Robin Hood (Upper Halling)

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The probable location of the former Robin Hood.

[[File:|thumb|right|500px|The Robin Hood 1881-1901? / Google Earth Street View.]]

By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2020-11-07. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2020-11-08.

The Robin Hood in Halling, Kent, was in existence by 1881 and at least as late as 1901. It was in all probability situated at what is now The Street, Upper Halling.

As noted at the Pub Wiki, the pub is listed under Halling in the 1881 and 1901 censuses. It is entered in the 1881 census as "'Robin Hood' Beer house" at 'Mills cottages[,] Crab's Corner' and in that of 1901 as "'Robin Hood' Inn". However, without the first-hand knowledge of the area which the census-taker no doubt had, a bit of detective work is required to establish the probable site.

A modern (?) reference to a person resident in 1885 at '3, Mills Cottages, Essex R[oa]d, Halling, Rochester' would naturally lead one to look for the pub and Mills Cottages on the present Essex Road, on the east side of the A228. However, in both census records the pub is listed in contexts which point to a location well to the west of the A228. The solution to this paradox seems to be that The Street, in Upper Halling, and Vicarage Road, its continuation to the east, were then also named Essex Road. Before Halling was bisected by the A228, the present Vicarage Road continued directly east to meet up with the south end of the present Essex Road, and so it would not be unnatural if they were considreed a single road at the time.

A closer look at the census records shows that the area was traversed from roughly south to north in 1881 but in the opposite direction in 1901. Among the stops on the route followed in 1881 which can be located on the early O.S. maps (listed below) are, in the south: the Black Boy public house (at 51.3485,0.4255) and Chapel Houses (at 51.3487,0.4258). and in the north, Warren House (at 51.3648,0.4433). Enroute the census-taker called at households at Jupp's, Lee's, Formby, and Mills Cottages, the two latter being both located at Crab's or Crabb's Corner. Lee and Formby are names of major, and Jupp and Mills those of minor landowners in the area.

Jupp

In the 1840 tithe schedule, Edward Jupp is owner/occupier of a property described as 'Cottage Offices & Gardens' (at 51.3501,0.4458), on the west side of Kent Road (High Street). In that of 1855, the owner/occupier is Richard Jupp and the property is described as 'Cottages Offices & Garden', with the 's' in 'Cottages' indistinctly written or perhaps scratched out.

Lee

Among much else, cement factory owner William Lee in 1855 owned a cottage and garden (at or near 51.3417,0.4501) just north of the modern Peters Bridge Road, a 'Cottage[,] offices[,] yard & Garden' (at or near 51.3523,0.4431), and 'Cottages[,] Sheds & Gardens' in Upper Halling (at or 51.3502,0.4278).

Formby

In addition to much other land (and businesses owned by his company), the Reverend James Formby was the owner of a cottage and garden on the west side of Pilgrim's Road (at 31.3555,0.4301), c. 235 m NNE of Upper Halling.

Mills

Harriet Mills (widow) was owner/occupier of a piece of pasture (at 51.3535,0.4438), the area between the present Kent and Essex roads.

Going from roughly north to south in 1901, the census-taker's stops included the following:

• Tenioth House (at 51.3678,0.4489)
• Warren House (as above)
• The Flint House (at 51.3553,0.4053)
• Stony Field Cottage (probably Stonyfield House at 51.3586,0.4259 or smaller building near it)
• Crabb's Corner
• Turk's Hall Place (not indicated on early maps, but in Google Earth Street View it can be seen that the house at 51.352205, 0.428026, in Upper Halling, is named 'Turk's Hall Place').

If one plots these coordinates on, for instance, the georeferenced 25" O.S. map listed below, it becomes obvious that Mills Cottages and hence Crab[b]'s Corner and the Robin Hood were/are likely located at the cluster of houses c, 75 metres southeast of the farm or other buildings labelled 'Upper Halling Court' on the map. Though not labelled as such on the map, this is in fact the village of Upper Halling. Here the Pilgrim's Road and The Street (named Vicarage Road further east) intersect. A place where roads meet is a good place for business and so a likely location for a public house.

It turns out that the house at 5 The Street looks rather like an old pub and even has a cast-iron gallows of the kind from which a pub or shop sign would have been suspended. Across the street are two rather large semi-detached houses that may well have been home to the baker's dozen of families which lived at Formby and Mills Cottages. The corner on which they stand is in all probability Crabb's Corner. 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. 293-311.

Sources

• Pub Wiki: Robin Hood, 4 Mills Cottages Crabs Corner, Halling, Strood.

Maps

• 25" O.S. map Kent XVIII.16 (c. 1869; surveyed 1861-62), No Copy in NLS
• 25" O.S. map Kent XVIII.16 (c. 1896; rev. c. 1895). No Copy in NLS
• 25" O.S. map Kent XVIII.16 (1908; rev. 1907) (georeferenced)
• 25" O.S. map Kent XVIII.16 (1908; rev. 1907)
• 25" O.S. map Kent XVIII.16 (1938; rev. 1936–37)
• 6" O.S. map Kent XVIII (1869; surveyed 1864–67)
• 6" O.S. map Kent XVIII.SE (1898; rev. 1895) (georeferenced)
• 6" O.S. map Kent XVIII.SE (1898; rev. 1895)
• 6" O.S. map Kent XVIII.SE (1909; rev. 1907)
• 6" O.S. map Kent XVIII.SE (c. 1940; rev. 1936).

Background

• 1881 census of Kent, Piece 00880, Image 00229 to 00232, at The Genealogist (subscription required)
• Tithe award for Halling, Piece 17, Sub-Piece 160, Image 001 to 054, at The Genealogist
• Wikipedia: Halling, Kent
• Wreck Site: † Ernest John Hunt.

Notes

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