Eastwood Rocks (Ashover)

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Eastwood Rocks, Ashover

By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2018-09-29. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2018-09-29.

A local tradition connected Eastwood Rocks near Ashover, Chesterfield, with Robin Hood's Stride, about 13.5 to the west. It was said that Robin Hood and Little John had shot an arrow from Eastwood Rocks to Robin Hood's Stride near Harthill. Little John hit the target, but Robin Hood's arrow fell in the valley below the rocks.

A coloured drawing of Robin Hood's Stride in a manuscript in the collection of archery-related literature, prints and drawings of the famous English naturalist, botanist (and archer) Joseph Banks (1743–1820) is accompanied by this note:

The tradition of the neighbourhood is, that Robin Hood and Little John stood upon Eastwood Rocks, about 1½ miles off, and shot at this stone:—Little John's hit it, but Robin Hood's fell short of it in the valley below.^[1]

The manuscript includes at least two drawings of the Stride, dated 1794 and 1804 respectively. I do not know which of them has the above note, so the date could be 1794 rather than 1804 as entered in the info box above. The status "Defunct?" indicated there refers to the local tradition and not, of course, to the rocks or their name.

Every now and then a climber feels the urge to test his skills on the rocks (see Background below), but they stand on private land and the farmer who owns it is apparently not too happy with the frequent trespassers.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. 315-19.

Sources

C., A. 'The Old English Ballads.—Robin Hood.—No. VI', The Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (1838), pp. 313-16, see p. 313 n.
Gutch, John Mathew, ed. A Lytell Geste of Robin Hode, with Other Ancient & Modern Ballads and Songs relating to this Celebrated Yeoman (London, 1847), vol. II, p. iv.
[Unknown], illus. Coloured sketches of Robin Hood's Stride. 1794, 1904. British Library. Add. MS. 6318. ff. 21b, 25, ff. 21b, 25; not seen, but cf. Cunningham and Gutch above.

Maps

25" O.S. map Derbyshire XXX.9 (c. 1880; surveyed c. 1875). (No Copy in NLS)
25" O.S. map Derbyshire XXX.9 (c. 1898; rev. c. 1897). (No Copy in NLS)
25" O.S. map Derbyshire XXX.9 (1917; rev. 1914)
25" O.S. map Derbyshire XXX.9 (1917; rev. 1914) (georeferenced)]
6" O.S. map Derbyshire XXX.SW (1884; surveyed 1879)
6" O.S. map Derbyshire XXX.SW (1900; rev. 1897) (georeferenced).
6" O.S. map Derbyshire XXX.SW (1900; rev. 1897)
6" O.S. map Derbyshire XXX (1921; rev. 1913-14)
6" O.S. map Derbyshire XXX.SW (1921; rev. 1913-14)
6" O.S. map Derbyshire XXX.SW (c. 1936; rev. 1913-14)

Background

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Notes

↑ [Unknown], illus. Coloured sketches of Robin Hood's Stride. 1794, 1904. British Library. Add. MS. 6318. ff. 21b, 25, fol. 21b or 25, cited in Gutch, John Mathew, ed. A Lytell Geste of Robin Hode, with Other Ancient & Modern Ballads and Songs relating to this Celebrated Yeoman (London, 1847), vol. II, p. iv, and C., A. 'The Old English Ballads.—Robin Hood.—No. VI', The Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (1838), pp. 313-16, see p. 313 n.

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[1] [Unknown], illus. Coloured sketches of Robin Hood's Stride. 1794, 1904. British Library. Add. MS. 6318. ff. 21b, 25, fol. 21b or 25, cited in Gutch, John Mathew, ed. A Lytell Geste of Robin Hode, with Other Ancient & Modern Ballads and Songs relating to this Celebrated Yeoman (London, 1847), vol. II, p. iv, and C., A. 'The Old English Ballads.—Robin Hood.—No. VI', The Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (1838), pp. 313-16, see p. 313 n.

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