Robin Hood's Chair (Baildon)

From International Robin Hood Bibliography
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Robin Hood's Chair is close to the point indicated.
In lieu of the Chair: The hilltop entrance to the tramway station. Robin Hood's Chair is near the top of the hill and close to the tracks / 'tri:art:p', Google Earth Panoramio.
In lieu of the Chair: The tramway station in the valley. Robin Hood's Chair is near the top of the hill and close to the tracks / Howard C. Harrison, Google Earth Panoramio.

By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2016-12-17. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2019-05-31.

Apparently first recorded on a 6" O.S. map of Aireborough, Baildon, Bingley and Shipley dated 1852, Robin Hood's Chair is located in Trench Wood about 2 km SW of Baildon. According to blogger Kai Roberts, it is "an earthfast boulder in which water has worn a natural cavity resembling a seat and where Victorian antiquarians suggested some local shaman or chief once sat". He notes that it is also sometimes known as Robin Hood's Seat and is located "about halfway down Shipley Glen".[1] However, according to the 1891 allusion cited below, the Chair is located "[a]t the top of Trench Wood, on entering the Glen"; this is most likely correct. The Chair has an interesting neighbour, the Shipley Glen Tramway, which has taken passengers up and down the glen since 1895.[2] An official publication of Baildon Council has the Chair "[n]ear the top of the tramway",[3] which confirms the statement in the 1891 allusion. I have not found any photos of Robin Hood's Chair.

The tithe award for Shipley (1849) does not include the name 'Robin Hood's Chair'.[4] That for Baildon lists two plots under the name "Trench Wood".[5] Template:PnItemQry

Gazetteers

Maps

Sources

Discussion

Background

  • 1845 tithe award for Baildon, online at the Genealogist.co.uk, piece 43, sub-piece 027, Image 413, item 587; Image 426, item 550 (subscription required)
  • 1849 tithe award for Shipley, online at the Genealogist.co.uk, piece 43, sub-piece 352, Images 423-54 (subscription required)
  • Shipley Glen Tramway.

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Notes

  1. Old Elmet Dreaming: My Folkloric Influences.
  2. [Shipley Glen Tramway] website.
  3. Ashton, Joe, ed.; Lorrain-Smith, Roy, ed.; Taylor, Marian, ed.; Lawson, Mike, ed.; Lawson, Tish, ed. Exploring Baildon: A Guide to Public Spaces (Baildon, Shipley, 2015), p. 20, No. 45.
  4. 1849 tithe award for Shipley, online at the Genealogist.co.uk, piece 43, sub-piece 352, Images 423-54 (subscription required).
  5. 1849 tithe award for Baildon, online at the Genealogist.co.uk, piece 43, sub-piece 027, Image 413, item 587; Image 426, item 550 (subscription required).

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