Robin Hood's Well (Stanbury)

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Approximate location of Robin Hood's Well.

By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2013-08-04. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2018-01-02.

"Robin Hood Well" is listed by A.H. Smith under the parish of Stanbury. According to Paul Bennett, this little natural well high on Stanbury Moor is "[f]irst described in 1852". He does not cite a source for this, and if the word "described" is used advisedly, it is one I have not come across so far, but the first record of this place-name I have found yet is the 6" O.S. map of the area published in 1851, based on surveying carried out in 1848 (see Maps section below).

The well was noted in passing by J. Horsfall Turner in 1879 and by Johnnie Gray in 1891 (see Allusions below). Sutcliffe in 1899 gave a brief description of this spring and its neighbours Little John's Well and Will Scarlet's Well (see Allusions below), noting that they were "[h]alf-hidden underground, and fringed with fern and bog-weed". Paul Bennett, cited above, notes that Robin Hood's Well is "little more than a small boggy spring of water emerging from the edge of the ridge", whereas Sutcliffe wondered who constructed the wells and his account is accompanied by illustrations by George Hering which clearly show near each well a rock or two that could have been placed there by someone, though this could hardly be regarded as construction work.

Allusions

Gazetteers

• Dobson, R. B., ed.; Taylor, J., ed. Rymes of Robyn Hood: an Introduction to the English Outlaw (London, 1976), p. 311 (2nd item).

Sources

• Gray, Johnnie. Through Airedale from Goole to Malham (Leeds; Bradford; Skipton; Goole, 1891), p. 189.
• Northern Antiquary: Robin Hood’s Well, Stanbury Moor, West Yorkshire.
• Smith, A.H. The Place-Names of the West Riding of Yorkshire (English Place-Name Society, vols. XXX-XXXVII) (Cambridge, 1961-63), pt. III, p. 270.
• Sutcliffe, Halliwell. By Moor and Fell: Landscapes and Lang-Settle Lore from West Yorkshire (London, 1899).

Maps

• 25" O.S. maps (no map overlays as of 1 jan. 20118) (georeferenced)
• 6" O.S. map Yorkshire 199 (1851; surveyed 1848)
• 6" O.S. map Lancashire LVII.SE (1895: rev. 1892) (springs indicated without labels)
• 6" O.S. map Yorkshire CXCIX.SW & SE (1896; surveyed 1892)
• 6" O.S. map Yorkshire CXCIX.SW & SE (1910; rev. 1906)
• 6" O.S. map Lancashire LVII.SE (1915: rev. 1909-10)
• 6" O.S. map Lancashire LVII.SE (1915: rev. 1909-10) (georeferenced)
• 6" O.S. map Yorkshire LVII.SE (c. 1946; rev. 1910)
• 1:25,000 SD93 (1954; surveyed 1938) (wells shown and labelled "Sprs") (georeferenced)
• 1" O.S. Sheet 69 (Outline) (1899; rev. 1896) (wells not shown) (georeferenced)
• 1" O.S. Sheet 69 (Hills) (1899; rev. 1896) (wells not shown) (georeferenced)

Notes