St Mary's Church, Edwinstowe

Edwinstowe is a lovely little Nottinghamshire village.......the kind of place I would like to retire to, right next to Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre (what else could you possibly want?). There are some rather nice looking bungalows in Church Street, across from the cricket pitch, which I definitely have my eyes on!

The name Edwinstowe means the ‘holy place of Edwin.’ Edwin of Northumbria c. 586 – 12 October 632/633 was an important Anglo-Saxon king-the second Christian king in England, baptised by Paulinus, the first Archbishop of York in 627 AD. Edwin was killed at a battle in a small hamlet called Cuckney (then known as Hatfield) by Penda, King of Mercia. Edwin's decapitated body was secretly buried in a clearing in the forest, to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. By the time his supporters returned to collect the body to take it to York for a proper burial, people were already calling him Saint Edwin. His body was later interred at Whitby Abbey (another place associated with Robin Hood).

A small wooden chapel was erected on the spot where Edwin's corpse had laid, and this became the site of the present St. Mary’s Church. The Domesday Book states, ‘in Edenstou there is a church, a priest and four bordars*’ (slaves* who worked on the priest's lands). In 1175 Henry II had this church, along with many others built of stone as part of his penance for the murder of Archbishop Thomas Beckett. Today, the carved heads of Henry and Beckett face each other amongst the stone pillars of the nave of the church.

It is likely that nearly all the English medieval monarchs visited this church at some time during a 200 year period, on their way to the nearby royal hunting lodge at King’s Clipstone. The villagers of Edwinstowe were bound by harsh forest laws, and courts to punish offenders were held frequently. In 1334 A.D. the Vicar of Edwinstowe, John de Roystan, was convicted of "venison trespasses," a major crime.

The tower of the curch is Norman and the porch, south door and font date from the 14th century. The broach spire was added to the Norman tower in 1400 A.D and the eight ornamental turrets date from around 1600.

By the main door of St. Mary’s Church stands the 14th Century font. This symbolises the entry into Christian life through baptism and is the traditional place for a font. Popular tradition has it that Robin Hood and Maid Marian were married here in St Mary’s. There was certainly some sort of church here during any of the periods ascribed to Robin Hood and although the entrance has been refurbished, it is likely that it was here in the doorway that they would have been married (as was the tradition at the time).

The Old York Road and Robin Hood's Cave

Once again Albie has sent in some great pictures of ‘Robin Hood Country,’ along with interesting details of the locations. A while ago I explained that I was very interested in re-discovering some of the ancient track ways that led through the parts of Sherwood Forest. So this time Albie takes us along part of the Old York Road in Nottinghamshire.

The main London to York road, also known the Great North Way, ran straight through Sherwood, and travellers were often at the mercy of robbers living outside of the law. Hence the name ‘outlaws’. It was such an important route in early times that it was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086:

“In Nottingham the River Trent and the dyke and the road to York are so protected that if anyone hinders the passage of ships, or anyone ploughs or makes a ditch within two perches of the King’s road, he has to pay a fine of £8.”

Here are Albie’s descriptions of his pictures:

The River Maun Looking North

"This was taken from the hump back bridge on the lane (Whitewater Lane) that runs between Walesby and the A614. The river, known as both the Maun and Whitewater locally, drains from Mansfield before meeting the Meden a couple of miles further north. The bridge was built in 1859 for the estate workers at Thoresby Hall to travel from Walesby and Ollerton without having to ford the river.

Old York Road Looking West

                                              Old York Road Looking North

These are taken at the point where the Old York Road crosses the lane to Walesby around 100 metres from the hump back bridge. The road south goes into New Ollerton and onwards to Old Ollerton through a large housing estate built for the now demolished Ollerton Coal mine. The picture north is where the road becomes a foot path bordering the Walesby Forest Scout Centre to the east and the River Maun to the west.

The York Road, North at Robin Hood's Cave

These pictures were taken above and at the side of Robin Hood’s Cave which is obscured by vegetation. Local legends have it that Robin and his outlaw band would hide here below the main road above ready to ambush the unwary traveller. A local historian reckoned the caves have been used since the retreat of glaciers at the end on the Ice Age. This historian, now deceased, maintained that Walesby and parish is the oldest continually inhabited place in Europe though this would be difficult to prove. Artefacts dating to the Bronze Age have been found around the village as have numerous Roman coins.”

                                              Robin Hood's Cave

                                         Robin Hood's Cave 2

Many thanks Albie. I can’t help thinking of Carmen Dillon’s set design for Disney’s Story of Robin Hood when I see those pictures of Robin Hood’s Cave. Also of the outlaws looking down, as the rich travellers made their nervous way along the York Road.

King John and Newark Castle

Newark Castle

Since Tudor times, King John has been portrayed as a ‘bad’ king. Although in more recent times there have been some attempts at historical revisionism, decades of films and television productions have reinforced this negative image. From movies like ‘Ivanhoe,’ ‘The Lion in Winter’  and of course the many Robin Hood productions, including Ridley Scott's recent blockbuster. But even though, like his brother Richard, King John does not appear in the early medieval Robin Hood ballads, this Plantagenet king has always fascinated me.

It was at Newark Castle, in Nottinghamshire on 18th (possibly 19th) October, 1216 that King John died of Dysentery, brought on by too much hard riding and over-eating. Six days earlier his baggage train, carrying his treasure and jewels, had been trapped in the quicksands crossing the old River Ouse. The wagons had lost their way in the autumn mist, got stuck in the whirlpools and were overwhelmed by a rush of 'waters retuning from the sea'. After this King John is said to have worsened his fever by supping too greedily on peaches and new cider, probably to try and drown his sorrows.

King John's Tower

The sick and distressed King John eventually dragged himself along to the Bishop of Lincoln’s castle at Newark where he lay for three days, tended by the Abbot of Croxton, who had a reputation for medical skill. But he could do nothing for the King except perform the last religious rites. Many legends claim that King John was poisoned.

