Little John (Denholme)

Locality
Coordinate	53.802269, -1.89217
Adm. div.	West Riding of Yorkshire
Vicinity	In grounds of Foster Park
Type	Area
Interest	Robin Hood name
Status	Defunct
First Record	1849

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Part of Foster Park in Denholme was known as 'Little John' in the mid-19th cent.

The area now occupied by the basketball court and part of the lawn to the right of it were formerly known as 'Little John' / Google Earth Street View.

The topmost of the three plots in gray was 'Little John' / Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland; Creative Commons.

Modern aerial photo of Foster Park and its surroundings / Google Earth Street View.

By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2020-07-18. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2021-01-07.

Part of the grounds of Foster Park in Denholme was a piece of farmland known as 'Little John' in 1849.

'Little John' is listed in the 1849 tithe award for Thornton in the parish of Bradford with the representatives of Mr Buck as landowners, Joseph Maud as occupier, state of cultivation as 'Arable', and an area of 1 acre, 3 roods and 25 perches (7714.32 m²). The plot immediately south of 'Little John' was called Robin Hood, below which was Low Robin Hood. Together these three contiguous plots covered and area nearly identical with the present park. One may speculate that the name 'Little John' was suggested by this plot's being adjacent to and smaller than the plot known as 'Robin Hood'. For a discussion of the name of the latter, see Robin Hood.

Gazetteers

• Not included in Dobson, R. B., ed.; Taylor, J., ed. Rymes of Robyn Hood: an Introduction to the English Outlaw (London, 1976), pp. 293-311.

MS sources

• Tithe award for the township of Thornton in the parish of Bradford (1849) (Piece 043, Sub-Piece 399, Image 307, #1441 – Genealogist.com; subscription required)
• Tithe award map for the township of Thornton in the parish of Bradford (1849) (Piece 43, Sub-Piece 399, Sub-Image 001, #1441 – Genealogist.com; subscription required).

Maps

• 25" O.S. map Yorkshire CCXV.4 (1894; surveyed 1892)
• 25" O.S. map Yorkshire CCXV.4 (1908; rev. 1905) (georeferenced)
• 25" O.S. map Yorkshire CCXV.4 (1908; rev. 1905)
• 25" O.S. map Yorkshire CCXV.4 (1920; rev. 1914)
• 25" O.S. map Yorkshire CCXV.4 (1935; rev. 1934)
• 6" O.S. map Yorkshire 215 (1852; surveyed 1847–49)
• 6" O.S. map Yorkshire CCXV.NE (1894; surveyed 1892–93)
• 6" O.S. map Yorkshire CCXV.NE (1908; rev. 1905) (georeferenced)
• 6" O.S. map Yorkshire CCXV.NE (1908; rev. 1905)
• 6" O.S. map Yorkshire CCXV.NE (1934; rev. 1934)
• 6" O.S. map Yorkshire CCXV.NE (1946; rev. 1938).

Also see

• Denholme place-name cluster
• Places named after Little John.

Notes

Image gallery

Click any image to display it in the lightbox, where you can navigate between images by clicking in the right or left side of the current image.

• 

  The area now occupied by the basketball court and part of the lawn to the right of it were formerly known as 'Little John' / Google Earth Street View.

• 

  The lawn in and the spot from which the photo was taken were once part of 'Little John' / Betty Longbottom, 10 June 2008; Creative Commons, via Geograph.

• 

  The topmost of the three plots in gray was 'Little John' / Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland; Creative Commons.

• 

  Modern aerial photo of Foster Park and its surroundings / Google Earth Street View.

 West Riding of Yorkshire place-names 

 Yorkshire place-names 

 Place-names