Robin Hood Ferry (River Lea)

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Here the Robin Hood Ferry once took passengers across the Lea.

[[File:|thumb|right|500px|British Waterways. Robin Hood Ferry, Clapton (LL 5) (Enfield, Middlesex, [s.d.]). Photographic postcard (b./w.). 150 x 106 mm. / Private collection.]]

By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2018-02-15. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2019-05-31.

A ferry across the Lea was named after Robin Hood as early as 1810. At some point in the 19th century the ferry came to be operated by the publican at the Robin Hood Tavern at High Hill Ferry.^[1] The ferry, which took people from Leyton to Clapton, ceased operating after WWII.^[2]

While the reference to Robin Hood Ferry in the 1810 Old Bailey case summary (see Records below) most probably concerns the general area rather than the ferry itself, it clearly implies that the ferry was then named after Robin Hood. 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. 293-311.

Sources

Lost Pubs Project: Robin Hood, Clapton, E5, London.

Discussion

Fairclough, K.R. 'Mills and Ferries along the Lower Lea', Essex Archaeology and History, vol. 23 (1992), pp. 57-66; see pp. 64, 65. On p. 64 is printed a photo, dated c. 1890, of the 'Robin Hood Ferry Boat' moored near the Robin Hood Tavern.

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Notes

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British Waterways. Robin Hood Ferry, Clapton (LL 5) (Enfield, Middlesex, [s.d.]). Photographic postcard (b./w.). 150 x 106 mm. / Private collection.
Martin, Charles. High Hill Ferry, the River Lea (1102) (London, [s.d.]). Picture postcard (col.). 89 x 140 mm. / Private collection.
Hackney Library Services. River Lea, Robin Hood c. 1900 (J.2) ([London], [20??]). Photographic postcard (monochrome). 137 x 87 mm. / Private collection.
Somewhere around here the Robin Hood Ferry would have taken its passengers across the Lea / Google Earth Street View.

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[1] Lost Pubs Project: Robin Hood, Clapton, E5, London

[2] See verso of the postcard British Waterways. Robin Hood Ferry, Clapton (LL 5) (Enfield, Middlesex, [s.d.]). Photographic postcard (b./w.). 150 x 106 mm..

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