Mainly lying within the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the parish includes the larger part of the village of Tosside and the hamlet of Grunsagill to the south.

[a] Near Brown Hills Beck on the western border of the parish is a bowl barrow thought to date from the late Neolithic or Bronze Age periods.

Around the start of the 19th century the manor was claimed by Thomas Browne, who acquired the largest estate in the township from his relative Mary, the third wife of Sir Robert Burdett.

Forming part of the catchment area for the reservoir, today the land is largely owned by United Utilities, but since 1949 it has been leased by the Forestry Commission.

Only an 8-hectare (20-acre) area called Park Wood is classified as ancient semi-natural woodland, with the rest mainly Sitka spruce, grown for timber production.