One in particular states that Friar Tuck poisoned ‘the ‘evil' king in revenge for the murder of Maid Marian.  Also that during the night a terrific thunderstorm was said to have swept over Sherwood Forest and was later described in it's ferocity as 'the Devil himself coming to claim King John's soul'.

I was very pleased to receive this latest instalment from Albie on his visit to Newark Castle. Albie has included once again some of his great pictures. This time of the surviving parts of Newark Castle and information on its amazing history:

"Originally this was the site of an Anglo-Saxon fortified manor house. A motte and bailey castle was erected shortly after the Norman Conquest in 1066 replacing the house. The 1st stone castle was built by Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln between 1125 and 1135. The castle was heavily modified during the next 500 years and eventually became more a palace than a fort in the late 1400’s.


It was heavily involved in the English Civil War between 1642 and 1646 and was garrisoned by Royalist troops loyal to King Charles I. Newark was strategically important as it stands on the River Trent and on the Great North Road (London-York-Edinburgh road) which passed in front of the gatehouse. The king visited several times during the Civil War and rode out from there in May 1646 to surrender to Scottish troops in nearby Southwell. The castle suffered badly after being laid siege to by Parliamentary soldiers. It was slighted after the war with just the curtain wall and gatehouse being left standing – the demolition would have been complete had not a worker been killed and destruction stopped as it was seen as a bad omen.

Norman Gatehouse

Being so close to Sherwood the castle has associations with the Robin Hood legends. It was certainly standing during these times. The closets association is with King John. He died in the castle on October 18th 1216 from dysentery whilst en route to his hunting lodge at Clipstone. It was thought he died on a chamber in the so-called King John’s Tower. This is the oldest surviving part of the castle and dates back to 1135. However, many scholars now believe John died in an apartment in the gatehouse, which is the finest of its type in England. The castle was mentioned in at least one Robin Hood film and many TV series including Robin of Sherwood in the 1980’s.

It would have been a brave force trying to get into the castle in John’s day. Although there was no moat, to cross the gatehouse would have been heavily defended. It survived all attacks in both the English civil war and from the wars of King Stephen between 1135 and 1154.

There are several dungeons and a vaulted under croft (hall) below the ground. These can be entered via the river walk but are only open on certain days of the year. The castle was renovated in the early 1980’s and rooms in the North West and King John’s towers can be accessed. There are no surviving drawings or paintings showing how the castle looked before its destruction took place.

Albie."

(Pictures taken - Saturday 29th May 2010)

Many thanks Albie!

Robin Hood in America

In the twentieth century it has mainly been America that has made the most significant contribution to the legend of Robin Hood. It is through Hollywood and particularly two major films, the energetic 1922 Douglas Fairbanks production and the 1938 Technicolor classic with Errol Flynn, ‘The Adventures of Robin Hood,’ that our modern image of the outlaw has evolved.

The early British colonists exported the ballads and stories of Robin Hood with them, to many parts of the world, particularly Australia and the USA. And it is testament to the phenomenal popularity of the outlaw and the legacy of those medieval entertainers that so many places today exist bearing the name of characters or places from the legend. There are currently 11 Sherwoods in America!

So it was very interesting for me recently to discover Avalon’s blog. Avalon is a Native American who has an interest in both the Arthurian and Robin Hood legends. On Robin Hood she says, “I have read numerous books on the legend since childhood and I definitely believe the ballads were based on actual people, embellished and diminished through the generations, but originated from truth.” Avalon is currently enjoying the recent BBC series ‘Robin Hood’ with Jonas Armstrong and Richard Armitage as Guy of Gisborne (she admits to having an infatuation with Richard Armitage).

Avalon has very kindly agreed to let me reproduce some research she carried out on streets in America named after characters in the Robin Hood legend. The pictures of the road signs were taken during a cycle ride she took with her children through a neighbourhood known as ‘Sherwood Forest’ in Rome, Georgia. She explains:

“The kids and I decided to ride through Sherwood with me pulling over and taking photos of street signs. It was near 72 today (the warmest day so far) and many people were out on the lawns, looking at me like I was some lunatic. A mail carrier stopped and asked me who I was searching for and I said "A street with the name of Allan A Dale!" He thought I was a fruit loop!”

These are the results of Avalon’s survey, (I have omitted the Arthurian names):

"Below is an estimate of streets named after different medieval legends (various spellings including streets, roads, circle, manors, etc). Most states have only a few except the Southern States, which have MANY, thus upholds my theory regarding Southerners' infatuation with the medieval era.

In America there are about 146 streets titled Sherwood Forest

North Carolina- 12

Georgia- 5

Florida- 9

Texas- 18

Virginia- 10

And 2,126 with just Sherwood (which may or may not have anything to do with Robin Hood).

Nottingham 1,058 

North Carolina- 56
Georgia- 42
Florida- 41
Texas- 76
Virginia- 41

Robin Hood 288
North Carolina- 14
Georgia- 24
Florida- 15
Texas- 22
Virginia- 18

Lady or Maid Marian 107
Will Scarlett 27
Little John  276
Allan A Dale  31
Friar Tuck 170
And poor Much only 1
Sir Guy or Sir Gisborne 17"

I want to thank Avalon for allowing me to use her pictures and research. I am sure you will agree it is very interesting and ties in nicely with Albie’s recent pictures of the real Sherwood Forest.

Avalon’s blog is listed in the right hand column of my web site and can be reached here http://avalon-medieval.blogspot.com/

King John's Palace at Clipstone

On the road from Edwinstowe to Mansfield, 19 miles from Nottingham, in the heart of what was once part of the royal forest of Sherwood, is the village of King’s Clipstone. Standing in what is known as Castle Field at grid reference SK605647 is the enigmatic ruins known today as ‘King John’s Palace’ or ‘the Castle’.

