Robinhood Lane (Mawdesley)
[[File:|thumb|right|500px|Blue Stone Lane north of Hand Lane junction and south of Syd Brook Lane was known as Robinhood Lane in the late 19th century. / Google Earth Street View.]]
By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2013-08-07. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2019-02-16.
A stretch of Blue Stone Lane in Mawdesley was known locally as 'Robinhood Lane' in the late 19th century and the early years of the 20th.
It is not difficult to see what inspired the name. Along this stretch – less than 0.5 km – of road lay no less than four landscape features or buildings named after Robin Hood: an inn, a well, a cottage, and a cross. The street name never became established in official nomenclature, but it is found in census records from 1881 to 1901. Richard Langford on his excellent blog post on the Robin Hood Inn in Mawdesley states as fact, but without offering any argumentss in support, that the name 'Robin Hood Lane' referred to the current Tincklers Lane.[1] I feel convinced that he has first-hand knowledge of the district, which I do not, but still I cannot accept his identification of 'Robin Hood Lane' unless he can produce better evidence than what can be found in the census records.
Maps
- 25" O.S. map Lancashire LXXVI.12 (c. 1894; rev. c. 1892-93).] No Copy in NLS
- 25" O.S. map Lancashire LXXVI.16 (1894; surveyed 1893).
- 25" O.S. map Lancashire LXXVI.12 (1910; rev. 1908) (georeferenced)
- 25" O.S. map Lancashire LXXVI.16 (1910; rev. 1908)
- 25" O.S. map Lancashire LXXVI.12 (1910; rev. 1908)
- 25" O.S. map Lancashire LXXVI.12 (1928; rev. 1926)
- 25" O.S. map Lancashire LXXVI.16 (1928; rev. 1926)
- 6" O.S. map Lancashire LXXVI (1847; surveyed 1845-46)
- 6" O.S. map Lancashire LXXVI.SE (1894; surveyed 1891-93)
- 6" O.S. map Lancashire LXXVI.SE (1911; rev. 1908) (georeferenced)
- 6" O.S. map Lancashire LXXVI.SE (1911; rev. 1908)
- 6" O.S. map Lancashire LXXVI.SE (1929; rev. 1926).
Discussion