These are the oaks which have stood while king after king have resigned, while countries have flourished and decayed, dynasties have come and gone, while revolution after revolution and war after war have devastated and changed the face of the world. These were the oaks under which Robin Hood led up his bold band of outlaws. These were the trees under which King John pursued the red deer. You stand and look around and in the height of summer all is silent it is like the fragment of a world worn out and forsaken. The trees are grey with clinging lichens and the heather and ferns that spring up beneath have a character of the past. Local author and historian, William Howitt (born at Heanor in 1792) was also captivated by the splendour of Sherwood Forest and wrote:”A thousand years, ten thousand tempests, lightnings, winds and wintry violence have all flung their utmost force on these trees and there they stand, trunk after trunk, scathed, hollow, grey, gnarled stretching out their bare, sturdy arms or their mingled foliage and ruin – a life in death. I saw in this sylvan scenery half huntsmen, half freebooters, trooping across the distant glades or feasting and revelling beneath the trees.” The horn of Robin Hood again seemed to resound through the forest. These romantic experiences were eloquently recorded by such notable literary figures as the American writer, Washington Irving, author of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, who wrote “As I gazed about me upon those vestiges of once “Merrie Sherwood”, the picturing of my boyish fancy began to rise in my mind and Robin Hood and his men to stand before me. The tree is reputed to have “wintered for over 1000 years” and some claim that its hollow trunk may even have provided shelter for Robin Hood and his men, when hiding from the Sheriff of Nottingham! A pre-First World War travel guide to the Sherwood Forest area states that ”at the height of five feet, the gnarled and weather-beaten trunk measures thirty feet in circumference and its monster branches cover a straight line of two hundred and forty feet – or a circumference of nearly two hundred and seventy yards! The trunk is quite hollow to a height of over fifteen feet, accessed through a fissure and affords standing room for a dozen persons.”In fact one historian of the time recorded that “seven persons had breakfasted together within the space and sixteen had been known to squeeze themselves within the wooden walls.”Ĭontemporary examination by present day botanists and tree specialists estimate that the Major Oak is most likely to actually be only 800 - 1000 years old – making it little more than an acorn at the time of Robin Hood’s supposed existence! However, just like today, visitors paid no attention to such “spoil sport” findings and Victorian and Edwardian travellers liked nothing better than to wander through Sherwood Forest’s atmospheric woodland glades and re-live the Robin Hood legend in their imagination. Upon his death in 1806, as a mark of respect for the interest he had shown, the formerly known Cockpen Tree ( so called because its hollow trunk had been used to rear and keep fighting cocks), was re-named “the Major’s Oak” in Rooke’s honour.

He became very interested in the wooded landscape of the Sherwood and Welbeck estates and their spectacular trees and in 1799 he published his “Sketch of the Ancient and Present State of Sherwood Forest”.

The truth is that it was actually named after a Major Hayman Rooke, who, on retirement from the army, moved to the area and developed a friendship with the Duke of Portland. Many people wrongly assume that the world famous Major Oak in Sherwood Forest got its name because it was the biggest and most dominant tree in the forest. However, the Forest also has some interesting myths and legends of its own and BOB WHITE, Chairman of the World Wide Robin Hood Society, takes a closer look at some of the fascinating facts and superstitions that surround Sherwood Forest and its ancient oaks.rterargr The popular tales of Robin Hood’s adventures in Sherwood Forest are the heart and soul of the most famous legend in English folklore.

Robin hood legend of sherwood lags