It is a site I have wanted to visit for a very long time. According to my notes this place was first documented in 1164 when ‘£20 was spent on repairs to the king’s houses’. The buildings were originally constructed in timber and later replaced Mansfield and Kingshaugh as the principal royal accommodation during the monarch’s hunting parties in Sherwood. For over 200 years this ‘palace’ was the main royal residence in the area and Henry II, Richard I, John, Henry III, Edward I, Edward II, Edward III, and Richard II all stayed for weeks or even months at a time. Ideally situated at the heart of ancient Sherwood, and only a day’s ride from Nottingham, they could enjoy the pleasures of the beautiful countryside and rich hunting away from the main royal residences. Situated on the high ground above the River Maun with the Great Pond of Clipstone to the east, the site would have been fairly secure and very pleasant.

The excavation in the 1950’s and field walking revealed numerous small Roman remains. It seems the site was probably first occupied by the Romans, later becoming first a Saxon, then a royal manor. The Plantagenet kings transformed the building into a royal palace. Excavations in 1956 showed that the palace consisted of a number of buildings, some timber framed and some stone, including a great hall, knights' hall, queen's hall and kitchen, king's kitchen, great chamber, great chapel and long stable, surrounded by a ditch.

The owner of historic ‘King John's Palace’, Mickey Bradley, is hoping to raise the profile of the site to save the ruins, which are in urgent need of work to stabilise the crumbling walls and recently the site was added to the English Heritage's Buildings 'At Risk Register', which highlights important sites that are in 'grave danger of irretrievable decay'. With the backing of local group the ‘Kings Clipstone Project’ –– Mr. Bradley is hoping that once the site is made safe, it can be opened up to visitors.

The group, which is working in partnership with Nottinghamshire County Council, Greenwood Community Forest, Sherwood Forest Trust, Newark & Sherwood Council and the Forestry Commission, wants to make the whole area more accessible to ramblers and cyclists.

Stephen Parkhouse, of the ‘Kings Clipstone Project’ said, "This area is like a jigsaw puzzle and all we need to do is put the pieces together. We're keen to make this a part of the Nottinghamshire tourist route.

"The things we are talking about –– for example a footpath up to Sherwood Forest Pines –– are not going to cost a lot of money, but will give people better access to what is a major royal site."

And Mrs. Bradley, the wife of the owner, believes all the work going on behind the scenes to ensure the survival of the ruins is worthwhile because of the great importance of the site.

"Everybody that comes here is floored by the amount of history and can't believe we have a royal palace," she said.

"People talk of it as a ‘hunting lodge’, but there were a whole series of buildings on a large scale and we know from documentary evidence it had stables for 200 horses –– it was a very important location. The remains are very much in danger and there are bits falling off all the time, the way things are going I don't think it will be here in 10 years time.”

A condition survey carried out by Nottinghamshire County Council found the palace to be in a 'dreadful state', but thanks to the rich history of the site the council views it as a priority. James Wright, of Nottinghamshire Community Archaeology said, "King John's Palace is a tremendously important site, it's a medieval royal palace and you don't really get much more important than that. It was used as a meeting place for the kings of England to meet other royalty and as such it is of national and even international importance."

The 4th Duke of Portland was known to have robbed the foundations in 1816. The buildings are said to have covered two acres with stables for two hundred horses which gives some idea of the scale of building on the site.

Six generations of Plantagenet Kings’ were recorded as delighting in the pleasures, Clipstone had to offer. Its grandeur can be summarized by the fact that Richard Lionheart visited it on Palm Sunday 1194. It was shortly after his return to England after being ransomed by the Duke of Austria and the siege of Nottingham Castle.

“……….he set out to see Clipstone and the forest of Sherwood, which he had never seen before and it pleased him much.”

Roger of Hoveden (fl.1174-1201)

Richard I chose to return on April 2nd to meet King William of Scotland. We can only imagine the entertainment’s planned. No king of Richard’s standing would choose to meet a fellow monarch particularly when greater houses were within reach. Maybe less formality and the pleasure of the hunt were the reason for this choice.

King John, Richard’s brother was given The Manors of Clipstone, while still Earl of Mortain. Deprived of them once because of mutinous behavior in trying to seize the crown whilst his brother was at the Crusades, they were later restored. There are actually only five recorded visits to the ‘Kings Houses’ but possibly some went un-chronicled. For some reason ‘King John’s Palace’ stuck, but not at the time. William Senior’s map 1630 refers to the building as ‘Manor Garth’ and Hoopers engraving refers to the ‘Kings Houses’ in 1784.

It seems that it was the earliest O/S Maps who started to use the term ‘King John’s Palace’. Probably this term was taken from the local people who knew other local legends about him. One in particular relates how King John whilst hunting in Sherwood was bought news of a Welsh uprising, so ordered the 28 boy hostages held at Nottingham Castle to be hung.

Nearby lays Parliament Oak, it was under the branches of this tree where Edward I is supposed to have held a parliament during a royal hunt in Sherwood. Edward, intent on proceeding to the Scottish Borders, summoned Parliament to meet him at Clipstone, in October 1290. This truly brought such a number of nobles to Clipstone that would never be seen again. During the months that followed he was near or at Clipstone, when his wife Eleanor Castille became seriously ill. She was staying at Rufford Abbey away from the bustle of Clipstone until she moved to Hardby where she died, on 28 November 1290.

Some of the additions were large and expensive. In 1279 Edward I added two chambers with chapels costing £435 12s 6d, a huge amount and two years later he built stables for 200 horses at a cost of £104 8s 5d. In 1348/49 money was spent on the rebuilding of the knights’ chamber and the repair of the great hall, the queen’s hall, the king’s kitchen, the queen’s kitchen, great chamber, Rosamund’s chamber, Robert de Mauley’s chamber, the treasurer’s chamber, the chamber of Lionel, the king’s son, the great chapel, the chapel next to the king’s chamber, the king’s long stable, and the great gateway.

The last known royal visit was by Richard II in 1393. After 1401 the palace was granted as a reward to loyal supporters (returned to the crown on death) and it fell into an increasing state of disrepair. By 1568 the ‘King’s Houses’ were virtually gone. For the next 250 years the site was plundered of its stone to build village houses and Clipstone Hall, the replacement manor house.

