Maid Marian photo album.

 

DATES (top to bottom): 1984, 1952, 1951, 1950, 1938, 1922.

Maid Marian, a Blidworth girl.

 

According to local legend the real Maid Marian was a girl from Blidworth Village. Other stories say she only stayed there in a house on a hill, opposite the Black Bull Pub, during the night before her marriage to Robin Hood. In reality the Black Bull is at the base of a hill, but if you walk up it, you reach a spot  opposite the church where Will Scarlet was buried.

On her wedding day, Will Scarlet, also thought to have been a Blidworth man, is said to have escorted Marian from the house to Edwinstowe. There is also a story that Robin Hood's Outlaws used a nearby cave on the hillside in which to hide their stolen loot.

Above: "Robin Hood" (1922). "The Story of Robin Hood and his Merry Men" (1952). "Robin of Sherwood" (1984 - 1986). "The Adventures of Robin Hood" TV series, (1955 - 1959). Patricia Driscoll makes a brief return to the role in "Labyrinth" TV series (1980).

Edwinstowe Church. Robin Hood and Maid Marian’s wedding.

 

Robin Hood and Maid Marian are said to have married under the arch of the doorway to the Church of St. Mary, Edwinstowe, this being the normal place for such a ceremony at that time. The church is situated quite close to the Major Oak, Robin Hood's Tree, and the tower and parts of the northern nave do date from Robin's time. In 1334 the vicar of Edwinstowe was convicted of trespassing in Sherwood Forest and killing the King's deer!

Edwinstowe was named in honour of King Edwin of Northumbria, killed in the Battle of Hatfield (633 AD), and subsequently buried in a forest clearing here. The original St Mary's Church (not to be confused with the St Marys Church in Nottingham), was later built on that site. Edwinstowe village is popular place for its links to the Robin Hood legend, and features an impressive statue of Robin proposing to Marian, as well as the Sherwood Visitors Centre on route to the Major Oak.

Above: "The Adventures of Robin Hood", 1938. "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves", 1991. "Robin Hood" BBC TV, 2007. "Robin of Sherwood" TV Series, 1984. "Robin Hood", 1922. "Tales of Robin Hood", 1951.