Robin Hood's Mill (Stackhouse)

From International Robin Hood Bibliography
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Probable approximate location of Robin Hood's Mill. A less likely alternative location is the neighbouring field immediately west of Stainforth Lane.
Robin Hood's Mill was located either in the field where what looks like areas of exposed gravel are visible or, more probably, in the field opposite, on the right side of the road (Stainforth Lane).
The red dots indicate Robin Hood's Mill, top left (possible location) or top right (probable location), with Robin Hood Close just below.

By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2014-08-27. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2018-07-12.

'Robin Hood's Mill' is or was the name of a place where the rumblings of a subterranean stream can or could be heard overground. I believe this is the only example of an acoustic phenomenon leading to a locality being named after Robin Hood. The place-name is included on an 1851 O.S. 6" map of the Stainforth neighbourhood[1] (formerly West Riding, now North Yorkshire). It is also found on later O.S. 6" maps of the area dated 1896 and 1910 (see Maps section below). The

stream may have been located under the field between Stainforth Lane to the west and the Ribble to the east, but it is also possible it was located under the southeastern corner of the neighbouring field immediately west of Stainforth Lane. Depending on the exact location of the 'mill', Robin Hood Close was located immediately south or southeast of it.

Allusions

1879 - Thomson, J Radford - Guide to the District of Craven

Robin Hood's Mill is the name given to a spot between Little Stainforth and Stackhouse, where a rumbling noise may be heard below the ground, doubtless caused by a subterranean waterfall, such as are not uncommon in this district.[2]

1937 - Palmer, William T - Odd Corners in Yorkshire Dales

 Yorkshire is unique in Britain for underground cascades and waterfalls. In many dales and moors the sheets of mountain limestone are fissured and cracked by past earth-movements, and the rain-water, percolating through the heather, bog, and grass, has dissolved shafts and steps into the depths. At many fissures, even on high moors and ridges, the sound of falling water can be heard, and of course there are jets and fountains in the potholes which require special equipment for their descent. If you lay your ear to the ground at a certain point in Ribblesdale you will hear "how the water comes down at Lodore" in fairyland, although not so much as a rivulet is to be seen outside Robin Hood's Mill. Hellen Pot has an underground waterfall of about 40 feet, and many others could be recorded. Hull Pot, an open fissure near Horton-in-Ribblesdale, also has a fall of 50 feet, part of which is visible. Alum Pot, on the south side of the Ribble, has a water-course entering 50 feet below the surface by way of Long Churn, a side gallery which itself has one or two small water-falls. At the lip there is a rush of water into the black main chamber.[3]

Gazetteers

Maps

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Notes

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