about 1200. It was the centre of the ancient parish of Ecclesfield, which was one of the most extensive in England before it was broken up in the 19th century. Its style is Perpendicular, with a central tower, and it formerly bore the title of the "Minster of the Moors." The Benedictine Ecclesfield Priory, established in the 12th century, served as a cell of St Wandrille's Abbey in Normandy until the 14th century, when it passed to the Carthusians. It is a Grade II* listed building. Ecclesfield had a paper mill in the 1800s. During the First World War the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) established a Relief landing Ground just outside the eastern boundary of the village, on land that is now largely given over to an industrial estate, near to the current M1 motorway. 'A' flight of 33 Squadron used the site during 1916 as part of a Home Defence scheme to protect against Zeppelin raids, but as the threat of raids diminished the Ecclesfield landing site, along with several others in the area were de-commissioned. No further flying has been recorded as having taken place.