Whether the kings who stayed at Clipstone ever thought of the property as a ‘palace’ is debatable. What is certain is that the ‘King’s Houses’ became a high status complex of buildings, reflecting the fact that for over 200 years it was the favored residence of the Plantagenet Kings when visiting the area. The large sums being expended provide very good evidence that many of the buildings were constructed of stone and records from the 17th century indicate a Romanesque style. The three walls now remaining probably date from around 1279 when Edward I added the new King’s and Queen’s Chambers.

I will try and visit this site this year and post some pictures.

Nottingham c.1610-1611

This the earliest depiction of the town of Nottingham, showing us the medieval layout that Robin Hood would have recognised. It is an engraving by the Flemish artist, Jodocus Hondius Sr. for John Speed's compilation of maps called 'The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britayne' (c.1611). It was in fact the first atlas of the British Isles.

Robin Hood's Larder

Above is a postcard from about 1910 of Robin Hood’s Larder in Sherwood Forest. The ancient oak tree was partly burnt in 1913 by picnicking schoolgirls trying to boil a kettle inside it; sadly although supported with iron braces, the rest of the great oak was blown down during the gales of 1962. It originally stood on land once owned by the Duke of Portland, where the ways of the old forest divided, a mile and a half west of the Major Oak, in Birklands, near the village of Edwinstowe. Local tradition states that Robin Hood and his men used to conceal venison and game birds inside the shell of its hollow trunk. It was originally known by the locals as the Shambles Oak or Butchers Oak and was said, at one time, to contain iron meat hooks inside its 24 ft. round base.

Nottingham Castle 1068-1100

Nottingham Castle is an important element in Walt Disney’s live-action film, ‘The Story of Robin Hood’. As Helen Phillips explains in her paper ‘Forest, Town and Road’ -for the lectures on ‘Robin Hood in Popular Culture,' -the castle, with its massive size and impregnability, gained new prominence with the advent of film, partly because of its potential for sheer visual impact and also because it offered new special theatricality through the shift to visual narrative. This is certainly the case in the Douglas Fairbanks silent version in 1922, the Michael Curtiz classic of 1938 and of course the ‘Story of Robin Hood’ in 1952.

In the planning stages for Disney’s motion picture, Ken Annakin, Carmen Dillon, Perce Pearce and other members of the production team, spent three days with the great man himself, in Sherwood Forest and Nottinghamshire. They looked over many of the sights associated with the outlaw, but Disney was disappointed, (like so many tourists) to see many of the castles of the midlands in ruins. Nottingham Castle was almost completely destroyed with gunpowder and pick, during the Civil War of 1642-1660. All that remains today for visitors to see, is an outer portion of the barbican, used as an entrance, a small portion of the walls of the outer ballium and the base of what was known as Richard’s Tower. So art director Carmen Dillon recommended the up and coming matte artist, Peter Ellenshaw to work on creating medieval Nottingham and its castle for Disney’s live-action motion picture.

So what was the real Nottingham Castle like?

During the summer of 1068, William the Conqueror (pictured above) rode north to deal with a Saxon rebellion. He stopped at Nottingham to assess its strategic value and decided to build a castle on the huge rocky red sandstone, above the meadows of the River Trent. He left William Peveril instructions for a motte and bailey type castle to be built, ‘in a style that was unknown before’, on the 130 ft high rock. The tower of which would be in an impregnable position.

Nottingham Castle is not mentioned in the Domesday Book, but this may have been due to a delay in construction because of ‘opposition from the men of Nottingham.’ When William re-visited Nottingham a year later the townsmen had been forced into subjection and were compelled to assist in building the new fortress with a handful of Norman supervisors. Peveril was rewarded for his services with a ‘fief’ known as ‘the Honour of Nottingham’ made up from lands in six shires including Sherwood Forest and the Peak.

Castles were unknown in England before the Norman Conquest in 1066. But within five years of the Battle of Hastings, thirty castles were built across the country. The motte, a high mound usually constructed from the earth dug out of the deep surrounding ditch, was constructed on the highest part of the rock. On it would be wooden buildings and perhaps, a wooden watch tower or keep. Below the motte, to the north, was the bailey similarly enclosed by a wooden palisade on an earth rampart. Curling around to the south of the palisade of wooden stakes was the River Leen, which had probably been diverted as an additional form of defence, to supply the garrison with water and power the Castle’s mills.

The building would have been probably two or three storeys high and reached by an exterior stairway or wooden ladder. The first floor would have included the Great Hall, sleeping quarters and living rooms of the Lord, including the chapel. But, because the first Nottingham Castle was constructed mainly of wood, cooking would have been done outside as a
fire precaution.

The location for a castle at Nottingham, was ideal for two reasons. First because the rock provided an easily defensible site dominating the country around, including the Saxon town huddled around St. Mary’s Church in what is now the Lace market. Second, Nottingham was on the main road between London and the North and was also only a mile from the River Trent, the dividing line between the North and South of England, so it could be easily supplied and reinforced. Because of its ideal situation, Nottingham castle became the principal royal fortress in the Midlands for five centuries.

The local population would have been forced to build their Conqueror’s castle in whatever materials were available. The rock provided a natural motte or mound and the original walls enclosing the bailey’s or yards, though probably being of wood, may have been supplemented by stone dug out of the surrounding ditch. In the highest part of the Castle, the upper bailey, were rooms and a watch tower. Beyond, to the north, was another bailey, the Middle Bailey. This was enclosed by a palisade placed on the top of a rampart formed by the sand excavated from the surrounding new moat. Subjugation of the local population was completed by the building of a new Norman Town in the shadow of the castle with its own market place-the present Market Square. Land was also taken to the west of the castle to make a park, which would be stocked with deer to provide food and sport, whilst to the south, the King’s Meadow would be used for grazing.

Because the motte was natural rock it would not be necessary to wait for the ground to settle before building high stone walls and towers on its summit. If these walls were not originally built of stone they may have been by the reign of Henry I (1100-35). These great stone walls with towers rising as it were, from the very rock itself and visible for miles in every direction, must have awed the local population. Below it to the north were the palisade walls of the Middle Bailey (now the Castle Green) and beyond them to the north and east more land was enclosed to form the Outer Bailey, though exactly when this was first enclosed we do not know.


