Return to introduction or Go to next location Loxley Green – The Birthplace of Robin Hood? Some historians have speculated that Robin Hood may have been based on an historical figure. However, because of the rarity of reliable records surviving from the Middle Ages there has always been a problem identifying where he might have originated. According to legend, Robin came originally from a village called Loxley (sometimes spelt Locksley) on the edge of Sherwood Forest, and only came to be associated with Nottingham because of his ultimate conflict with the sheriff of that town. 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. Remarkably, all three of these surrounding counties had a village of that name. Locksley in Yorkshire, a village eventually abandoned during the Black Death, has been the most popular for Robin Hood seekers, but Loxley in Warwickshire has had its proponents; Stafford’s Loxley, however, has seldom been seriously considered by historians to have had any link with the original legend. Actually, it may have the most substantial claim to authenticity.
The story of Robin Hood, a nobleman during the reign of Richard I in the 1190s who was outlawed and fled to Sherwood Forest, became the subject of popular romance by the close of the fourteenth century. However, these tales appear to have originally been based on seasonal plays performed by amateur players in villages throughout England. During holidays, local people would dress as characters from the Robin Hood tale and perform a pageant of song and dance to celebrate the legend. Through the centuries these gradually ceased to be performed, until now only one village anywhere in the country still continues the tradition. That is the Staffordshire village of Abbots Bromley, only seven kilometres to the south of a tiny hamlet called Loxley Green. Every year on Wakes Day in September, and sometimes on other national holidays such as May Day, the Abbots Bromley Horn Dancers – so called because of the reindeer antlers they carry - perform a dance around the village dressed in rustic medieval costume, two of the principle characters accompanying the Horn Dancers being a man dressed as Maid Marian and a boy with a bow and arrow in the guise of Robin Hood. Records still survive recording the Abbots Bromley Horn dance being performed as early as 1226, a mere three decades after the story of Robin Hood is set. The fact that the tradition has uniquely lasted as long as it has in this area might well be because this is where the historical Robin Hood, or at least the legend, originated. As far as I know, no one has yet made a proper study of Staffordshire’s Loxley Green in search for the origins of the Robin Hood legend. DirectionsLoxley Green is approximately three and a half kilometre south west of Uttoxeter, OS Landranger Map 128, grid reference 066305. Abbots Bromley is 7 kilometres north east of the town of Rugeley, OS Landranger Map 128, grid reference 080245. LinksRobin of Loxley – Warwickshire The Search for a real Robin Hood.
Return to introduction or Go to next location
|
When most people think of the legend of Robin Hood, the county of Nottinghamshire immediately springs to mind. Since the Victorian era the city of Nottingham has made a fortune from visitors who travel there in droves to follow the trail of the legendary outlaw. There are pubs, cafes, nightclubs and restaurants that bear the name of Robin Hood, Maid Marian and the Merry Men, and there is a purpose-built visitor centre to celebrate the legend. Staffordshire, on the other hand, has no connections with Robin Hood – or does it?