Robin Hood Ball (Netheravon): Difference between revisions

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__NOTOC__{{PnItemTop|Lat=51.216036|Lon= -1.848033|AdmDiv=Wiltshire|Vicinity=On Salisbury Plain; ''c.'' 8 km NW of Amesbury and ''c,'' 4 km NW of Stonehenge|Type=Prehistoric site|Interest=Robin Hood name|Status=Extant|Demonym=|Riding=|GreaterLondon=|Year=1773|Aka=Robin Wood Ball|Century=|Cluster1=|Cluster2=|Cluster3=|Image=google-earth-robin-hood-ball-wiltshire.jpg|Postcards=|ExtraCat1=|ExtraCat2=|ExtraCat3=|ExtraCat4=|ExtraCat5=|ExtraLink1=Robinhood Butts (Wiltshire)|GeopointPrefix=|GeopointSuffix=|StatusSuffix=|DatePrefix=|DateSuffix=}}
__NOTOC__{{PlaceNamesItemTop|Lat=51.216036|Lon= -1.848033|AdministrativeDivision=Wiltshire|Vicinity=On Salisbury Plain; ''c.'' 8 km NW of Amesbury and ''c,'' 4 km NW of Stonehenge|Type=Prehistoric site|Interest=Robin Hood name|Status=Extant|Demonym=|Riding=|GreaterLondon=|Year=1773|Aka=Robin Hood's Ball; Robin Wood Ball; Whood's Baall|Century=|Cluster1=|Cluster2=|Cluster3=|Image=google-earth-robin-hood-ball-wiltshire.jpg|Postcards=|ExtraCat1=Wood for Hood|ExtraCat2=|ExtraCat3=|ExtraCat4=|ExtraCat5=|ExtraLink1=Robinhood Butts (Wiltshire)|ExtraLink2=1585 - Buck, John - Pension Book of Gray's Inn|ExtraLink3=1585 - Lutterell, Thomas - Petition of Students of Gray's Inn|GeopointPrefix=|GeopointSuffix=|StatusSuffix=|DatePrefix=|DateSuffix=}}
{{#display_map:{{#var:Coords}}~{{#replace:{{PAGENAME}}|&#39;|'}}|width=34%|service=leaflet|enablefullscreen=yes}}<div class="pnMapLegend">Robin Hood Ball.</div>
{{#display_map:{{#var:Coords}}~{{#replace:{{PAGENAME}}|&#39;|'}}|width=34%|enablefullscreen=yes}}<div class="pnMapLegend">Robin Hood Ball.</div>
[[File:{{#var:Pnimage}}|thumb|right|500px|The name 'Robin Hood Ball' is properly applied to  a neolithic site hidden in the lower left corner of the irregularly shaped wooded area or to the entire wooded area. The circular wooded area to the right  is a separate locality named Wood's Butt (see map details below) / Google Earth.]]
[[File:{{#var:Image}}|thumb|right|500px|The name 'Robin Hood Ball' is properly applied to  a neolithic site hidden in the lower left corner of the irregularly shaped wooded area or to the entire wooded area. The circular wooded area to the right  is a separate locality named Wood's Butt (see map details below) / Google Earth.]]
[[File:Robin-hoods-ball-modern-antiquarian-chance.jpg|thumb|right|500px|This is supposed to be a photo of Robin Hood Ball, but as the latter is in a wooded area, the earthwork shown is probably (what is left of) a tumulus ''c.'' 240 m SE of the coppice. The trees seen in the photo towards the top left would then be part of a wooded area known as Wood's Butt.  / [http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/7290/robin_hoods_ball.html Photo by 'Chance', December 2012, via Modern Antiquary.]]]
[[File:Robin-hoods-ball-modern-antiquarian-chance.jpg|thumb|right|500px|This is supposed to be a photo of Robin Hood Ball, but as the latter is in a wooded area, the earthwork shown is probably (what is left of) a tumulus ''c.'' 240 m SE of the coppice. The trees seen in the photo towards the top left would then be part of a wooded area known as Wood's Butt.  / [http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/7290/robin_hoods_ball.html Photo by 'Chance', December 2012, via Modern Antiquary.]]]
[[File:military-road-robin-hood-ball-bob-wood-panoramio.jpg|thumb|right|500px|
[[File:military-road-robin-hood-ball-bob-wood-panoramio.jpg|thumb|right|500px|
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[[File:os-6-map-liv-nw-1899-detail.jpg|thumb|right|500px|The PastScape archaeological website incorrectly refers to the large circular earthwork in the lower left corner as Robin Hood's Ball / Detail from [http://maps.nls.uk/view/101463587#zoom=4&lat=4376&lon=5433&layers=BT 6" O.S. map ''Wiltshire'' LIV.NW (1901; rev. 1899).]]]<div class="no-img">
[[File:os-6-map-liv-nw-1899-detail.jpg|thumb|right|500px|The PastScape archaeological website incorrectly refers to the large circular earthwork in the lower left corner as Robin Hood's Ball / Detail from [http://maps.nls.uk/view/101463587#zoom=4&lat=4376&lon=5433&layers=BT 6" O.S. map ''Wiltshire'' LIV.NW (1901; rev. 1899).]]]<div class="no-img">
<p id="byline">By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2017-01-02. Revised by {{#realname:{{REVISIONUSER}}}}, {{REVISIONYEAR}}-{{REVISIONMONTH}}-{{REVISIONDAY2}}.</p>
<p id="byline">By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2017-01-02. Revised by {{#realname:{{REVISIONUSER}}}}, {{REVISIONYEAR}}-{{REVISIONMONTH}}-{{REVISIONDAY2}}.</p>
Robin Hood Ball, also known as Robin Hood's Ball, is first recorded on Andrews's and Dury's 1773 map of Wiltshire, where it occurs as 'Robin Wood Ball'.<ref>{{:Andrews, John 1773a}}, sheet [5]. Online version at [http://digitalarchive.mcmaster.ca/islandora/object/macrepo%3A80898 Mcmaster University Library: Digital archive], see sheet 5, rectangles [7]-[8]. Also see map detail reproduced on the present page.</ref> The name refers sometimes to a neolithic feature just north of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site,<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood's_Ball Wikipedia: Robin Hood's Ball.]</ref> sometimes to a small wooded area within which the neolithic site is located, and also erroneously to a tumulus a little SE of the wooded area and a larger earthwork ''c.'' 350 m SE of the coppice.
The first certain record of Robin Hood Ball near Netheravon is Andrews's and Dury's 1773 map of Wiltshire, where it occurs as 'Robin Wood Ball'.<ref>{{:Andrews, John 1773a}}, sheet [5]. Online version at [http://digitalarchive.mcmaster.ca/islandora/object/macrepo%3A80898 Mcmaster University Library: Digital archive], see sheet 5, rectangles [7]-[8]. Also see map detail reproduced on the present page.</ref> The name refers sometimes to a neolithic feature just north of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site,<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood's_Ball Wikipedia: Robin Hood's Ball.]</ref> sometimes to a small wooded area within which the neolithic site is located, and also erroneously to a tumulus a little SE of the wooded area and a larger earthwork ''c.'' 350 m SW of the coppice. It is possible that the 'Whood's Baall' figuring in land deeds dating from 1591 to 1667/68 should be identified with Robin Hood Ball.
 
