Robin Hood's Butts (Weaverham) (2)

From International Robin Hood Bibliography
Locality
Coordinate Near 53.269609, -2.581528 ?
Adm. div. Cheshire
Vicinity c. 250 m S of River Weaver, E of Well Lane; N of Weaverham
Type Area
Interest Robin Hood name
Status Defunct
First Record 1839
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Approximate indication of location of the easternmost of the Robin Hood's Butts.
Looking east from Well Lane across the former Robin Hood's Butts. The pylon probably stands within the eastern butt / Google Earth Street View.

By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2017-01-21. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2022-05-05.

Two irregularly shaped plots of land south of River Weaver and North of Weaverham were known as Robin Hood's Butts in 1839.

This entry is concerned with the easternmost of the butts, which figure in the 1839 tithe award for Weaverham. They had a combined area of 3 acres, 2 roods and 38 perches (15125.13 m2). The landowner is listed as 'Lord Alvanley', i.e. William Arden, 2nd Baron Alvanley (1789–1849); the occupier was a John Cartwright. The tithe award omits the ususally provided information about the state of cultivation of the plot. Between the western and eastern Butt was a plot listed in the tithe award as Rough Hill.[1] Part of the area of the westernmost Robin Hood's Butt is now occupied by the riding school Sandylane Equestrian.

The name 'Robin Hood's Butts' is often applied to pairs of mounds or hillocks (see Places named Robin Hood's Butts), but the term 'butt' can also refer to a 'raised strip of cultivated land between two furrows, a ridge' or a 'small piece of land, esp. of an irregular shape; a paddock'.[2] It is not clear if the name was applied to mounds or hillocks within these plots or if it referred to the irregular shapes of the plots.

One of the English Place-Name Society's volumes on Cheshire notes Robin Hood's Butts in Cuddington,[3] a village situated about 2 km SSW of Weaverham. In fact these are also located in Weaverham, not quite 2 km south of the northern 'partner' of the present butt. These latter can be seen in the detail of the tithe map included in the image gallery below. As the map is not entirely reliable and the layout of the fields in this vicinity has changed considerably since it was drawn, the coordinates we provide for the two fields are approximate.

Gazetteers

MS sources

Printed sources

Maps

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Also see

Notes


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