# Robin Hoods grave - November 2010



## nij4829 (Nov 12, 2010)

This place has alluded me for quite a while. Its been on my 'todo' list from the moment I saw it in a old OS map (and realised that it wasn't all fictional).
I have spent quite a while in the past searching for this place, both using satellite images, walking around the area and research on the internet - the main problem is that the area that it is in private land which is working game land, the other being that there are in fact three 'known' graves within a very short distance. This grave is the one where he was buried, there is another one in a very stately homes residence and the other is in a grave yard in a church near to this site.
My sincere thanks to Nick for his assistance in getting to this place (he visited it about 15 years ago)

The story goes that Robin was wounded and went to get refuge and medical assistance from the nunnery (which still exists, but is on private property and is a no go area - a big shame), the nuns poisoned him (how or why is unclear) and on his deathbed, he fired a arrow and stated where ever it landed he was to be buried.

























































The epitaph that reads: "Hear undernead dis laitl stean laiz robert earl of Huntingtun near arcir ber az hei sa geud an pipl kauld im robin heud sick utlawz az hi an iz men vil england nibr si agen obiit 24 kal dekembris 1247" which when translated into modern English reads:
"Robert Earl of Huntingdon lies under this little stone. No archer was like him so good; his wildness named him ROBIN HOOD. For thirteen years, and something more, these northern parts he vexed sore. Such outlaws as he and his men, may England never know again. 8th November 1247"

Some people say you get a eerie feeling about this place, like you shouldn't be there. Nick and myself had that feeling, but this was the reason -





A very early way point that was used to travel across England, this is very close to the nunnery and the grave.


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## KooK. (Nov 12, 2010)

Well done on finding it dude!


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## nij4829 (Nov 12, 2010)

KooK. said:


> Well done on finding it dude!



I didnt find it mate, I got Nick to help me find it. It is not the easiest of places to get to I can tell you that lol.


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## KooK. (Nov 12, 2010)

Heh, oh well, at least you got to see it still  I like the date stone.


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## loxley (Nov 12, 2010)

hello being a loxley myself makes robin a family member ha ha ha great place to vist i bet and good photos 
www.loxleyphotography.co.uk


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## fluffy5518 (Nov 13, 2010)

How's about that for something differant !!! Nice one Nij !!!


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## nij4829 (Nov 13, 2010)

fluffy5518 said:


> How's about that for something differant !!! Nice one Nij !!!



Cheers mate. I try not to be too conventional, and get some stick now and again, but I enjoy my explores (especially searching through woods for hours)


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## Foxylady (Nov 13, 2010)

How cool is that!  Nice one, nij. 



nij4829 said:


> I try not to be too conventional, and get some stick now and again, but I enjoy my explores (especially searching through woods for hours)



I know that feeling!


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## nij4829 (Nov 13, 2010)

Foxylady said:


> How cool is that!  Nice one, nij.
> 
> 
> 
> I know that feeling!



At the end of the day if people stuck to just mills and ROC posts, sites like this would be a very boring place - and no I am not saying ROC posts and mills are boring, I enjoy exploring them, but there are only so many mills and ROC posts about - its nice to do something different. 
I like the research and finding a site (the buzz) just as much as photographing and documenting a site. Driving to the front door of a site is pretty easy, but researching and hunting for a place that hasn't been done (or posted) is a real buzz to me. Pretty often on my explores, I find something on the way to find a site (Elland quarry is a perfect example of that - we were off to a mill in the valleys of Halifax, which is actually live when we spotted that).
If people dont like it/appreciate it/dismiss it/move it to the pit, its no skin off my nose because to me the places I share are places I like and think other people might be interested in.
I must admit I thought this was gonna hit the pit like the motocross track did.


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## Foxylady (Nov 13, 2010)

nij4829 said:


> I like the research and finding a site (the buzz) just as much as photographing and documenting a site... researching and hunting for a place that hasn't been done (or posted) is a real buzz to me.


That's exactly what I love to do too. For me, the thought of going to places that have already been documented isn't half as interesting or exciting as the ones that I find myself. It's sort of taken me away from the urbex track a bit, but that's okay as I'm getting a huge excitement out of researching new facts about historical stuff that haven't been documented before. Plus, I haven't found anything new ue-wise locally for some time. Mind, I have got a really good explore up my sleeve but I'm not posting it yet as it's a very sensitive site...will do later when it's safe.


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## nij4829 (Nov 13, 2010)

Foxylady said:


> That's exactly what I love to do too. For me, the thought of going to places that have already been documented isn't half as interesting or exciting as the ones that I find myself. It's sort of taken me away from the urbex track a bit, but that's okay as I'm getting a huge excitement out of researching new facts about historical stuff that haven't been documented before. Plus, I haven't found anything new ue-wise locally for some time. Mind, I have got a really good explore up my sleeve but I'm not posting it yet as it's a very sensitive site...will do later when it's safe.



I know that feeling. There are a few places that I have done recently/have to do that I wouldn't post in a public forum due to the sensitive nature of the site/the historical value is too great IMO to be 'on google'.
There isn't any new UE stuff near me, just stuff that gets abused regularly or hasn't been done in a while due to security etc.......
I have one place I wanna share but again its never been done by anyone and the site is very very sensitive.


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## nij4829 (Nov 13, 2010)

The epitaph that reads: "Hear undernead dis laitl stean laiz robert earl of Huntingtun near arcir ber az hei sa geud an pipl kauld im robin heud sick utlawz az hi an iz men vil england nibr si agen obiit 24 kal dekembris 1247" which when translated into modern English reads:
"Robert Earl of Huntingdon lies under this little stone. No archer was like him so good; his wildness named him ROBIN HOOD. For thirteen years, and something more, these northern parts he vexed sore. Such outlaws as he and his men, may England never know again. 8th November 1247"


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## devonian42 (Nov 13, 2010)

What an excellent find Nij . Complemented by the history too, and even a translation of the olde English language (how did you do that!).