© Clement of the Glen 2008

Little John's Grave

This wintry scene shows Little John’s Grave in St Michaels and All Angels Parish Church, School Lane, Hathersage in Derbyshire.

Apart from Little John’s exceptionally large grave-between two yew trees-the fourteenth century church also houses 15 brasses to the local Eyre family. Charlotte Bronte stayed at the vicarage nearby, with a friend in 1845 and it is believed that the village of Morton, in her novel Jane Eyre, is based on Hathersage. It is also very likely that Charlotte took her heroine's name from the prominent Eyre family.

Domesday Nottingham

Robin Hood is often described as a Saxon, competing against his oppressive Norman overlords in various films and novels. So what was Nottingham, the place most associated with the outlaw like, when the Normans began to rule England after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The best way to find out, is to look in the Domesday Book, an incredibly unique snapshot of life in late eleventh century England.

Great Domesday was commissioned by William I (the Conqueror) at his Christmas Court in 1085 and the whole enormous work of collecting the information and turning it into the book that survives today, took under two years to complete. A fantastic achievement and a tribute to the political power and formidable will of William the Conqueror. This book is today preserved at the Public Record Office at Kew, but for many centuries it was held at Winchester the ancient Saxon capital of Wessex. It is not only written in Latin, but in a highly abbreviated form of Latin. It took approximately nine hundred sheepskins, soaked in lime and stretched over wooden frames, to make the parchment for the clerk, to give us a snapshot of a world, far different to the one we know today.

The Domesday survey was a detailed statement of lands held by the king and by his tenants and of the resources which went with those lands. It recorded which manors rightfully belonged to which estates, reducing the years of confusion between the Anglo-Saxons and their Norman conquerors . It also gave him the extant to which he could raise taxes! This illuminates a crucial time in our history, the settlement in England of William and his Norman and northern French followers. Local people likened this irreversible gathering of comprehensive information, to the Last Judgement, and by the late twelfth century this remarkable survey became known as Doomsday. Before that it was known as the Winchester Roll or King’s Roll.

Nottingham at this time, is recorded as:

Snoting(e)ham/quin: King’s land. The main landholders are listed as Hugh FitzBaldric; the Sheriff; Roger de Bully; William Peverel; Ralph Fitzhurbert; Geoffrey Alselin; Richard Frail.

A church is also listed, the original Saxon church of St Mary’s, later destroyed in the mid twelfth century. The number of burgesses given is 120 and the amount of families in Nottingham at this time can not have been more than 500.

Roger de Busli or Bully and William Peverel were William the Conqueror’s two great tenants-in-chief. Some believe that Peverel was an illegitimate son of the Conquror. The Domesday Book shows that after the Conquest, Peverel was rewarded for his invovement in the Battle of Hastings with 162 lordships.

After stopping at Nottingham on his way north, William I had given Peverel instructions for a motte and bailey type ‘royal’ castle to be built on the 130 ft. high rock overlooking the town, in the king’s name. Over the following centuries the wooden fortress would be re-built in stone. The castle would be a strategic key to the midlands. Peverel was later made constable of Nottingham Castle and rewarded with a ‘fief’, known as the Honour of Nottingham, which included Sherwood Forest, the High Peak and lands in six shires, to support him. During the reign of King John, the sheriff’s of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire became custodians of land that became known as the Honour of Peverel.

The ‘Peverel Court’ was held in Nottingham up until 1321. It was a Court of Pleas for the recovery of small debts and for damages of trespass and had jurisdiction over 127 towns and villages around the shire. In Basford stood Peverel’s Gaol, founded in 1113 and used for the imprisonment of debtors by the successive sheriffs of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.

Roger de Busli was rewarded by King William I, like William Peverel for his assistance at the Battle of Hastings and was granted holdings in six English counties, including 174 estates in Nottinghamshire. Very little is known about him and he is described by some as famous in Domesday but nowhere else. His seat of power, became his manor house at Blyth in Nottinghamshire, described in the Domesday Book as:

Blyth (Blide) land of Roger de Busli 1 Bovate of land and the fourth part of 1 bovate taxable. Land for 1 plough. 4 villagers and 4 smallholders have 1 plough. Meadow 1 acre.

Blyth became one of only five designated sites in England, licensed by Richard I to hold tournaments. The area has been recently re-discovered in a field known locally as Terminings (tourneyings) Meadow on a tract of land between Blyth and Stirrup. The Pope had denounced these exhibitions of skill in arms, but Richard refused to be denied the ability to train his English knights to the level of skill of their counterparts on the continent.

Roger Busli also built Tickhill Castle an earthwork motte and bailey fortressfor the king, where he bestowed many great gifts to his followers, to the disadvantage and animosity of the original Saxon landowners.

If we look in the Domesday Book at some of the local villages that later become known as part of Sherwood Forest, we can see how the land was parcelled up between the new powerful Norman lords.

Edwinstowe, now the main modern tourist centre for Sherwood, was land owned by the king, Edenestou 1c. Of land taxable. Land for 2 ploughs. A church and a priest and 4 smallholders have 1 plough. Woodland pasture 1/2 league long and 1/2 wide. Clipstone (Clipestune) was land owned by Roger de Busli as was Cuckney (Chuchenai). Linby (Lidebi) belonged to William Peverel. Mansfield (Mamesfeld/Memmesfed was King’s land with, mill, fishery, 2 churches.

Nottinghamshire was originally included in the diocese and province of York up until 1836 and we see Blidworth (Blidworde) a village in Sherwood Forest, described as owned by the Archbishop of York before and after 1066. Oxton (Ostone/tune) was also land held by the Archbishop of York and the under tenant was Roger de Busli. Papplewick (Papleuuic) was held by William Peverel and Thoresby (Turesbi) was King’s land.

Sherwood Forest is first mentioned 68 years after the Domesday survey when it was controlled for the king by Peverel’s grandson (also called William). But this sandy infertile part of Nottinghamshire was probably afforested by William the Conquror, or his immediate successors, at a far earlier date.

