Loxley (Sheffield)
By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2013-08-07. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2018-07-17.
The village of Loxley, now a suburb of Sheffield, is first mentioned (as "Lokkeslay") in 1329. There are references also to Loxley Firth, Loxley Plain and Loxley Chase etc.; the latter still survives.[1] The etymology of Loxley is "Locc's forest-glade". Locc was an Old English personal name well-attested in both place names and on coins. This is the Loxley most generally believed to be the locality connected with Robin Hood.[2] Smith notes simply that "[t]his Loxley is the one associated with the Robin Hood ballads".[3] Although there must have been local traditions connecting Robin Hood with Loxley by the late 16th century, only a few late ballads associate him with the area. The first known source to connect Robin Hood with Loxley is the Sloane MS Life of Robin Hood from c. 1600. Some 37 years later, John Harrison in his survey of Sheffield lands knew several Robin Hood place-names and localities, including the house in which Robin Hood was born. Loxley is indicated on H. Moll's 1724 map of the West Riding of Yorkshire.[4]
Robin Hood's connection with Loxley was later taken up by Walter Scott in Ivanhoe (1820) where Robin Hood figures as Robert of Locksley. Ivanhoe has had a strong influence on Hollywood's portrayals of the outlaw, and many films make Robin Hood earl of Loxley. A number of Robin Hood-related localities exist or existed in or near Loxley. Template:PnItemQry
Gazetteers
Maps
- H. Moll's map of the West Riding of Yorkshire (1724); see Whitaker, Harold, ed. A Descriptive List of the printed Maps of Yorkshire and its Ridings, 1577-1900 (Yorkshire Archæological Society. Record Series, vol. LXXXVI) (1933), plate XIV.
- 6" O.S. map Yorkshire 294 (1855; surveyed 1850-51)
- 6" O.S. map Yorkshire CCXCIV.NW (1894; surveyed 1890)
- 6" O.S. map Yorkshire CCXCIV.NW (1906; rev. 1901-1903)
- 6" O.S. map Yorkshire CCXCIV (1924; rev. 1920-21)
- 6" O.S. map Yorkshire CCXCIV.NW (1924; rev. 1924)
- 6" O.S. map Yorkshire CCXCIV.NW (1939; rev. 1934-35)
- 6" O.S. map Yorkshire CCXCIV.NW (1947; rev. 1938)
- 6" O.S. map Yorkshire CCXCIV.NW (1949; rev. 1948).
Sources
- Addy, Sidney Oldall. 'Robin Hood's Bower in Loxley', Transactions of the Hunter Archaeological Society, vol. II (1920-24), pp. 201-202.
- Harrison, Samuel. A Complete History of the Great Flood at Sheffield on March 11 & 12 (London and Sheffield, 1864), p. 32.
- [Holland, John.] The Tour of the Don. A Series of Extempore Sketches made during a Pedestrian Ramble along the Banks of that River, and its Principal Tributaries (London and Sheffield, 1837), pp. 176-77.
- Hunter, Joseph. Hallamshire. The History and Topography of the Parish of Sheffield in the County of York (London, 1819), p. 3.
- Smith, A.H. The Place-Names of the West Riding of Yorkshire (English Place-Name Society, vols. XXX-XXXVII) (Cambridge, 1961-63), pt. 1, pp. 225, 226; pt. VII, p. 73.
- White, William. General Directory of the Town and Borough of Sheffield, with Rotheram, Chesterfield, and all the Parishes, Townships, Villages, and Hamlets, within a Circuit of Twelve Miles round the Capital of Hallamshire (Sheffield, 1845), p. 369.
Background
Notes
- ↑ See for instance 6" map Yorkshire 288 (1855; surveyed 1850-51) and the maps listed in the Maps section below.
- ↑ Smith, A.H. The Place-Names of the West Riding of Yorkshire (English Place-Name Society, vols. XXX-XXXVII) (Cambridge, 1961-63), pt. 1, pp. 225, 226; pt. VII, p. 73.
- ↑ Smith. op. cit., pt. I, p. 225.
- ↑ Whitaker, Harold, ed. A Descriptive List of the printed Maps of Yorkshire and its Ridings, 1577-1900 (Yorkshire Archæological Society. Record Series, vol. LXXXVI) (1933), plate XIV.