Robin Hood's Bow Stones (Lyme Handley): Difference between revisions
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File:robin-hoods-bow-stones-lyme-handley.jpg| | File:robin-hoods-bow-stones-lyme-handley.jpg|The Bow Stones / [https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2027668 John Darch, 20 Aug. 2010, Creative Commons, via Geograph.] | ||
File:geograph-3648861-by-Stephen-Burton|The Bow Stones / [https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3648861 Stephen Burton, 11 Sep. 2013, Creative Commons, via Geograph.] | |||
File:geograph-4650930-by-Anthony-Parkes.jpg|The Bow Stones / [https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4650930 Anthony Parkes, 6 Sep. 2015, Creative Commons, via Geograph.] | |||
File:geograph-3230931-by-Chris-Morgan.jpg|Bow Stones and Bowstonegate Farm / [https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3230931 Chris Morgan, 7 Nov. 2012, Creative Commons, via Geograph.] | |||
File:geograph-1248980-by-Raymond-Knapman.jpg|Bow Stones and Bowstonegate Farm / [https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1248980 Raymond Knapman, 11 Apr. 2009, Creative Commons, via Geograph.] | |||
File:geograph-382908-by-Dave-Shandley.jpg|The Bowstones, a historical site above Lyme Park on the Gritstone Trail / [https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/382908 Dave Shandley, 24 Mar. 2007, Creative Commons, via Geograph.] | |||
File:geograph-044825-by-Dave-Dunford.jpg|The Bowstones / [https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/44825 Dave Dunford, 8 Jan. 2005, Creative Commons, via Geograph.] | |||
File:Crofton-h-t-1899a-bow-stones-lyme-handley.jpg|The Bow Stones ''c.'' 1903 / [[Crofton, H T 1899a|Crofton, H. T. ''History of the Ancient Chapel of Stretford in Manchester Parish'' (''Remains Historical and Literary connected with the Palatine Counties of Lancaster and Cheshire, New series'', vols. 42, 45 and 51) (Manchester, 1899-1903)]], vol. III, plate facing p. 46 | File:Crofton-h-t-1899a-bow-stones-lyme-handley.jpg|The Bow Stones ''c.'' 1903 / [[Crofton, H T 1899a|Crofton, H. T. ''History of the Ancient Chapel of Stretford in Manchester Parish'' (''Remains Historical and Literary connected with the Palatine Counties of Lancaster and Cheshire, New series'', vols. 42, 45 and 51) (Manchester, 1899-1903)]], vol. III, plate facing p. 46 | ||
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Revision as of 23:04, 20 February 2019
[[File:|thumb|right|500px|Robin Hood's Bow Stones, Lyme Handley / John Darch, 20 Aug. 2010, Creative Commons, via Geograph.]]
By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2019-02-20. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2019-02-20.
The Bowstones, situated beside the old Disley–Macclesfield ridgeway, overlooking Lyme Park, the Cheshire Plain, city of Manchester and the Peak District, were known as Robin Hood's Stones and Robin Hood's Picking Stones in 1810.
William Marriott noted these folk names (see Allusions below) in the course of an extensive discussion of the stones and others he believed to be related. He generally used their more common name 'Bow Stones' (now usually spelled 'Bowstones'). The stones originally formed the shafts of an anglian cross, the western being 1.22 metres high, tapering from a diameter of c. 40 cm at the base to c. 27 cm at the top, the eastern being 98 cm high and c. 40 cm in diameter. The stones have interlaced carvings in a style indicating a date no later than the 10th century. It has been suggested that they were moved to their present location and fitted into a stone base by Sir Piers Legh of Lyme Hall in the 16th century. Two cross heads on display at the hall may originally have surmounted the shafts. The stones are a scheduled monument. Thanks in part to their location on a prominent ridgeline on the edge of the Peak District National Park with extensive views the site is well-visited.[1]
Current local tradition ascribes the stones' name to their having been uses by Robin Hood and his men to string their bows.[2] A similar tradition is connected with Robin Hood's Picking Rods at Ludworth Intake near Chisworth. Despite the apparently still current traditions, there is no evidence that folk names connecting them with Robin Hood are atill in use.Template:PnItemQry
Gazetteers
- Not included in Dobson, R. B., ed.; Taylor, J., ed. Rymes of Robyn Hood: an Introduction to the English Outlaw (London, 1976), pp. 293-19.
Sources
- Marriott, William. The Antiquities of Lyme and its Vicinity (Stockport, 1810), pp. 18-27; also see pp. 1-3, 34-37, 224-48, and passim.
Maps
- 6" O.S. map Cheshire XXIX (1881; surveyed 1870-71)
- 6" O.S. map Cheshire XXIX.NW (1899; rev. 1896) (georeferenced)
- 6" O.S. map Cheshire XXIX.NW (1899; rev. 1896)
- 6" O.S. map Cheshire XXIX.NW (c. 1910; rev. 1907)
- 6" O.S. map Derbyshire VIII (1924; rev. 1919-20)
- 6" O.S. map Cheshire XXIX.NW (c. 1934; rev. 1907)
- 6" O.S. map Cheshire XXIX.NW (c. 1946; rev. 1938)
- 25" O.S. map Cheshire XXIX.6 (1873; surveyed 1870)
- 25" O.S. map Cheshire XXIX.6 (1897; rev. 1896) (georeferenced)
- 25" O.S. map Cheshire XXIX.6 (1897; rev. 1896)
- 25" O.S. map Cheshire XXIX.6 (1909; rev. 1907).
Background
- Megalithic Portal: Bowstones – Ancient Cross in England in Cheshire
- PastScape: The Bow Stones
- Wikipedia: Bowstones.
Notes
- ↑ This account is mainly based on Megalithic Portal: Bowstones – Ancient Cross in England in Cheshire; PastScape: The Bow Stones; Wikipedia: Bowstones.
- ↑ Wikipedia: Bowstones.
The Bow Stones / John Darch, 20 Aug. 2010, Creative Commons, via Geograph.
- Geograph-3648861-by-Stephen-Burton
The Bow Stones / Stephen Burton, 11 Sep. 2013, Creative Commons, via Geograph.
The Bow Stones / Anthony Parkes, 6 Sep. 2015, Creative Commons, via Geograph.
Bow Stones and Bowstonegate Farm / Chris Morgan, 7 Nov. 2012, Creative Commons, via Geograph.
Bow Stones and Bowstonegate Farm / Raymond Knapman, 11 Apr. 2009, Creative Commons, via Geograph.
The Bowstones, a historical site above Lyme Park on the Gritstone Trail / Dave Shandley, 24 Mar. 2007, Creative Commons, via Geograph.
The Bowstones / Dave Dunford, 8 Jan. 2005, Creative Commons, via Geograph.