|
There are many place names associated with the legend of Robin Hood. These place names illustrate the spread of the legend and not the outlaw with some exceptions. The Stone of Robert Hode [a guidepost or boundary stone, less than a mile southwest of Barnsdale Bar which in 1422 carried the name of Robyn Hode] is mentioned in a deed copied into the cartulary of Monk Bretton priory in 1422. It has been claimed, this stone stood on the site of Robin Hood's Well which today stands on the east side of the Great North Road, two miles west of Haworth, at Stanbury. But according to the deed the stone must of been nearer to Barnsdale Bar and to the west and not east of the road [see map first page].
|
 |
|
Robin Hood's Well was so named by 1622.
'Over a spring, called Robin Hood's Well, [3 or 4 miles this side of Doncaster, and but a quarter of a mile only from 2 towns called Skelbrough and Bourwallis ] is a very handsome stone arch, erected by the Lord Carlisle, where passengers from the coach frequently drink of the fair water, and give their charity to two people who attend there'. History of York 1730 by Thomas Gent |
 |
| The well was one of the best known halting places on the road and up to the nineteenth century supported two inns. Except for the domed shelter built for the Earl of Carlisle none of this now survives. Leaving Nottingham and traveling north on the A4, it is now impossible to find this well from the highway.
On my last visit to England, traveling with a friend I searched the highway north of Doncaster for some sign of the well. We passed a section of highway that was under construction. Suddenly a huge truck crossed into the far right lane and forced our small car off the highway. If it had not been for the artificial road constructed for heavy equipment vehicles to leave the highway to reach the construction area we might have been killed. We were shaken up and stopped the car to calm our rattled nerves. There was a grassy knoll just to our right and we climbed to the top to avoid the dust from the construction. We sat down, still shaking from our near death experience. After a few moments we both turned slowly and there behind us was the well. In our state we hadn't even noticed the well! It was fate that led us there! |
|
|
The Major [Great] Oak at Sherwood
Its age is difficult to estimate but it is not thought to be older than the sixteenth century. Birklands is the only extensive area of ancient woodland to survive in Sherwood Forest. The Major Oak is still visible from a distance. Too many tourists circling the tree are killing the roots, and the Park is trying to preserve what life is left in the old tree. The Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre lies near Edwinstowe. It is a lovely park, and the walk through the forest, the opportunity to see the last vestiges of the great forest are a feast for any imagination. Only once before did I feel as if I had stepped back in time walking through the woods and that was when I traced the path of Daniel Boone though Pennsylvania. The forest is so magnificent, so dark, foreboding and haunted, one could imagine Robin's men hiding there in the greenery. Of course, this tree did not exist when Robin lived, and this forest lies too far south for it to have been the everyday stomping ground of his merry men. But, this tree is famous as a meeting place in antiquity, and its claim to fame is that it stands today at the site of the original oak from legend. |
 |
 |
 |
| Edwinstowe Church
By tradition the scene of the marriage of Robin and Maid Marian. The church boasts a beautiful stain glass window depicting the marriage. Maid Marian derives her name from her association as Queen to the May Day games and her popularity grew along with Robin, her King. Joseph Hunter wrote in 1852 that Robin Hood was Robert Hood and his wife Matilda, Maid Marian. Together they figure in the court rolls as tenants in the manor of Wakefield in 1316 and 1317. A second Robyn or Robert Hode appeared in royal service as porter to the king's chamber in 1324 under Edward II. Robert Hood can be traced to Wakefield up to 1317, then he disappears. Edward II traveled north to Yorkshire, Lancashire and Nottingham between April and November 1323, and Robyn Hode appears as a porter of the king's chamber for the first time in March 1323. He remained employed until November 1324, then left the king's service and he too disappears. This seems to match the Gest story in straightforward fashion. If Robin Hood was a yeoman servant of the feudal household system. He very well could of been employed by a great estate. One such estate, the combined honours of Lancaster and Lacy assembled by Thomas earl of Lancaster under the reign of Edward I, controlled the area of Barnsdale. Whether Robert Hood of Wakefield was driven into outlaw as a contrariant, a supporter of Thomas earl of Lancaster, who was executed for his rebellion against Edward II after his defeat at the battle of Boroughbridge in 1322; that he made his peace when the King came back to Nottingham in 1323 as so entered into royal service as Robyn Hode, porter to the chamber cannot be proven. No connection between either Robin can be made to Thomas of Lancaster. Hunter is carried by facts but cannot prove that the two Robins are the same. Together the lives of these two Robins seem to fit some of the more significant features of the Gest, so the possibility that the two are one and the same has been widely accepted as fact. In fact Hunter's hypothesis comes crashing down, when just recent documents proved that Robyn Hode was in the employment of the King earlier than November 1323, before he came to Nottingham and that Robyn Hode retired in 1324 because he could no longer work. This cannot be Robin of the Gest because he lived another 22 years, before dying, a victim of the prioress at Kirklees. The Hood name was not uncommon in the area of Wakefield. Before the end of the thirteenth century the nickname 'Robinhood', as a singular name, was already common place. There is a hint that Robin Hood can be sought in the thirteenth century rather than the fourteenth century. In 1225 a penalty was put in place for the chattels of a fugitive called Robert Hod. His name also appears as Hobblehod. He is the only member of the Hood family so far discovered, who is known to have been an outlaw. We cannot connect him to the Hoods of Wakefield, but rather at Ferrybridge some ten miles to the east. Robin's birthplace was given as Locksley. And he is buried in an unmarked grave at Kirklees. Legend puts him under the reign of Richard I and as the rightful Earl of Huntingdon. Others claim that Robin lived under Henry III, was the rightful Earl of Huntingdon and was none other than Robert Fitzoooth, Lord of the Manor of Loxley. Whoever the true Robin Hood was, however legend has expanded or blurred the events of his existence; his character, his nobility, his life and how he chose to live it,whether as hero or thief, has guaranteed his place in history. |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