© Clement of the Glen 2006-2007

Robin Hood and the Green Goddess

Robin Hood at sea? Well almost. Above is a timetable from the RMS Caronia dated July 1 1952 during her North Cape Cruise. The list of events shows that at 4.30 pm and at 9.30 pm on that day, Walt Disney’s Story of Robin Hood was to be shown in the ship’s theatre on the prom deck.

The RMS Caronia was the post war pride of the British Merchant Navy and the first all first-class ship launched by Cunard after WW2. She was also the first vessel owned by Cunard White Star to have an outside swimming pool and air conditioning in every public room. These cruises for the rich soon earned her the nickname ‘The Millionaires Yacht’.

Launched on the 30th October 1947 in the presence of Princess Elizabeth, shortly before her marriage to Prince Philip, Caronia's first maiden voyage from Southampton to New York took place in January 1949.

During her annual refitting at Liverpool Docks in December 1952, the Caronia caught fire. The local fire brigade soon managed to quickly get things under control and she was repaired and ready in 1953 to bring American visitors across the Atlantic to see the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey in London.

Purpose built for transatlantic crossings, with her art deco interiors, open air lido and her attention to luxurious detail, the ‘green goddess’, as Caronia became known, due to her four shades of green, is remembered today with great affection.

Hmm! Green? Wasn't that Robin Hood’s favourite colour?

© Clement of the Glen 2006-2007

Robin Hood's Statue At Nottingham Castle

Four months after the Royal Premier of the film The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men in London, further up north in Nottingham, they unveiled a statue to their world famous outlaw, by the castle walls, in the presence of the Duchess of Portland.

The ceremony took place on July 24th 1952 on Castle Green, in a specially landscaped area at the foot of Castle Rock, in the remains of the old moat, by local architect Cecil Howitt. The seven foot statue, including four bas-relief plaques were a gift to the city, by local businessman Philip E. Clay and was designed and cast out of half a ton of bronze, one inch thick, by Royal Acadamician, James Woodford (1893-1976) in his studio at Hampstead. Woodford was the son of a Lace designer and was born in Nottingham. He attended the Nottingham School of Art and after military service during the First World War he trained at the Royal College of Art in London.

A year after his statue of Robin Hood was unveiled at Nottingham Castle, James Woodford RA was commissioned to carve a set of ten heraldic figures out of Portland Stone, to be placed at the entrance of Westminster Abbey for the coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. These heraldic beasts were selected from the armorial bearings of her royal ancestors and can be seen today along the walkway between Palm House and the pond at Kew Gardens.

© Clement of the Glen 2006-2007

Whitby Abbey

The atmospheric 13th Century ruins of Whitby Abbey stand on the steep windswept headland overlooking its picturesque old whaling town and the North Sea. This once magnificent monastery was founded in the seventh century by the Saxon princess St Hild. She later became the focus of many traditional stories and miraculous deeds, including ridding the town of snakes by turning them to stone. Another legendry character linked with this dramatic, monastic site, is Dracula the vampire, the creation of one time Whitby resident, Bram Stoker. So with the fishing village, known as Robin Hood’s Bay, six miles along the coast and the bronze age burial mounds at Stroupe Brow, dug into the moorland about a mile away, known by the locals as Robin Hood’s Butts, it was inevitable that down the centuries, local stories about the outlaw hero would emerge.

Lionel Charlton often known as the first historian of Whitby, was born at Hexham about 1722. Described as lame from his youth, halting with one leg, and having one hand shrunk up, did not prevent him studying at Edinburgh University and becoming a land surveyor and teacher of mathematics. About 1748, Charlton settled in Whitby, in North Yorkshire, where he would stay for the next forty years running his school in the old town house. But it was towards the end of his life that he undertook the task for which he became famous, writing The History of Whitby and Whitby Abbey which was published in York, in 1779.

With free access to the ancient records of Whitby Town and its Abbey, given to him by the Lord of the Manor, Nathanial Cholmley, Lionel Charlton began to painstakingly decipher the rolls of parchment. His groundbreaking work is today often criticized for his occasional fanciful detours away from the restraints of historical research and his piece on Robin Hood and Little John’s visit to Whitby Abbey, is a good example. It is also interesting to note that Charlton was assisted by Dr Thomas Percy (1729-1811), the first of the great ballad collectors, and author of ‘Reliques of Ancient English Poetry’ published four years before Charlton’s work. Percy’s collection on Robin Hood and in particular the unusual later ballad Robin Hood’s Fishing, commonly known as The Noble Fisherman: Or Robin Hood’s Preferment, probably inspired, what Professor Dobson describes as Charlton’s ingenious powers of invention, about Robin Hood’s visit.

Now, quoth Robin Hood, I’ll to
Scarborough goe,
It seems to be a very fair day,
Who tooke up his inn in a widow
woman’s house,
Hard by upon the waters gray.
(The Noble Fisherman)

Tradition informs us Lionel Charlton begins, that in one of Robin Hood’s peregrinations, he attended by his Little John went to dine a Whitby Abbey with the Abbot Richard [de Waterville] , who having heard them often famed for their great dexterity in shooting with the longbow, begged them after dinner to show him a specimen there of; when to oblige the abbot they went up to the top of the abbey, whence each of them shot an arrow, which fell not far from Whitby-Laths, but on the contrary side of the lane; and in memorial there of, a pillar was set up by the abbot in the place where each of the arrows was found, which are yet standing in these our days; the field where the pillar for Robin Hood’s arrow stands being, still called Robin Hood’s Field and the other where the pillar for Little John’s arrow, John’s Field. Their distance from Whitby Abbey is MORE THAN A MEASURED MILE, which seems very far for the flight of an arrow, and is a circumstance that will stagger the faith of many; but, as to the credibility of the story, every reader may judge thereof as he thinks proper; only I must here beg leave to observe that these very pillars are mentioned, in the old deeds for that ground, now in the possession of Mr Thomas Watson.
(History of Whitby, York, 1779.)

