Robin Hood's Well (Pendle Hill)

From International Robin Hood Bibliography
Locality
Coordinate 53.875, -2.2954
Adm. div. Lancashire
Vicinity On N slope of Pendle Hill, above Ravens Holme
Type Natural feature
Interest Robin Hood name
Status Defunct
First Record 1925
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Possible site of Robin Hood's Well.
Looking north-east from Pendle Hill; Robin Hood's Well must have been located somewhere on this slope / John Topping, 9 Jun. 2008, Creative Commons, via Geograph.

By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2019-02-23. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2021-02-13.

Around 1925 a well on the northern slope of Pendle Hill was referred to as 'Robin Hood's Well'. Its exact location is no longer known.

The well is mentioned twice by a writer of local ramblers' guides (see Allusions below). These passages suggest that the well was situated above Ravens Holme on the northern slope of the hill, on Downham Moor or the piece of land labelled "Great Coppy" on the O.S. maps listed below.

Allusions

1925 - Bates, Joe - Rambles around Pendle

From the far edge, above Robin Hood's Well, vou look down on Pendle Bridge; the clough below is Ravensholme; lower down still you see Hill Foot, Higson, and beyond, the roofs of Rimington. Coming west the gaze rests on Worston, Warsaw Hill, Downham and the Ribble below Sawley.[1]

1926 - Bates, Joe - Rambles twix Pendle and Holme (1)

At the far end of the summit [of Pendle Hill], going north, is a wall; in the wall is a good stone step-up stile; over the stile a path leads down to Robin Hood's well. From this particular point the view is enchanting, embracing the wide Ribble Valley, the Bowland Fells, the towering Yorkshire mountains, Longridge, Kemple End on the [p. 15:] far left, and Simon's Seat on the extreme right. No scene in the whole wide world so appeals to the heart of the Pendle Forester as do the views seen from the top of Pendle.
 There is a choice of three ways down from the top of Pendle: the cart road, easy and safe; the side path starting near to the stile in the wall, steep and slippery, but most used; or straight down the face of the hill.[2]

Gazetteers

Maps


Brief mention


Notes