== Which monument? ==
== Which monument? ==
According to the English Place-Name Society's volume on Wiltshire, the ME place-name element <b>balle</b> (''n.'') (ModE 'ball') 'is common and is doubtless used for the most part in the sense [...] "a landmark of earth set up as a boundary mark," a meaning not recorded in the <i>NED</i>'.<ref>{{:Gover, John Eric Bruce 1939a}}, p. 422, ''s.n.'' '''balle'''.</ref> However, in the case of Robin Hood Ball the authors note, very sensibly I think, that "[t]he reference is possibly to the tumulus here".<ref>''op. cit.'', p. 331.</ref> It is hardly surprising to find a term usually applied to a landmark of earth used with reference to a minor earthwork created for some other purpose. If the name was in all probability originally applied to the earthwork, by 1877-78, when surveying was done for a 6" O.S. map of the area (see illustration and Maps section on this page), it had come to be applied to the wooded area in which the earthwork is found. This, according to Wikipedia's article on this locality, is the case already in Grenwood's 1820 map of the area.<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood's_Ball Wikipedia: Robin Hood's Ball].</ref>
According to the English Place-Name Society's volume on Wiltshire, the ME place-name element <b>balle</b> (''n.'') (ModE 'ball') 'is common and is doubtless used for the most part in the sense [...] "a landmark of earth set up as a boundary mark," a meaning not recorded in the <i>NED</i>'.<ref>{{:Gover, John Eric Bruce 1939a}}, p. 422, ''s.n.'' '''balle'''. Italics as in printed source. The first edition of the ''OED'' was named the ''New English Dictionary'', abbreviated ''NED''.</ref> However, in the case of Robin Hood Ball the authors note, very sensibly I think, that '[t]he reference is possibly to the tumulus here'.<ref>''op. cit.'', p. 331.</ref> It is hardly surprising to find a term usually applied to a landmark of earth used with reference to a minor earthwork created for some other purpose. If the name was in all probability originally applied to the earthwork, by 1877-78, when surveying was done for a 6" O.S. map of the area (see illustration and Maps section on this page), it had come to be applied to the wooded area in which the earthwork is found. This, according to Wikipedia's article on this locality, is the case already in Grenwood's 1820 map of the area.<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood's_Ball Wikipedia: Robin Hood's Ball].</ref>


