The Sheriff of Nottingham

The Sheriff of Nottingham The Sheriff is the arch enemy of Robin Hood and is depicted as a tyrant who subjects the people to harsh taxes.
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Yet the Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown who had wide responsibilities. This page is dedicated to the Sheriff of Nottingham Using the role of the Sheriff of Nottingham to shed light on the legend of Robin Hood

As we grieve and remember let us think of the future The sad news yesterday of the Major Oak's death is just now startin...
19/06/2026

As we grieve and remember let us think of the future

The sad news yesterday of the Major Oak's death is just now starting to sink in. It came as a blow, not just for those of us in here in Sherwood and Nottinghamshire, but for everyone all over the world who has ever visited Sherwood Forest and stood in awe at the majesty of that great oak.

Like most locals the Sheriff has lots of memories of visits to Sherwood Forest and the Major Oak, of being able to go inside and wonder at its great age. Of family and picnics and playing at outlaws scampering through the bracken.

For well over a millennium, the Major Oak has stood in a clearing here in Sherwood Forest. It is far from the only ancient oak for Sherwood can still boast many but it was the greatest of them. It stands still as silent witness to history and indeed legend. Taking its name from a great benefactor of the Forest, Major Hayman Rooke.

The Major Oak will keep its place in the Forest for many many years to come. Hundreds of years hopefully. A landmark to the past. All of us who love this tree, this forest, these legends should be asking what can we now to honour the legacy of the Major Oak. Let’s us turn our sadness into positivity

In a weeks time on the 27th June there will be a Sherwood Forest Moot - a gathering of the community of historic Sherwood Forest to discuss how we celebrate the history of Sherwood and now especially how we can honour the legacy of the Major Oak

We will be laying out plans to celebrate Sherwood Forest and find lots of ways to keep alive the spirit of Englands greatest Oak. Will you join us??

Terrible news today. We are deeply saddened to report that the icon of Sherwood Forest and beloved part of many if not m...
18/06/2026

Terrible news today. We are deeply saddened to report that the icon of Sherwood Forest and beloved part of many if not most of our childhoods. The Major Oak is dead.

Conservationists worked to protect the tree, which attracted millions of visitors over its life, but in recent years the natural giant was in decline. It was plain to see.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) - the conservation charity which manages the nature reserve part of the historic forest - said the tree's first spring with no leaves this year, scientific experts believed the Major Oak had died.
While it was difficult to determine the exact cause of the oak's demise, the RSPB said a combination of issues - including years of "well-intentioned structural intervention and huge amounts of human activity" around the tree - were thought to be "major contributors".

Did you know that in the council house in Nottingham there is a miniature of the famous Robin Hood statue??
17/06/2026

Did you know that in the council house in Nottingham there is a miniature of the famous Robin Hood statue??

Hunting was the principal pastime and “hobby” for Royalty, barons, knights, nobility and even the upper echelons of the ...
16/06/2026

Hunting was the principal pastime and “hobby” for Royalty, barons, knights, nobility and even the upper echelons of the clergy in all of medieval Europe.

There are scores and scores of period images of hunting scenes. Royal Forests like Sherwood ensured that the crown had the best hunting available.

The one was “practice” for the other. In 1066, William the Conqueror brought about 3,000 horses with him when he crossed...
15/06/2026

The one was “practice” for the other.

In 1066, William the Conqueror brought about 3,000 horses with him when he crossed the Channel.

These sturdy, strong mounts were bred to carry heavily armoured knights into battle.
Hunting was a part of the training for horse and rider.

Perched high above Nottingham’s historic Exchange Arcade is a series of four murals dating back to 1928. Painted by loca...
14/06/2026

Perched high above Nottingham’s historic Exchange Arcade is a series of four murals dating back to 1928. Painted by local artist Noel Denholm Davis, these frescoes adorn the grand glass dome ceiling in the shopping arcade immediately behind the Council House at the heart of the City.

The four paintings highlight key moments in local history.

The Vikings in Nottingham (868 AD): Depicts the Norsemen capturing the city.

William the Conqueror (1068 AD): Portrays the king ordering the construction of Nottingham Castle.

King Charles I (1642): Marks the triggering of the English Civil War at nearby Standard Hill.

And finally Robin Hood: A colorful tribute to the legendary outlaw of Sherwood Forest and his Merry Men.

