Local Heroes

What is the evidence for 'Robin Hood of Staffordshire'?

Well, there is some strong lines, though they are varied in quality; and, after all, we are talking of a man more mythical than actual!

Robin Hood evidence

There is the old poem ‘The Birth of Robin Hood’ – set at Tutbury Castle in east Staffordshire.
There is the 'Maid Marion' character who features in the annual Abbots Bromley Horn Dance.
There are the 'Robin Hood’s Stride' hills up in the east Moorlands.
And - if you want to associate Robin definitely with Sherwood Forest - did you know the Forest's boundaries once stretched as far as Staffordshire?

Ballads suggest that Robin Hood was born in Locksley Town - but there is no town named this on record in Nottinghamshire.
However, there is a Loxley in Staffordshire, near Needwood Forest! Hence... 'Robin of Loxley'.

Robin Hood and Tutbury Castle

But the strongest evidence comes from the old ballad.

In the following poem, ‘The Birth of Robin Hood’, Robin is in conversation with Maid Marion at Titbury – now called Tutbury:

Said Robin Hood, “Lady fair, whither away?
O whither, fair lady, away?”
And she made him an answer, “To kill a fat buck;
For to-morrow is Titbury day.”

Lesley Smith, historian and organiser of Tutbury Castle events, says: "The ancient saga of Robin Hood - which is the source of all the stories - mentions Tutbury Castle under its original name of Titbury Castle.

"The saga claims that Robin married his Chlorinda at the Priory of Titbury”, she continues. “... and Chlorinda was the real name of Maid Marion!"

It has been suggested that Robin Hood was the son of William Fitzooth, who held land in Loxley, near Uttoxeter, and this is his birthplace.
'Hood' may or may not have been an assumed name to hide the outlaw's real identity.

The Horn Dance

Meanwhile, the nearby town of Abbots Bromley hosts an annual Horn Dance, which includes one famous Robin Hood character… a man dressed as a woman – namely Maid Marion.

Along with eleven other characters – six Antler Men, the Hobby Horse, the Fool, the Archer and two musicians, they dance through the town and the surrounding area, once a year.

This famous festival has been in Abbots Bromley since 1226 – a mere three decades after old saga - and it still takes place today.

Robin Hood’s geography

But you ask - why Nottingham then?
Well, Robin Hood only came to be associated with Nottingham because of his conflicts with the Sheriff of that town, and that he hid out in Sherwood Forest.

In fact, although Sherwood Forest now survives mainly in Nottinghamshire, in medieval times it covered a huge area of central England which stretched north to the borders of Yorkshire, south to Warwickshire, and west as far as central Staffordshire. So Robin of Staffordshire may well have lived in Sherwood.

Another piece of evidence is 'Robin Hood's Stride' – a rock covered hill just over the Staffordshire border in Derbyshire. Legend has it that Robin was able to stride the fifteen metres between the tower-like stones!

The area surrounding Robin Hood's Stride contains traces of barrows, Bronze or Iron Age enclosures and hut circles, but the most visible monument is the stone circle known as the 'Nine Stones' – of which only four remain.

Myth or man

Of course, the real truth is that Robin was reinvented much after his supposed period as the embodiment of a lovely romantic story.
As writers made up more and more stories about Robin and his Merry Men, the real Robin simply begins to fade away. But, if there really was a Robin Hood, we think he was a Staffordshire man!

Hear what Lesley Smith had to say about the Robin Hood connection. Click on the link!