According to Wikipedia, "it is probable that over time the name [of Robin Hood Ball] came to be associated with the enclosure instead",<ref> [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood's_Ball Wikipedia: Robin Hood's Ball.]</ref> the enclosure in question being one located ''c.'' 350 m southwest of the coppice. Let us be a little more specific: some archaeologist(s) failed to check the maps. On the 6" O.S. map of the area published in 1926 the name "Robin Hood Ball" is unmistakably applied to the coppice, not the wheel-shaped earthwork (see link in Maps section below). The English Place-Name Society volume on Wiltshire, which was published in 1939,<ref>{{:Gover, John Eric Bruce 1939a}}, p. 331</ref> also correctly identifies the locality. At least as late as 1958, the Ordnance Survey was in no doubt that the coppice, not the earthwork, was the locality named Robin Hood Ball (see Maps section below). The mistaken identification of the enclosure as Robin Hood Ball may have been introduced or given impetus by an article on the enclosure published six years later in a semi-scientific archaeological magazine.<ref>{{:Thomas, N 1964a}}.</ref> The gentleman behind the moniker 'Chance' who took a photo in December 2012 of what he thought was Robin Hood's Ball seems to have photographed a neolithic feature south''east'' of the coppice (see photo elsewhere on this page).<ref>This should probably be identified with [http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=621179&sort=4&search=all&criteria=robin%20hood%20ball&rational=q&recordsperpage=10 Monument No. 621179] (PastScape).</ref> Perhaps he was led astray by the Wikipedia article, which incorrectly has the coppice north''west'' of the earthworks?
According to Wikipedia, 'it is probable that over time the name [of Robin Hood Ball] came to be associated with the enclosure instead',<ref> [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood's_Ball Wikipedia: Robin Hood's Ball.]</ref> the enclosure in question being one located ''c.'' 350 m southwest of the coppice. Let us be a little more specific: some archaeologist(s) failed to check the maps. On the 6" O.S. map of the area published in 1926 the name 'Robin Hood Ball' is unmistakably applied to the coppice, not the wheel-shaped earthwork (see link in Maps section below). As we just saw, the English Place-Name Society volume on Wiltshire, which was published in 1939,<ref>{{:Gover, John Eric Bruce 1939a}}, p. 331</ref> also correctly identifies the locality. At least as late as 1958, the Ordnance Survey was in no doubt that the coppice, not the earthwork, was the locality named Robin Hood Ball (see Maps section below). The mistaken identification of the enclosure as Robin Hood Ball may have been introduced or given impetus by an article on the enclosure published six years later in a semi-scientific archaeological magazine.<ref>{{:Thomas, N 1964a}}.</ref> The gentleman behind the moniker 'Chance' who took a photo in December 2012 of what he thought was Robin Hood's Ball seems to have photographed a neolithic feature south''east'' of the coppice (see photo elsewhere on this page).<ref>This should probably be identified with [http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=621179&sort=4&search=all&criteria=robin%20hood%20ball&rational=q&recordsperpage=10 Monument No. 621179] (PastScape).</ref> Perhaps he was led astray by the Wikipedia article, which incorrectly has the coppice north''west'' of the earthworks?


PastScape, an official archaeological website, uses the name "Robin Hood Ball" to refer to the earthwork ''c.'' 350 m SW of the coppice. They describe it as "[a]n Early Neolithic causewayed enclosure known as Robin Hood's Ball. It is an earthwork comprising two circuits of bank and ditch, enclosing an area of circa 3.5 hectares"<ref>[http://www.pastscape.org/hob.aspx?hob_id=218882&sort=4&search=all&criteria=robin%20hood%20ball&rational=q&recordsperpage=10#aRt PastScape: Robin Hood's Ball: Causewayed Enclosure].</ref> (see map detail elsewhere on this page). It is clear from the sources they cite that this nomenclature has support among late 20th century British archaeologists,<ref>See especially {{:Thomas, N 1964a}}.</ref> but as just noted, it does not find any warrant in the older O.S. maps of the area, neither does PastScape's use of "Robin Hood's Ball Clump" to refer to the coppice. The archaeologists can hardly have studied the O.S. maps which unmistakably identify the coppice as Robin Hood Ball. The use of a solitary tree to represent the Ball in the Andrews and Dury 1773 map (see map detail elsewhere on this page) only makes sense if it was intended to refer to a wooded area, which must be the coppice, since the localities to which the name has been applied by mistake are not wooded; one of them has been partially ploughed away.<ref>See  
PastScape, an official archaeological website, uses the name 'Robin Hood Ball' to refer to the earthwork ''c.'' 350 m SW of the coppice. They describe it as '[a]n Early Neolithic causewayed enclosure known as Robin Hood's Ball. It is an earthwork comprising two circuits of bank and ditch, enclosing an area of circa 3.5 hectares'<ref>[http://www.pastscape.org/hob.aspx?hob_id=218882&sort=4&search=all&criteria=robin%20hood%20ball&rational=q&recordsperpage=10#aRt PastScape: Robin Hood's Ball: Causewayed Enclosure].</ref> (see map detail elsewhere on this page). It is clear from the sources cited there that this erroneous nomenclature has support among late 20th century British archaeologists,<ref>See especially {{:Thomas, N 1964a}}.</ref> but as just noted, it does not find any warrant in the older O.S. maps of the area, neither does PastScape's use of 'Robin Hood's Ball Clump' to refer to the coppice. The archaeologists can hardly have studied the O.S. maps which unmistakably identify the coppice as Robin Hood Ball. The use of a solitary tree to represent the Ball in the Andrews and Dury 1773 map (see map detail elsewhere on this page) only makes sense if it was intended to refer to a wooded area, which must be the coppice, since the localities to which the name has been applied by mistake are not wooded (it should be noted, though, that one of them has been partially ploughed away).<ref>See  
[http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=218882&sort=4&search=all&criteria=robin%20hood%20ball&rational=q&recordsperpage=10 pastScape: Robin Hood's Ball Causewayed Enclosure.] and [[http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=621179&sort=4&search=all&criteria=robin%20hood%20ball&rational=q&recordsperpage=10 PsatScape: Monument No. 621179.]</ref> Etymology argues strongly, and map evidence conclusively, against "Robin Hood Ball" referring to the causewayed enclosure or the tumulus SE of the coppice. The evidence points clearly to the clump of trees, and comparison with other occurrences of the place-name element '''balle''' suggests that the name was originally applied only to the mound that was located within the coppice, as was indeed suggested by J. E. B. Gover ''et al.'' in 1939.<ref>{{:Gover, John Eric Bruce 1939a}}, p. 331.</ref> If this was the original denotation of "Robin Hood Ball", it must be noted that the solitary tree on the 1773 map strongly suggests that the place-name had already then come to refer to the entire surrounding coppice.
[http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=218882&sort=4&search=all&criteria=robin%20hood%20ball&rational=q&recordsperpage=10 pastScape: Robin Hood's Ball Causewayed Enclosure.] and [[http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=621179&sort=4&search=all&criteria=robin%20hood%20ball&rational=q&recordsperpage=10 PsatScape: Monument No. 621179.]</ref> Etymology argues strongly, and map evidence conclusively, against 'Robin Hood Ball' referring to the causewayed enclosure or the tumulus SE of the coppice. The evidence points clearly to the clump of trees, and comparison with other occurrences of the place-name element '''balle''' suggests that the name was originally applied only to the mound that was located within the coppice, as was indeed suggested by J. E. B. Gover ''et al.'' in 1939.<ref>{{:Gover, John Eric Bruce 1939a}}, p. 331.</ref> If this was the original denotation of 'Robin Hood Ball', it must be noted that the solitary tree on the 1773 map strongly suggests that the place-name had already then come to refer to the entire surrounding coppice.


