{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}} {{Use British English|date=October 2020}} {{Infobox Historic Site | name = Robin Hood's Well | image = robin hoods well.JPG | caption = Robin Hood's Well, picture taken from rear to show dual carriageway in background | locmapin = United Kingdom South Yorkshire | coordinates = {{coord|53|35|59.1|N|01|13|01.7|W|display=inline,title}} | location = [[Burghwallis]], [[South Yorkshire]] | area = | built = 1710 | architect = [[Sir John Vanbrugh]] | architecture = | governing_body = | designation1 = Grade II Listed Building | designation1_offname = Robin Hood's Well | designation1_date = 5 June 1968 | designation1_number = 1314882 }}
'''Robin Hood's Well''' is a historic structure beside the [[A1 road (Great Britain)|A1 road]] near [[Burghwallis]], [[South Yorkshire]], England. It was originally built in 1710 as a well house over a spring alongside the old [[Great North Road (United Kingdom)|Great North Road]], but the structure was moved to its present location alongside the [[A1(M) motorway#Doncaster By-Pass (Blyth to Skellow)|Doncaster By-Pass]] in what is known as [[Barnsdale]] (sometimes Barnsdale Forest).
==Description== Robin Hood's Well is an ornamental well cover that was designed by [[Sir John Vanbrugh]] in 1710 for the 3rd Earl of Carlisle. The stone that makes up the well cover is finely cut, [[ashlar]] [[Magnesian Limestone]]. Three of its sides are made up of arched entrances with pendant keystones.<ref name="NHLE"/> Originally the well was built as a [[stepwell]] sourced from a spring alongside a park wall, with the spring lying at the base of some steps under the structure. The spring was buried in 1960 during the construction of the Doncaster By-Pass and the well was relocated away from its original location, being placed alongside the highway on a concrete foundation.<ref>{{cite web|author=|title=Robin Hood's Well and Barnsdale Summer House, Burghwallis, South Yorkshire|url=https://thefollyflaneuse.com/tag/robin-hood/|work=The Folly Flâneuse|date=21 June 2019|accessdate=26 October 2020|archive-date=29 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029063633/https://thefollyflaneuse.com/tag/robin-hood/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NHLE"/> After its relocation the structure was rehabilitated in 1993 with a stainless-steel frame to ensure its prolonged survival.<ref name="Doncaster"/>
==History== The ballad "[[Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar]]" gives the figure of [[Robin Hood]] a connection to fountains, which may account for the original naming of the spring where the well was established.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Kathleen H.|last=Basford|title=The Foliate Head|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/125929|journal=Folklore|volume=79|number=1|date=1968|jstor=125929 |accessdate=26 October 2020|archive-date=1 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101230044/https://www.jstor.org/stable/125929|url-status=live}}</ref> The well itself was given the name "Robin Hood's Well" by [[Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle]], who had the well named after the figure in an attempt to solidify the area's identity as the home of the legends.<ref name="Doncaster"/>
The spring associated with the well was first recorded in 1622 by the antiquarian, Roger Dodsworth, and a little later in "Barnaby's Journal" by Richard Braithwaite. It was said to have restorative powers and was exploited as such by local hostelries. It is also mentioned in a contemporary play, "The Sad Shepherd: or a Tale of Robin Hood", by Ben Jonson.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk/ben-jonsons-walk/robin-hood-well/|title=Robin Hood's Well – University of Edinburgh blog by Anna Groundwater|access-date=29 March 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Ben Jonson's Sad Shepherd with Waldron's continuation |date=1905 |page=n84, stanza 560|editor-first=W. W.|editor-last=Greg|publisher=David Nutt|location= London|url=https://archive.org/details/benjonsonssadsh00greggoog/page/n128/mode/2up?view=theater&q=bathe}}</ref>
When in its original location, according to letters by Roger Gale in John Nichols topographical book of Britain,<ref>{{cite book|title=Bibliotheca Topographica Britannica: Antiquities in Yorkshire; being the second volume of the Bibliotheca topographica Britannica, Volume 2|publisher=J.Nichols|date=1790|page=427}}</ref> recorded that there was an epigram in Latin that read: :"nympha fui quondam latronibus hospita sylvae. Heu nimium sociis nota, Robine, tuis. Me pudet innocuous latices fudisse scelestis, iamque viatore poculo tuta fero, en pietatis honos! Comes hanc nihi Carliolensis Aedam sacravit qua bibis, hospes, aquas." and translates as: :"I was once a nymph, the host of robbers in the forest. Alas, too well known to your companions, Robin. I am ashamed to have spilled the innocuous laces of criminals, and now I will carry the traveler's cup safe, in the honors of piety! The count of Carlisle consecrated this house where you a guest eat, drink, and water."
