Edwinstowe

Edwinstowe has a fine church dating from the 12th and 13th centuries in which, it is said, the marriage took place between Robin Hood and Maid Marian.

Sherwood Forest

North of the village lies Sherwood Forest with many ancient oaks, the most notable being the Major Oak which was named after the local antiquarian, Major Rooke, who was very fond of the tree and it is said the locals referred to it as 't' Major's Oak' which soon became simply the Major Oak. Before 1800 it was more generally known as the Queen Oak and it is now the largest oak surviving in Sherwood, but in spite of it's girth of 33 feet, is still only the 20th largest in England.

Over 150 years ago there were a number of substantial oaks in Sherwood, but many of them have been destroyed. The Parliament Oak, beneath whose branches both King John and Edward 1 are said to have held emergency councils, during their enjoyment of the chase, is a relatively young tree though some remains of the original oak can still be seen mouldering into the ground. Robin Hood's Larder was once an enormous specimen, but nothing now remains of it, it became dangerous in about 1962 and collapsed. The Simon Foster Oak, depicted in the early part of the century as a huge and vigourous tree, was damaged by fire some years ago. It was well off the beaten track and hardly ever seen.

While it is sad to dispel popular beliefs, it seems some of these trees are not as old as was once supposed. A thousand years was a conservative estimate of the age of the Major Oak, yet recent opinions suggest that it is more likey to be half that figure.

The Greendale Oak, on private land at Welbeck may possibly be the oldest of all. Apparently the tree had a carriageway hewn out of its girth in the 1720s as the result of a bet made by the 2nd Earl of Oxford, whose pleasure it was to drive through in his coach !.

Sherwood was popular with the Kings of England who were able to find sporting activities here. King John preferred Rockingham Forest, he had a hunting lodge at Clipstone, the ruins of which were known as 'King John's Palace'. The King held an emergency parliament here in 1200. Subsequent monarchs visited the forest, including Edward I who also summoned a parliament at Clipstone, Edward II who held court there and Edward III.

Despite modern progress, mining, motor vehicles, faster roads, the fact that some great houses have been pulled down, much of the beauty still remains in this area.

The Church

The church here also has glass designed by Savile-Foljambe. There are legends of a connection with King Edwin of Northumbria, based probably on the village’s name, but there is no concrete evidence to confirm this. The village is on the edge of what is left of Sherwood Forest and the Visitors’ Centre is not far away.

Edwinstowe late 1800's

The Dukeries and Sherwood Forest

History «