=== Monument No. 218891 ===
=== Monument No. 218891 ===
The writer of the PastScape entries on these localities seems to have realized the archaeologists' mistake, for on his page on Monument No. 218891 &ndash; which is either the real Robin Hood Ball or lies within it &ndash; he makes this note: "Query whether Robin Hood Ball was originally the name of this barrow".<ref> [http://www.pastscape.org/hob.aspx?hob_id=218891&sort=4&search=all&criteria=robin%20hood%20ball&rational=q&recordsperpage=10 PastScape: Monument No. 218891.] Also see {{:Crittall, Elizabeth 1957a}}, p. 184.</ref> The monument in question is a Bronze Age barrow mound measuring 26 m in diameter and 1.5 m in height. It was once surrounded by a quarry ditch which has filled in over the years. The part of Salisbury Plain on which it is situated is a Defence Training Estate, and unfortunately the military has frequently dug into the mound.<ref>''Ibid''' and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salisbury_Plain#Defence_Training_Estate_.28DTE_SP.29 Wikipedia: Salisbury Plain] (paragraph on the Defence Training Estate).</ref> It does not in its present condition rise much above the surrounding area, and it lies in a coppice. That it is thus far from conspicuous may help explain why it has had its name "stolen" by other more easily visible neolithic remains in the near vicinity.
The writer of the PastScape entries on these localities seems to have realized the archaeologists' mistake, for on his page on Monument No. 218891 &ndash; the mound within the coppice, ''i.e.'' the locality properly and originally named 'Robin Hood Ball &ndash; he makes this note: 'Query whether Robin Hood Ball was originally the name of this barrow'.<ref> [http://www.pastscape.org/hob.aspx?hob_id=218891&sort=4&search=all&criteria=robin%20hood%20ball&rational=q&recordsperpage=10 PastScape: Monument No. 218891.] Also see {{:Crittall, Elizabeth 1957a}}, p. 184.</ref> The monument in question is a Bronze Age barrow mound measuring 26 m in diameter and 1.5 m in height. It was once surrounded by a quarry ditch which has filled in over the years. The part of Salisbury Plain on which it is situated is a Defence Training Estate, and unfortunately the military has frequently dug into the mound.<ref>''Ibid''' and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salisbury_Plain#Defence_Training_Estate_.28DTE_SP.29 Wikipedia: Salisbury Plain] (paragraph on the Defence Training Estate).</ref> It does not in its present condition rise much above the surrounding area, and since it also lies within a coppice it is far from conspicuous. This may help explain why it has had its name 'stolen' by other more easily visible and recognizable neolithic remains in the near vicinity.


