{{Short description|Tree in Sherwood Forest, England}} {{Infobox tree | name = Robin Hood's Larder | image =Robin hoods larder 1880.jpg | alt = | image_caption = Robin Hood's Larder shown on a Valentines of Dundee postcard from c. 1906 but from a photographic negative of c.1895 | native_name = | species = | binomial = | location = [[Sherwood Forest]], [[Nottinghamshire]] | coordinates = | seeded = | felled = 1961 (during a gale) | custodian = Land now owned by the [[Forestry Commission]] | website = }}
'''Robin Hood's Larder''' (also known as the '''Butcher's Oak''', the '''Slaughter Tree''' and the '''Shambles Oak''') was a [[veteran tree]] in [[Sherwood Forest]] that measured {{convert|24|ft|m}} in circumference. The tree had long been hollow and is reputed to have been used by the legendary outlaw [[Robin Hood]] and others as a larder for poached meat. It was badly burnt by fire in the late 19th century and again in 1913. The tree fell in a [[gale]] in 1961 and no trace of it remains.
== Location == The oak tree was located in [[Birklands]], part of [[Sherwood Forest]] that was first mentioned in 1251 and in continual ownership by the crown for 600 years.<ref name=book>{{cite book|first=Julian|last=Hight|title=Britain's Tree Story|location=London|publisher=National Trust|year=2011|isbn=978-1-907892-20-2|page=37}}</ref> It was situated approximately {{convert|3|mi|km}} west of the village of [[Ollerton]] and {{convert|1.5|mi|km}} west of the [[Major Oak]].<ref name=mee>{{cite book |last1=Mee |first1=Arthur |title=The King's England: Nottinghamshire |date=1938 |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |url=http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/books/mee1938/edwinstowe.htm}}</ref><ref name=matthews>{{cite book |last1=Matthews |first1=John |title=Robin Hood |date=2016 |publisher=Amberley Publishing Limited |isbn=978-1-4456-5602-1 |page=154 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CesaDQAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref> The site is currently in the ownership of the [[Forestry Commission]] and the Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre, run by Nottinghamshire County Council, is nearby.<ref name=book/><ref name=ncc>{{cite web |title=Robin Hood's Larder |url=https://www.inspirepicturearchive.org.uk/image/21856/Robin_Hoods_Larder |website=Inspire Picture Archive |publisher=Nottinghamshire County Council}}</ref>
== In legend == The tree's name derives from an association with the legendary figure of [[Robin Hood]]. It is reputed that Robin Hood used the hollow trunk of the tree as a temporary store for [[venison]] poached from the royal forest.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Olly |first1=Mark |title=The Life & Times of the Real Robyn Hoode |date=2015 |publisher=John Hunt Publishing |isbn=978-1-78535-060-3 |page=182 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WuaOCgAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref> The use of such trees for storing game was common in the times before refrigeration and regardless of the veracity of the Robin Hood legend it is likely that at some point the tree was used for this purpose by poachers.<ref name=book/> It is said that in earlier times hooks used for the hanging of meat could still be seen affixed to the inside of the tree; these had vanished by 1913.<ref name=gil/><ref name=newark>{{cite news |title=Forest's famous trees, Newark history|url=https://legacy.newarkadvertiser.co.uk/leisure/tourism/history/TimWarner/warner97.asp |access-date=19 December 2019 |work=Newark Advertiser}}</ref> Because of this legend the tree has also been known as the Butcher's Oak, the Slaughter Tree and the Shambles Oak, the latter because it was the traditional name for an area of town where butchers and abattoirs were located.<ref name=matthews/><ref name=book/>
[[File:Robin hood larder 1913.png|thumb|upright=0.7|Robin Hood's Larder in a 1913 painting by [[Ernest William Haslehust]]]]
== History== An 1874 guidebook to the region mentions the tree and states that it was used formerly by a thief named Hooton to hang the carcasses of stolen sheep. At this point, the hollow trunk was big enough to accommodate 12 people.<ref>{{cite book |title=Handbook for Travellers in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, and Staffordshire |date=1874 |publisher=J. Murray |page=211 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PrQuAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}</ref> The tree was later reinforced with iron bars and cables.<ref name=ncc/> Towards the end of the 19th century the tree was badly burned in a fire originating from a group of schoolgirls boiling a kettle within the hollow.<ref name=book/> It was again damaged by a fire set by picnickers in 1913.<ref name=newark/><ref name=book/> In the same year, it was mentioned in a book of [[Robert Murray Gilchrist]] who described the tree as "an old, old man who will be brave to the end".<ref name=gil>{{cite book |last1=Gilchrist |first1=R. Murray |title=The Dukeries |date=1913 |publisher=Blackie and Son Limited |location=London, Glasgow and Bombay|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26486/26486-h/26486-h.htm}}</ref> Gilchrist noted the foliage was scanty but the tree retained live upper branches until after 1938.<ref name=gil/><ref name=mee/> In 1938, the trunk measured {{convert|24|ft|m}} in circumference and the hollow accounted for approximately one quarter of this.<ref name=mee/> Robin Hood's Larder fell by a gale in 1961 and no trace of it remains today.<ref name=book/>
==See also== * [[List of individual trees]]
== References == {{commonscat}} {{reflist}}
{{Robin Hood}}
[[Category:1961 disestablishments in England]] [[Category:Individual oak trees]] [[Category:Individual trees in England]] [[Category:1960s individual tree deaths]] [[Category:Robin Hood]] [[Category:Sherwood Forest]]