Whitby’s other colourful historian Rev. Dr. George Young (1777-1848) later gives us more details in his History of Whitby (1818):

.......they both shot from the top of the abbey, and their arrows fell on the west side of Whitby Lathes, besides the lane leading from thence to Stainsacre; that of Robin Hood falling on the north side of the lane, and that of Little John about 100 feet further, on the south side of the lane. In the spot where Robin’s arrow is said to have lighted stands a stone pillar about a foot square, and 4 feet high; and a similar pillar, 2 1/2 feet high, marks the place where John’s arrow fell. The fields on the one side are called Robin Hood Closes and those on the other Little John Closes. They are so termed in the conveyance, dated in 1713, from Hugh Cholmley Esq.

In the 1890’s both pillars were seen lying in a ditch of the field bearing their name. One had been removed because it was in the way of the farmer’s mowing machine ! And in 1937 one of the stones was put to use as a field roller at Summerfield Farm near Hawsker Church.

In 1903 two new pillars were erected and described by Stanhope White in Standing Stones & Earthworks on the North Yorkshire Moors (1987) as :

......two saddle-like stones, round pillars with small mushroom caps; the rim of the first is engraved Robin Hood Close and the other Little John Close......It is not improbable that these two stones have replaced two Bronze Age standing stones; they would have attracted tales of Robin Goodfellow; when Robin Hood began to appear as a folk hero his name replaced the earlier leaders name, and no doubt some good burgher of Whitby replaced the ancient stones with these more decorative modern ones!

© Clement of the Glen 2006-2007

Bolsover Mine

One day in Bolsover in the county of Derbyshire in the 1820’s, two pitmen were busy sinking an exploratory coalmining shaft into a side of a hill, when suddenly the earth gave way, revealing a yawning gap. It was the entrance to a cave.

After they had tentatively climbed down into this new discovery, amidst the dust and loose rocks, their lanterns began to reveal what appeared to be old swords, bows and iron pots with the wood ash and half-charred logs from an old fireplace. Against a wall was a rack of bows and belts, broadswords and quivers full of arrows. As the orangey light from their lanterns moved around and the dust began to settle, their eyes suddenly came upon the gruesome sight of the remains of a skeleton wrapped in an old woollen habit, one hand holding a crucifix, the other a chisel, propped up against the cave wall. Above its head were roughly scratched a long list of names on the cavern walls. At the top it said, these died that we might live. Requiescant in pace. Below it painfully said, I was the last, Michael Tuck.

After the two miners had climbed out and nervously clambered to the top, there came a great rock fall and the cave promptly collapsed under hundreds of tons of rock, completely burying the new shaft and all their equipment. The cave has never been located since. When the pitmen described to the local people from Bolsover village what they had witnessed, they laughed and dismissed the miners’ story as pure fantasy.

This incident is reported in the book, Robin Hood: His Life and Legend (1979) by Lord Bernard Miles. Lord Miles is a distinguished actor, writer and founder of the Mermaid Theatre in London.

Will Scarlet

“Rake away the gold leaves, roll away the red,
And wake Will Scarlett from his leafy forest bed.”
(Alfred Noyes, Sherwood 1904)

Overlooking the village of Blidworth in Nottinghamshire stands the church of St. Mary of the Purification. Up until the reign of Richard III (1483-1485) the medieval church on this site, was known as the Chapel of St. Lawrence. It was at one time completely surrounded by Sherwood Forest and can trace its history right back to Saxon times and even the Druids. At Blidworth Dale, King John had a hunting seat and nearby is Queens Bower, the site of a Tudor encampment during the reign of Elizabeth I.

Blidworth and St. Mary’s church have many connections to the Robin Hood legend and near a hill on which the village stands is a cave, where the outlaws are said to have stored their food. One of the local traditions states that Will Scarlet knew every path through these parts of the forest and lies buried in an unmarked grave against the old church wall, after being killed by one of the sheriff’s men. Today, in the churchyard, under some old yew trees, an apex stone originally part of the collapsed fragments of the old medieval church tower, acts as a tombstone to Robin’s loyal henchman.

In Disney’s Story of Robin Hood (1952), it was Anthony Forwood who played Robin’s cousin Will Scarlet. The character never develops in the movie and remains merely a member of the ‘merrie’ men who helps rescue Scathelok and Stutely from Nottingham Square. But it is interesting to note that all three of these characters are probably variations of just one original shadowy member of Robin Hood’s medieval band of outlaws.

Robyn stode in Bernesdale,
And lenyd hym to a tre;
And bi hym stode Litell Johnn,
A gode yeman was he.

And also dyd good Scarlok,
And Much, the myller’s son;
There was non ynche of his bodi,
But it was worth a grome.

Will Scarlok, (Scalok, Scadlock, Scatheloke, Scathelok, Scarlet, Scarlett) is one of the most mysterious of all Robin’s men. His name, like Little John and Much the Millers Son, could be an alias and all three appear as early as stanza 4 in the Gest of Robyn Hode. He appears by the side of Robin Hood in most of the early ballads. In Robin Hoode his Death as Will Scarlett he advises his leader to take fifty of his best bowman to Church Lees, when Robin is ill and needs to be ‘let blood.’

But Robin is scornful and tells him that if he is afraid he should stay at home!

And thou be feard, thou William Scarlett
Att home I read thee bee:
And you be wrothe, my deare master,
You shall never heare more of mee.

It is as Will Scadlock that he informs Robin Hood of the ‘curtall frier’ in the ballad The famous Battle between Robin Hood and the Curtall Fryer:

God blessing on thy heart, said Robin Hood,
That hath such a shot for me;
I would ride my horse a hundred miles,
To finde one could match thee.

That caused Will Scadlock to laugh,
He laught full heartily:
There lives a curtal friar in Fountains Abby
Wil beat both him and thee.

Will Scarlet’s background, like Robin and the rest of his band, is never explained, so it was left to the later ballad makers to construct a popular story around his origins for the new expanding printing presses. In Robin Hood and the Newly Revived Robin discovers a ‘deft young man as ever walkt on the way’:

His doublet it was of silk, he said, His stockings like scarlet shone, And he walkt on along the way, To Robin Hood then unknown.