=== An interesting neighbour ===
=== An interesting neighbour ===
According to the early 6" and 25" O.S. maps of the area, the circular clump of trees Immediately east of the coppice in which Robin Hood Ball is located is named Wood's Butts. In my discussion of the so far unlocalisable place-name [[Robinhood Butts (Wiltshire)|Robinhood Butts]] I suggest that this may be identical with Wood's Butts. Robin Hood Ball is first recorded as Robin Wood Ball, and Wood's Butts could be a variant of Hood's Butts.<ref>For vacillation between 'Hood' and 'Wood', see [[Wood for Hood]].</ref> The proximity to Robin Hood ball also strengthens the case a little, for Robin Hood-related place-names often occur in clusters. However, it must be emphasized that this identification is quite tentative.{{PnItemQry}}
According to the early 6" and 25" O.S. maps of the area, the circular clump of trees immediately east of the coppice in which Robin Hood Ball is located is named Wood's Butts. In our discussion of the so far unlocalisable Wiltshire place-name [[Robinhood Butts (Wiltshire)|Robinhood Butts]], we suggest that this may be identical with Wood's Butts. Robin Hood Ball is first (certainly) recorded as 'Robin Wood Ball', and Wood's Butts could be a variant of Hood's Butts.<ref>For vacillation between 'Hood' and 'Wood', see [[Wood for Hood]].</ref> The proximity to Robin Hood Ball also strengthens the case somewhat, for Robin Hood-related place-names often occur in clusters. However, it must be emphasized that this identification is quite tentative. Nineteenth-century copies of three land deeds, dated [1591], [1593], and [1667/68] respectively, refer to a locality in this vicinity named 'Whood's Baall'. As the National Archive catalogue suggests, this should possibly be identified with Robin Hood Ball.<ref>[https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/207a9f5b-a2d9-4921-90d1-a2c959a8ca44 National Archives: Netheravon (Wiltshire): deeds of arable land called Her Highness' Acre, and lands in England's Field, near Whood's Baall <nowiki>[possibly Robin Hood's Ball on Salisbury Plain]</nowiki> and Church Mead Acre.]</ref> This would seem more likely than 'Whood's Baall' being identical with Wood's Butts, but identifying either with 'Whood's Baall' might lead one to the assumption that the original element was '''wood'''. Yet as just noted, 'Wood' for 'Hood' was by no means uncommon, and  we can in fact point to a roughly contemporary case where 'Wood' ''tout court'' stands for 'Robin Hood' or vice versa. In 1585, some students of Gray's Inn were sent to prison for what the young culprits themselves referred to as their 'unadvised facte in defacinge Woods stake'. The object they had wantonly destroyed was, according to an entry made the same year in an account book then at Gray's Inn, identical with 'Robin Hoods stake', one of the archery targets on Finsbury Fields.<ref>See [[1585 - Lutterell, Thomas - Petition of Students of Gray's Inn]] and [[1585 - Buck, John - Pension Book of Gray's Inn]].</ref> To find an archery target named after the outlaw is hardly surprising, but it must be noted that while some had more fanciful names, they were often named after archers who presented them, so it is possible that the stake had been donated by, and named after, a man named Wood, its name being then reinterpreted as referring to the uber-archer Robin Hood. In either case, it is significant that one name stands for the other in records written the same year. If the etymology of the name is not clear here, then neither is it in the case of the earthwork near Netheravon.
 
{{PlaceNamesItemAllusionsAndRecords}}
== Gazetteers ==
== Gazetteers ==
These both correctly identify Robin Hood Ball.
These both correctly identify Robin Hood Ball.
* {{:Dobson, Richard Barrie 1976a}}, p. 305, ''s.n.'' 'Robin Hood Ball'.
* {{:Dobson, Richard Barrie 1976a}}, p. 305, ''s.n.'' 'Robin Hood Ball'.
* {{:Gover, John Eric Bruce 1939a}}, p. 331, and see xxii, 422.
* {{:Gover, John Eric Bruce 1939a}}, p. 331, and see xxii, 422.
== Sources ==
* [https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/207a9f5b-a2d9-4921-90d1-a2c959a8ca44 National Archives: Netheravon (Wiltshire): deeds of arable land called Her Highness' Acre, and lands in England's Field, near Whood's Baall <nowiki>[possibly Robin Hood's Ball on Salisbury Plain]</nowiki> and Church Mead Acre.]