The site next to the Great North Road was shown on the maps for the journey from London to in tourist guide, British High Roads (arranged for the use of tourists).<ref>{{cite book|title= British High Roads (arranged for the use of tourists) Part I North and North Eastern Routes|publisher=Tinsley Brothers|location=Strand, London|date=1877|page=Map 10}}</ref> And also featured on the maps in the book, "An actual survey of the Great Post Roads between London and Edinburgh", by the geographer [[Mostyn Armstrong|Mostyn John Armstrong]].<ref>{{cite book|title=An actual survey of the Great Post Roads between London and Edinburgh|first=Mostyn John|last=Armstrong|publisher=Mostyn Armstrong|date=1776|location=London|page=Plate 14}}</ref>
The stone structure known today as Robin Hood's Well was designed by Sir John Vanbrugh in 1710. It was erected to the east of the [[Great North Road (United Kingdom)|Great North Road]]. Barnsdale Forest had been associated with the legend of Robin Hood for centuries at the time of its construction, so Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle had the well named after the figure in an attempt to solidify the area's identity as the home of the myths. The well house was moved from its original location during the construction of the [[A1(M) motorway#Doncaster By-Pass (Blyth to Skellow)|Doncaster By-Pass]] in 1960. Hence it is no longer a real well, and now rests upon a solid concrete base.<ref name="Doncaster">{{cite news|title=History of Doncaster's '˜Robin Hood's Well'|url=https://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/news/historya-doncasters-robin-hoods-well-157396|newspaper=[[Doncaster Free Press]]|date=15 January 2019|accessdate=24 October 2020|archive-date=27 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027054206/https://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/news/historya-doncasters-robin-hoods-well-157396|url-status=live}}</ref> After its relocation it was listed as a [[Listed building|Grade II building]] on 5 June 1968, affording it protections due to its historic value.<ref name="NHLE">{{NHLE|desc=Robin Hood's Well|num=1314882|date=2020|accessdate=24 October 2020}}</ref>
==Other Robin Hood Wells== There are a number of other wells named after the legendary figure. They are located at:
*Helmshore, near Bury<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lancashirepast.com/2018/05/17/robin-hoods-well-helmshore-near-bury/|title=Robin Hood's Well, Helmshore near Bury|date=17 May 2018 |publisher=Lancashire Past – Lancashire History Website and Blog|access-date=29 March 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Ancient Crosses and Holy Wells of Lancashire, Revised Version, Volume IV Salford Hundred|first=Henry|last=Taylor|publisher=North West Catholic History Society|editor-first=A. J.|editor-last=Noble|location=Wigan}}</ref> *St Ann, Nottingham<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.irhb.org/w/index.php/Robin_Hood%27s_Well_(Nottingham)|title=International Robin Hood Bibliography|access-date=29 March 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Records of the Borough of Nottingham, Being a Series of Extracts from the Archives of the Corporation of Nottingham (London; Nottingham, 1882–1956)|author=Stevenson, W. H.; Raine, James, transl.; Baker, W. T.|editor= Guilford, E. L., Gray, Duncan, Walker, V. W.}}</ref> *Fountains Abbey, Ripon<ref>{{NHLE|num=1149812|desc=Robin Hood's Well, Fountaions Lane |grade=II |access-date=29 March 2024}}</ref> *Stanbury Moor, West Yorkshire<ref>{{cite book|title=Through Airedale from Goole to Malham|page=189|first=Harry|last=Speight|publisher=Walker & Laycock|date=1891|location=Leeds}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=By Moor and Fell in West Yorkshire|first=Halliwell|last=Sutcliffe|publisher=T. Fisher Unwin|location=London|date=1899}}</ref>
==See also== * [[Little John's Well]] * [[Listed buildings in Burghwallis]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Robin Hood's Well}} * [http://www.britannia.com/tours/rhood/rhwella1.html Robin Hood's Well, Skellow] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050903040435/http://www.britannia.com/tours/rhood/rhwella1.html |date=3 September 2005 }} * [http://www.ponies.me.uk/maps/osmap.html?z=14&x=-1.2160&y=53.6029 Robin Hood's Well on an OS map]
[[Category:Grade II listed buildings in South Yorkshire]] [[Category:Robin Hood]] [[Category:Doncaster]] [[Category:Water wells in England]]