Sherwood Forest

Diane is a much better authority than me on Sherwood Forest, but as some of the US Vixens may not know that it's not just a figment of someone's imagination, here's a little bit of information.


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.