They are all in need of some tender loving care and restoration.

Today 13th June we mark the birth of Philip St. John Basil Rathbone MC (13 June 1892 – 21 July 1967). Rathbone played Si...
13/06/2026

Today 13th June we mark the birth of Philip St. John Basil Rathbone MC (13 June 1892 – 21 July 1967).

Rathbone played Sir Guy of Gisbourne in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938).

Rathbone was twice the British Army Fencing Champion, a skill that served him well in the Robin Hood classic and allowed him to even teach actors Errol Flynn and Tyrone Power swordsmanship.

He was a Captain in the First World War and undertook highly dangerous daylight reconnaissance missions. In September 1918, he was awarded the Military Cross for "conspicuous daring and resource on patrol"

A consummate actor, a war hero and real gentleman and the best Guy of Gisbourne ever.

The Nottingham divide This line running through Nottingham's Old Market Square is a subtle historical marker. It was ins...
12/06/2026

The Nottingham divide

This line running through Nottingham's Old Market Square is a subtle historical marker. It was installed during the square's 2006 redesign, the metal drainage channel shows exactly where a medieval wall stood for nearly 700 years.

The older established Anglo-Saxon community lived on one side (the northern, commercial part of the market) while the French Normans lived on the other (the southern/western side). The wall was intended to keep the peace and manage the administrative and legal boundaries between the two sides. Different customs, practices and laws applied to each part.

The 1449 Royal Charter granted by King Henry VI elevated Nottingham to a "county in itself," making it judicially and administratively independent from the Shire of Nottingham. The Sheriff of Nottingham no longer had jurisdiction or responsibility in and for the town. The charter replaced the previous town bailiffs with not just one, but two town Sheriffs, one to represent and act within the historic Anglo-Saxon part of the town and the other the Norman part.

A day in the life of the Sheriff of Nottingham. The record below from the reign of King Edward I in 1298 shows a number ...
11/06/2026

A day in the life of the Sheriff of Nottingham.

The record below from the reign of King Edward I in 1298 shows a number of closed (sealed) instructions to the Sheriff of Nottingham and others concerning supplies of venison. It tells the Sheriff to “cause” all the venison that the king recently ordered to be taken from the royal forests of Sherwood and High Peak that the steward of Sherwood Forest will deliver to him to be taken to York without delay (there was no frozen or refrigerated meat back then) and delivered to the kings larder.

Nickolas de Pecco the Keeper of the Forest of the Peak was similarly ordered to deliver his share of venison to Nottingham for the Sheriff to deliver onwards to York.

Presumably the King was at York and he and his court needed feeding. We are indebted to David Pilling - Author for all his research in these records

Pay your Cheminage if you want to take your wagon or a cart through Sherwood Forest. It is now fence month - a time when...
10/06/2026

Pay your Cheminage if you want to take your wagon or a cart through Sherwood Forest.

It is now fence month - a time when the mother deer, hinds or does, need peace and quite to have their fawn. Cheminage was a toll or tax on carts and wagons using roads through the Forest to prevent or minimise disturbance to the king’s deer.

The fee was only up be taken of those who came as merchants from outside the Forest. Those who carried on their backs, brushwood, bark, or charcoal were to pay No Cheminage.

In some places all passage for carts through the Forest was banned for the period of the fence month.

Cheminage had been a very lucrative earner for the forest authorities and had often been imposed all year round and in areas well away from the deer herds. It had been a source of much complaint. Hence reform was included in the Charter of the Forest.

article 14 of the Charter of the Forest,1225

(14) No forester from henceforth, which is not forester in fee, paying to us farm for his bailiwick, shall take any chimmage or toll within bailiwick; but a forester in fee, paying us farm for his bailiwick, shall take chimmage; that is to say, for carriage by cart the half-year 2 pence, and for another half-year 2 pence, for an horse that beareth loads, every half-year, an half-penny, and by another half-year half a penny; and but of those only that come as merchants through his bailiwick by licence to buy bushes, timber, bark, coal and to sell it again at their pleasure; but for none other carriage by cart chimmage shall be taken; nor chimmage shall not be taken, but in such places only where it used to be. Those which bear upon their backs brushment, bark, or coal to sell, though it be their living, shall pay no chimmage to our foresters, except they take it within our demesne woods.

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NG21 9RN
Mansfield
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