Will Scarlet's Grave (Blidworth)

Locality
Coordinate	53.094167, -1.126667
Adm. div.	Nottinghamshire
Vicinity	In the graveyard of the Church of St Mary of the Purification or somewhere in nearby Sherwood Forest
Type	Monument
Interest	Local tradition
Status	Extant
First Record

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The Church of St Mary of the Purification in whose graveyard Will Scarlet lies buried according to local tradition. That is, if it is not instead in nearby Sherwood Forest.

No one knows where the grave is; instead this marker commemorates the 'fact' that Will Scarlet is buried somewhere around here. It is a piece of the earlier church building / 'Chemical Engineer', 24 Jun. 2017, Creative Commons, via Wikipedia.

By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2017-12-24. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2021-01-07.

In Blidworth, Nottinghamshire, there is a tradition that Will Scarlet lies buried in some unknown spot of the graveyard of the church of St Mary of the Purification. Since no one can point visitors to the grave, a piece of the old church building has been brought into service as a marker commemorating the 'fact' that the outlaw lies buried here somewhere.

The coordinates I have chosen for this entry are those of the church.

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.

Background

• BBC: Robin Hood and Blidworth
• Nottingham Wayfarers' Rambling Club; Price, Roland, introd. The Robin Hood Walks: A Comprehensive Guide to Walks in Robin Hood Country including the Third Edition of the Guide to the Full Route of Nottinghamshire's First Recreational Footpath, The Robin Hood Way (Leicester: Cordee, ©1994), pp. 32, 39 (map)
• UK Wanderings: Fountain Dale and Blidworth
• Wikipedia: Blidworth
• Wikipedia: Church of St Mary of the Purification, Blidworth
• Wikipedia: Will Scarlet.

Brief mention

• Brentnall, Margaret. 'Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest', [Unknown British travel and tourism magazine] (1963-12), pp. 15-17, 58, see p. 58.

Also see

• Blidworth place-name cluster
• Places named after Will Scarlet.

Notes

Image gallery

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• 

  No one knows where the grave is; instead this marker commemorates the 'fact' that Will Scarlet is buried somewhere around here. It is a piece of the earlier church building / 'Chemical Engineer', 24 Jun. 2017, Creative Commons, via Wikipedia.

• 

  Church of St Mary of the Purification / 'Chemical Engineer', 24 Jun. 2017, Creative Commons, via Wikipedia.

 Nottinghamshire place-names

 Place-names