Also enjoyed the dialogue between FL and yourself. Likewise, I find the research itself more exhilarating than the find. In terms of publishing sensitive finds I can only agree. One of the unfortunate problems with the Internet is that it is now such a common medium for both serious urbexers but also chavs to use to see where their next wrecking adventure takes them.

If this type of post is allowed then I could perhaps get away with putting up my first post about the Vasa ship in a musuem in Stockholm (not covered on this forum before but info can be found elsewhere). Don't want to put it up if it'll end up in the pit though. Naturally, I have a full set of history notes to post with it.

Congratulations again Nij. Its one of those moments when you read DP and remember what you were doing prior to seeing this great post. I'll always associate fitting an integrated larder fridge with Robin Hood from this day forward .


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## sick* (Nov 13, 2010)

i was a bit suspicious about that stone carving because its certainly not medieval English, after a quick dig around that stone carving was made in the 1800's and was written in fake olde English to add credibiilty to the carving, nor is this place his actual burial.

His 'grave' has been moved 3 times, an excavation proved that there is no grave or burial beneath the stones


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## devonian42 (Nov 13, 2010)

Thanks for the update sick*. So this sounds like a Victorian folly then?


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## krela (Nov 13, 2010)

devonian42 said:


> Thanks for the update sick*. So this sounds like a Victoria folly then?



Of course it is, I'm surprised anyone thought any different! Robin Hood is a folklore character after all...


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## devonian42 (Nov 13, 2010)

krela said:


> Of course it is, I'm surprised anyone thought any different! Robin Hood is a folklore character after all...



This sort of thing should not be marked on an OS map then (unless marked with "VF" as a postfix).


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## nij4829 (Nov 14, 2010)

sick* said:


> i was a bit suspicious about that stone carving because its certainly not medieval English, after a quick dig around that stone carving was made in the 1800's and was written in fake olde English to add credibiilty to the carving, nor is this place his actual burial.
> 
> His 'grave' has been moved 3 times, an excavation proved that there is no grave or burial beneath the stones



They say his 'body' is in a church grave yard in Hartshead (about a mile away from this grave) but there isnt a 'marked grave' for him.



devonian42 said:


> This sort of thing should not be marked on an OS map then (unless marked with "VF" as a postfix).



Being thick here (long day at work), what does VF mean?


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## krela (Nov 14, 2010)

nij4829 said:


> They say his 'body' is in a church grave yard in Hartshead (about a mile away from this grave) but there isnt a 'marked grave' for him.



Surely you have to have actually existed to leave a body for burial?


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## nij4829 (Nov 14, 2010)

krela said:


> Surely you have to have actually existed to leave a body for burial?



lol, your telling me the TV is lying?!!!!!


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## Lauren444 (Nov 14, 2010)

Great pics Nij, I might just be being thick, but what is the 12th pic :embarrassed:? 
Well done again. 
x


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## klempner69 (Nov 14, 2010)

krela said:


> Surely you have to have actually existed to leave a body for burial?



Glad you wrote this cos I actually thought the same thing!!

and the 12th pic is a spent shotgun cartridge


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## KooK. (Nov 14, 2010)

Lauren444 said:


> Great pics Nij, I might just be being thick, but what is the 12th pic :embarrassed:?
> Well done again.
> x



shotgun cartridge


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## devonian42 (Nov 14, 2010)

nij4829 said:


> Being thick here (long day at work), what does VF mean?



The clue is in my previous entry - VF = Victorian Folly.

Just to add to my previous argument though, why go to all the trouble to:


Spend money on creating the folly in the middle of a wood where it must have been difficult to get the materials into place.
Get the OS guys to enter a mark for Robin Hood's grave on the map, which still survive to this day.
Get a stone carved with a verse on it (albeit in not so ancient English).

My hypothesis is this:

The Victorians discovered the grave, marked by a simple carved stone and decided to do the Christian thing and move any remains to consecrated ground (i.e. the nearest churchyard), but not to draw any attention to it, bury these remains in an unmarked grave (to stop the chavs of the day from robbing it). In turn, the actual grave was marked using elaborate stonework befitting of someone considered to have been a subject of folklore which survives to this present day. It would also be interesting to see the tithe map of this area to see if the place was included from day one.

For those who love research work, the challenge now is to either refute this or provide evidence which supports it (with citations please).

Oh, and does anyone know where I can get a "Robin Hood" fridge magnet?


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## nij4829 (Nov 15, 2010)

Lauren444 said:


> Great pics Nij, I might just be being thick, but what is the 12th pic :embarrassed:?
> Well done again.
> x



Thanks. Even though it has been answered, it was a spent/used shot gun cartridge. This place is in the middle of a live game 'farm' - we passed 3 (out of at least 7) shooting areas (denoted by signs) - although we didnt see any game keepers, we didnt wanna risk it (and the grouse was rife).


Ahhhh, I get you now Devonian42 - I have searched back as far as I can find, and the earliest map I can find is circa 1830 and it is on there. If anyone has any idea where to find older maps, I would be interested to research this further.


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## spacepunk (Nov 19, 2010)

Great stuff man.


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## ShellyDuckDuck (Nov 20, 2010)

Wot a gr8 find,pics r tops!!


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## nij4829 (Nov 20, 2010)

Cheers guys. Glad to have got it off my list


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