The Normans, after the invasion, designated the Forest a royal hunting ground. It was huge - about 100,000 acres in the time period in which the Robin Hood legend is set.
In his 10-year reign, King Richard I only spent about 6 months in England, preferring to fight in the Third Crusade instead and earn his name of Lionheart. His brother John, who became king on Richard's death, had to raise a ransom when Richard was captured in Europe by enemies he had made in Austria and Germany, and this, added to the cost of the crusade, crippled the country's finances.
The Major Oak is an 800-year-old tree in the Forest, which is supported by huge props to keep its massive and ancient branches from collapsing under their own weight, or presumably the weight of heavy snow or rain.
In the Loire Valley in France, there is a town called Montrichard (for those who speak French, the T is pronounced) with a medieval Keep (le Donjon) and when I stayed there in 1970, I was told the town got its name from the fact that Richard was held in the Keep at some point during his kidnap. I haven't found any information about this on the Net.
7 comments:
*sigh* can i come visit you val? we can take a trip all across europe :). then you can come here and we'll take a visit all across america, especially nyc where our baby resides
Oooh, can I come too, ladies?? I love the forest and I love NYC!!!
Yes, it looks very nice at Sherwood Forrest. Maybe we can get a gathering :o)
By the way, are you not washed down yet? I saw about the floods on the news. Itlooks very bad. Are you getting some problems in London too?
It's very rare now I go to Sherwood Forest. I loathe the twee visitors centre and the fact that you can no longer be in what's left in the forest without some fools dancging around pretending to be 11th century outlaws. Thanks for the picture of the Major Oak tho. Did you know Nottingham has the oldest inn (pub) in England. It's called 'Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem' and dates from 1100 and something. It's a major hang-out for the university students.
How many acres of Sherwood Forest are left then? Are there really people that go there pretending to be Robin Hood? It sounds like something my hubby would do. hahaha
What a grand old oak tree though. Thanks for the history lesson!
Val, I love your mini-history lessons! :)
Not many at all Jojo. In the 11th century, the forest almost touched Nottingham, now it's a good 30 minutes journey away. They have 'actory types' playing out the Robin Hood story at the visitors centre. I guess it brings in the tourists, but I kind of always preferred just being quiet and feeling how ancient what's left of the woodland is
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