== Maps ==
== Maps ==
All maps correctly identify Robin Hood Ball.
All maps correctly identify Robin Hood Ball.
* {{:Andrews, John 1773a}}, sheet [5]
* {{:Andrews, John 1773a}}, sheet [5]
* Online version of preceding at [http://digitalarchive.mcmaster.ca/islandora/object/macrepo%3A80898 McMaster University Library: Digital archive], see sheet 5, rectangles [7]-[8]
* Online version of preceding at [http://digitalarchive.mcmaster.ca/islandora/object/macrepo%3A80929 McMaster University Library: Digital archive], see sheet 5, tiles [7]-[8]
* [http://maps.nls.uk/view/120369235#zoom=5&lat=1755&lon=2476&layers=BT 25" O.S. map ''Wiltshire'' LIV.2 (1881; surveyed 1878)]
* [http://maps.nls.uk/view/120369235#zoom=5&lat=1755&lon=2476&layers=BT 25" O.S. map ''Wiltshire'' LIV.2 (1881; surveyed 1878)]
* [http://maps.nls.uk/view/120378525#zoom=4&lat=1993&lon=3301&layers=BT 25" O.S. map ''Wiltshire'' LIV.2 (1887; surveyed 1878-86)]
* [http://maps.nls.uk/view/120378525#zoom=4&lat=1993&lon=3301&layers=BT 25" O.S. map ''Wiltshire'' LIV.2 (1887; surveyed 1878-86)]
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* [http://maps.nls.uk/view/106031320#zoom=4&lat=3513&lon=4324&layers=BT 25" O.S. map ''Wiltshire'' LIV.2 (1924; rev. 1922)]
* [http://maps.nls.uk/view/106031320#zoom=4&lat=3513&lon=4324&layers=BT 25" O.S. map ''Wiltshire'' LIV.2 (1924; rev. 1922)]
* [http://maps.nls.uk/view/106031323#zoom=4&lat=3527&lon=4858&layers=BT 25" O.S. map ''Wiltshire'' LIV.2 (1940; rev. 1939)]
* [http://maps.nls.uk/view/106031323#zoom=4&lat=3527&lon=4858&layers=BT 25" O.S. map ''Wiltshire'' LIV.2 (1940; rev. 1939)]
* [https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16&lat=51.21642&lon=-1.84919&layers=168&b=5 25" O.S. map of Netheravon parish, Wiltshire (1950s)] (georeferenced)
* [http://maps.nls.uk/view/102348061#zoom=5&lat=8357&lon=5653&layers=BT 6" O.S. map ''Wiltshire'' LIV (1887; surveyed 1877-78)]
* [http://maps.nls.uk/view/102348061#zoom=5&lat=8357&lon=5653&layers=BT 6" O.S. map ''Wiltshire'' LIV (1887; surveyed 1877-78)]
* [http://maps.nls.uk/view/101463587#zoom=4&lat=4376&lon=5433&layers=BT 6" O.S. map ''Wiltshire'' LIV.NW (1901; rev. 1899)]
* [http://maps.nls.uk/view/101463587#zoom=4&lat=4376&lon=5433&layers=BT 6" O.S. map ''Wiltshire'' LIV.NW (1901; rev. 1899)]
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== Brief mention ==
== Brief mention ==
* -->
* -->
{{PnItemAlsoSee}}
{{PlaceNamesItemAlsoSee}}
== Notes ==
== Notes ==
<references/>
<references/>
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<div id="gallery">
<div id="gallery">
{{ImgGalleryIntro}}
{{ImageGalleryIntroduction}}
<gallery widths="195px">
<gallery widths="195px">
File:google-earth-robin-hood-ball-wiltshire.jpg|thumb|right|500px|The name 'Robin Hood Ball' is properly applied to  a neolithic site hidden in the lower left corner of the irregularly shaped wooded area or to the entire wooded area. The circular wooded area to the right  is a separate locality named Wood's Butt (see map details below) / Google Earth.
File:google-earth-robin-hood-ball-wiltshire.jpg|thumb|right|500px|The name 'Robin Hood Ball' is properly applied to  a neolithic site hidden in the lower left corner of the irregularly shaped wooded area or to the entire wooded area. The circular wooded area to the right  is a separate locality named Wood's Butt (see map details below) / Google Earth.
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Revision as of 12:42, 11 February 2021

Locality
Coordinate 51.216036, -1.848033
Adm. div. Wiltshire
Vicinity On Salisbury Plain; c. 8 km NW of Amesbury and c, 4 km NW of Stonehenge
Type Prehistoric site
Interest Robin Hood name
Status Extant
First Record 1773
A.k.a. Robin Hood's Ball; Robin Wood Ball; Whood's Baall
Loading map...
Robin Hood Ball.
The name 'Robin Hood Ball' is properly applied to a neolithic site hidden in the lower left corner of the irregularly shaped wooded area or to the entire wooded area. The circular wooded area to the right is a separate locality named Wood's Butt (see map details below) / Google Earth.
This is supposed to be a photo of Robin Hood Ball, but as the latter is in a wooded area, the earthwork shown is probably (what is left of) a tumulus c. 240 m SE of the coppice. The trees seen in the photo towards the top left would then be part of a wooded area known as Wood's Butt. / Photo by 'Chance', December 2012, via Modern Antiquary.
Assuming the trees in the photo belong to the coppice, Bob Wood must have got it right when he gave his photo the legend "Military road markings near Robin Hood's Ball" / Bob Wood via Panoramio.
The tree at the centre represents Robin Hood Ball, which must accordingly have been a wooded area / Detail from Andrews, John, cartog.; Dury, Andrew, cartog. A Topographical Map of Wiltshire, on a Scale of 2 Inches to a Mile, from An Actual Survey ([s.l.], [1773]), sheet 5; online version at McMaster University Library: Digital Archive.
Detail from 6" O.S. map Wiltshire LIV (1887; surveyed 1877-78) / National Library of Scotland: Maps home : OS Six-inch England and Wales, 1842-1952.
The PastScape archaeological website incorrectly refers to the large circular earthwork in the lower left corner as Robin Hood's Ball / Detail from 6" O.S. map Wiltshire LIV.NW (1901; rev. 1899).