Robin watches the smartly dressed, young stranger shoot deer and is impressed with his skill:

Well shot, well shot,quoth Robin Hood then,
That shot it was shot in time;
And if thou wilt accept of the place,
Thou shalt be a bold yeoman of mine.

But the young man rudely tells Robin to go away and eventually a swordfight ensues.

The stranger he drew out a good broad sword,
And hit Robin on the crown,
That from every haire of bold Robins head
The blood ran trickling down.

God a mercy, good fellow! quoth Robin Hood then,
And for this thou hast done;
Tell me, good fellow, what thou art,
Tell me where thou doest woon.

The stranger then answered bold Robin Hood,
I’le tell thee where I did dwell;
In Maxfield was I bred and born,
My name is Young Gamwell.

Young Gamwell had killed his fathers steward and fled to the ‘English wood’ to seek his uncle, Robin Hood. After much rejoicing the two of them make their way back to Little John.

I met with a stranger, quoth Robin Hood then,
Full sore he hath beaten me:
Then I’le have a bout with him, quoth Little John,
And try if he can beat me.

Oh no, quoth Robin Hood then,
Little John, it may [not] be so;
For he’s my own dear sisters son,
And cousins I have no mo.

But he shall be a bold yeoman of mine,
My chief man next to thee;
And I Robin Hood, and thou Little John,
And Scarlet he shall be.

As themes were re-worked and adapted in the later tales, names became changed and new elements introduced. In this case it seems the character Gamwell, later to become Will Scarlet, has been re-moulded from Gamelyn an outlaw in the earliest surviving English outlaw ballad, the Tale of Gamelyn (c.1350). In turn the name Gamelyn possibly evolved from the servant Gandelyn, in the mysterious old English carol about the New Year Wren hunt, Robyn and Gandelyn.

A later variation of the story of Robin Hood finding his long lost cousin, can be found in The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood (c. 1846). By this time, when the stranger introduces himself, his name had transformed into Gamble Gold!

We come across Scadlock with Robin Hood and Little John in the unusual ballad Robin Hood and the Prince of Aragon (c.1660) in which he helps free the city of London by slaying the Prince of Aragon and an infidel Turk, marries a princess and finds his long lost noble father. In the much earlier Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne it is as Scarlett that he is pursued by the sheriff’s men:

And Scarlett a ffote flying was,
Over stockes and stone,
For the sheriff with seven score men
Fast after him is gone.

The prolific Tudor playwright Anthony Munday (c.1553-1633) settled upon using both characters, a Scarlet and a Scathlock- the sons of Widow Scarlet- for his influential production The Downfall of Robert Earl of Huntington in (c.1600). A device also used by Howard Pyle in his classic Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (1883), where we find a Will Scarlett and a Will Scatheloke.

The character Will Stutely/Stutly appears in only two prominent later ballads, Robin Hood and Little John, where he Christens the giant stranger (a role played out by Will Scarlet in The Story of Robin Hood) and the other is the story of his freedom from the gallows in Robin Hood rescuing Will Stutly. On both occasions his name seems to be yet another derivation from Scathelok/Scarlet. The evidence of the evolution of this, was later found amongst the recently discovered ‘Forresters Manuscript,’ where the tale of this outlaws rescue from the hangman's noose is known as Robin Hood and Will Scathelok.

The anonymous compiler of the Sloane Manuscript (included on this blog under Robin Hood History) writing in about 1600 added to all this confusion with Scarlock included in a role later played out by Alan-a-Dale:

Scarlock, he induced, upon this occacion: one day meting him, as he walked solitary, and lyke to a man forlorne, because a mayd to whom he was affianced was taken from by the violence of her friends, and giuen to another that was auld and welthy.

The cross-over between Will Scarlet and Allan-a-Dale re-appears yet again in the Warner Brothers 1938 film The Adventures of Robin Hood. Patric Knowles, dressed in red, plays a rather dandy Will Scarlet to Errol Flynn’s Robin and during the fight scene with Little John, thinks nothing of picking up his lute and strumming a merry tune.


So the malleable character of Will Scarlet continues to show his various faces down the centuries. In more modern times we have seen the flamboyant Patric Knowles version, to the dark, (scarlet inside) menacing, Ray Winstone portrayal in TV’s Robin of Sherwood 1984.

More recently Christian Slater, with his Californian twang, played Will Scarlet as a maladjusted teenager in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves 1991. Slater explains his character in the movie:

Several things were put into the script after I was cast. For instance, the fact that Robin Hood recently screwed up my life when I was younger. His father dated my mother and I was the result. I came forth into the world as Robin’s half-brother. There is one point in the film when I have to tell Robin the truth. So it adds an edge to the whole movie for me.

There is disagreement surrounding the historical meaning of the unusual name, Scatheloke. Jim Lees (Mr Robin Hood) in his book The Quest For Robin Hood explains that the nickname is derived from scathe– to burn or harm, and locke meaning hair. So from this we get red head! But Professor Stephen Knight interprets the name in a more dramatic fashion. He says that it is more likely to mean lock-smasher, a name very appropriate for a hunted outlaw.

Which brings us to any historical evidence for a real outlaw with that name. There have been a number of interesting, although rather vague discoveries. A Schakelock is recorded in Scotland in 1305 and in December 1316 a Schakelock is mentioned as a soldier in Berwick town garrison. In November, two years later a William Scarlet is listed amongst the pardons for felonies.

In the Wakefield Court Rolls in Yorkshire an Adam Schakelok is recorded on 10th April 1317 as holding land at Crigleston and in the Assize Rolls a person known as W. Shakelok/W. Scathelok is recorded between the years of 1372 and 1381.

But the most fascinating discovery is the William Shyreloke, a novice of St. Mary’s Abbey York (the very abbey at the heart of the epic poem, the Gest of Robyn Hode) mentioned between 1286-7. According to Abbey documents he was thrown out because of a crime imputed to him!

© Clement of the Glen 2006-2007

(To see all posts about Will Scarlet please click on the label marked Will Scarlet in the right-hand panel or below).