By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2017-01-02. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2021-02-11.

The first certain record of Robin Hood Ball near Netheravon is Andrews's and Dury's 1773 map of Wiltshire, where it occurs as 'Robin Wood Ball'.[1] The name refers sometimes to a neolithic feature just north of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site,[2] sometimes to a small wooded area within which the neolithic site is located, and also erroneously to a tumulus a little SE of the wooded area and a larger earthwork c. 350 m SW of the coppice. It is possible that the 'Whood's Baall' figuring in land deeds dating from 1591 to 1667/68 should be identified with Robin Hood Ball.

Which monument?

According to the English Place-Name Society's volume on Wiltshire, the ME place-name element balle (n.) (ModE 'ball') 'is common and is doubtless used for the most part in the sense [...] "a landmark of earth set up as a boundary mark," a meaning not recorded in the NED'.[3] However, in the case of Robin Hood Ball the authors note, very sensibly I think, that '[t]he reference is possibly to the tumulus here'.[4] It is hardly surprising to find a term usually applied to a landmark of earth used with reference to a minor earthwork created for some other purpose. If the name was in all probability originally applied to the earthwork, by 1877-78, when surveying was done for a 6" O.S. map of the area (see illustration and Maps section on this page), it had come to be applied to the wooded area in which the earthwork is found. This, according to Wikipedia's article on this locality, is the case already in Grenwood's 1820 map of the area.[5]

According to Wikipedia, 'it is probable that over time the name [of Robin Hood Ball] came to be associated with the enclosure instead',[6] the enclosure in question being one located c. 350 m southwest of the coppice. Let us be a little more specific: some archaeologist(s) failed to check the maps. On the 6" O.S. map of the area published in 1926 the name 'Robin Hood Ball' is unmistakably applied to the coppice, not the wheel-shaped earthwork (see link in Maps section below). As we just saw, the English Place-Name Society volume on Wiltshire, which was published in 1939,[7] also correctly identifies the locality. At least as late as 1958, the Ordnance Survey was in no doubt that the coppice, not the earthwork, was the locality named Robin Hood Ball (see Maps section below). The mistaken identification of the enclosure as Robin Hood Ball may have been introduced or given impetus by an article on the enclosure published six years later in a semi-scientific archaeological magazine.[8] The gentleman behind the moniker 'Chance' who took a photo in December 2012 of what he thought was Robin Hood's Ball seems to have photographed a neolithic feature southeast of the coppice (see photo elsewhere on this page).[9] Perhaps he was led astray by the Wikipedia article, which incorrectly has the coppice northwest of the earthworks?

PastScape, an official archaeological website, uses the name 'Robin Hood Ball' to refer to the earthwork c. 350 m SW of the coppice. They describe it as '[a]n Early Neolithic causewayed enclosure known as Robin Hood's Ball. It is an earthwork comprising two circuits of bank and ditch, enclosing an area of circa 3.5 hectares'[10] (see map detail elsewhere on this page). It is clear from the sources cited there that this erroneous nomenclature has support among late 20th century British archaeologists,[11] but as just noted, it does not find any warrant in the older O.S. maps of the area, neither does PastScape's use of 'Robin Hood's Ball Clump' to refer to the coppice. The archaeologists can hardly have studied the O.S. maps which unmistakably identify the coppice as Robin Hood Ball. The use of a solitary tree to represent the Ball in the Andrews and Dury 1773 map (see map detail elsewhere on this page) only makes sense if it was intended to refer to a wooded area, which must be the coppice, since the localities to which the name has been applied by mistake are not wooded (it should be noted, though, that one of them has been partially ploughed away).[12] Etymology argues strongly, and map evidence conclusively, against 'Robin Hood Ball' referring to the causewayed enclosure or the tumulus SE of the coppice. The evidence points clearly to the clump of trees, and comparison with other occurrences of the place-name element balle suggests that the name was originally applied only to the mound that was located within the coppice, as was indeed suggested by J. E. B. Gover et al. in 1939.[13] If this was the original denotation of 'Robin Hood Ball', it must be noted that the solitary tree on the 1773 map strongly suggests that the place-name had already then come to refer to the entire surrounding coppice.

Monument No. 218891

The writer of the PastScape entries on these localities seems to have realized the archaeologists' mistake, for on his page on Monument No. 218891 – the mound within the coppice, i.e. the locality properly and originally named 'Robin Hood Ball – he makes this note: 'Query whether Robin Hood Ball was originally the name of this barrow'.[14] The monument in question is a Bronze Age barrow mound measuring 26 m in diameter and 1.5 m in height. It was once surrounded by a quarry ditch which has filled in over the years. The part of Salisbury Plain on which it is situated is a Defence Training Estate, and unfortunately the military has frequently dug into the mound.[15] It does not in its present condition rise much above the surrounding area, and since it also lies within a coppice it is far from conspicuous. This may help explain why it has had its name 'stolen' by other more easily visible and recognizable neolithic remains in the near vicinity.

An interesting neighbour

According to the early 6" and 25" O.S. maps of the area, the circular clump of trees immediately east of the coppice in which Robin Hood Ball is located is named Wood's Butts. In our discussion of the so far unlocalisable Wiltshire place-name Robinhood Butts, we suggest that this may be identical with Wood's Butts. Robin Hood Ball is first (certainly) recorded as 'Robin Wood Ball', and Wood's Butts could be a variant of Hood's Butts.[16] The proximity to Robin Hood Ball also strengthens the case somewhat, for Robin Hood-related place-names often occur in clusters. However, it must be emphasized that this identification is quite tentative. Nineteenth-century copies of three land deeds, dated [1591], [1593], and [1667/68] respectively, refer to a locality in this vicinity named 'Whood's Baall'. As the National Archive catalogue suggests, this should possibly be identified with Robin Hood Ball.[17] This would seem more likely than 'Whood's Baall' being identical with Wood's Butts, but identifying either with 'Whood's Baall' might lead one to the assumption that the original element was wood. Yet as just noted, 'Wood' for 'Hood' was by no means uncommon, and we can in fact point to a roughly contemporary case where 'Wood' tout court stands for 'Robin Hood' or vice versa. In 1585, some students of Gray's Inn were sent to prison for what the young culprits themselves referred to as their 'unadvised facte in defacinge Woods stake'. The object they had wantonly destroyed was, according to an entry made the same year in an account book then at Gray's Inn, identical with 'Robin Hoods stake', one of the archery targets on Finsbury Fields.[18] To find an archery target named after the outlaw is hardly surprising, but it must be noted that while some had more fanciful names, they were often named after archers who presented them, so it is possible that the stake had been donated by, and named after, a man named Wood, its name being then reinterpreted as referring to the uber-archer Robin Hood. In either case, it is significant that one name stands for the other in records written the same year. If the etymology of the name is not clear here, then neither is it in the case of the earthwork near Netheravon.

Gazetteers

These both correctly identify Robin Hood Ball.

Sources

Maps

All maps correctly identify Robin Hood Ball.

Discussion

Background

Also see

Notes

  1. Andrews, John, cartog.; Dury, Andrew, cartog. A Topographical Map of Wiltshire, on a Scale of 2 Inches to a Mile, from An Actual Survey ([s.l.], [1773]), sheet [5]. Online version at Mcmaster University Library: Digital archive, see sheet 5, rectangles [7]-[8]. Also see map detail reproduced on the present page.
  2. Wikipedia: Robin Hood's Ball.
  3. Gover, J.E.B.; Mawer, Allen; Stenton, F.M. The Place-Names of Wiltshire (English Place-Name Society, vol. XVI) (Cambridge, 1939), p. 422, s.n. balle. Italics as in printed source. The first edition of the OED was named the New English Dictionary, abbreviated NED.
  4. op. cit., p. 331.
  5. Wikipedia: Robin Hood's Ball.
  6. Wikipedia: Robin Hood's Ball.
  7. Gover, J.E.B.; Mawer, Allen; Stenton, F.M. The Place-Names of Wiltshire (English Place-Name Society, vol. XVI) (Cambridge, 1939), p. 331
  8. Thomas, N. 'The Neolithic Causewayed Camp at Robin Hood's Ball, Shrewton', The Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, vol. 59 (1964), pp. 1-27.
  9. This should probably be identified with Monument No. 621179 (PastScape).
  10. PastScape: Robin Hood's Ball: Causewayed Enclosure.
  11. See especially Thomas, N. 'The Neolithic Causewayed Camp at Robin Hood's Ball, Shrewton', The Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, vol. 59 (1964), pp. 1-27.
  12. See pastScape: Robin Hood's Ball Causewayed Enclosure. and [PsatScape: Monument No. 621179.
  13. Gover, J.E.B.; Mawer, Allen; Stenton, F.M. The Place-Names of Wiltshire (English Place-Name Society, vol. XVI) (Cambridge, 1939), p. 331.
  14. PastScape: Monument No. 218891. Also see Crittall, Elizabeth; Pugh, R.B. A History of the County of Wiltshire (The Victoria History of the Counties of England), vol. 1, pt. 1 (Oxford, 1957), p. 184.
  15. Ibid' and Wikipedia: Salisbury Plain (paragraph on the Defence Training Estate).
  16. For vacillation between 'Hood' and 'Wood', see Wood for Hood.
  17. National Archives: Netheravon (Wiltshire): deeds of arable land called Her Highness' Acre, and lands in England's Field, near Whood's Baall [possibly Robin Hood's Ball on Salisbury Plain] and Church Mead Acre.
  18. See 1585 - Lutterell, Thomas - Petition of Students of Gray's Inn and 1585 - Buck, John - Pension Book of Gray's Inn.