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Weekends in Paradelle @[email protected] · 2026-06-27 · 15:44 UTC

Welcome to Sherwood, Robin Hood

Trees hold history. Yes, there is a kind of story in their rings, but humans also attach stories and history to certain trees.

Robin Hood’s famous major oak tree is such a tree. People visit it in Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, England. It is a massive English oak (Quercus robur) and is widely considered one of the most famous trees in the world.

Now that tree is believed to have died. The Major Oak is said to be 1200 years and weighs a massive 23 tons. More than 900 of the trees in that park are over 600 years old, and the forest is rich in wildlife.

But for the first time in over a millennium, Major Oak in Nottingham’s Sherwood Forest failed to produce leaves this spring, signaling the tree’s demise.

The ancient oak tree would have been around in the 12th century during the High and Late Middle Ages, when Robin Hood is said to have lived.

The death of Sherwood Forest’s legendary tree marks the end of an era, while offering a sober reminder of climate change and important lessons for the future protection of the trees and forests around the world.

The Major Oak is estimated to be between 800 and 1,000 years old. If the folklore of Robin Hood is set during the reign of King Richard I (the late 12th century), the tree would have been a mere sapling or an ordinary, young oak at the time—hardly large enough to hide a band of Merry Men.

The tree is famous for its colossal, hollow trunk. In local folklore, this hollow interior is where Robin Hood and his men allegedly camped out, slept, and hid from the Sheriff of Nottingham.

AS you can see in the photo at the top, because its massive boughs are so heavy, the tree has been supported by an elaborate system of metal props, poles, and cables since the 19th century to keep its giant branches from snapping under their own weight.

The name “Major Oak” doesn’t actually come from a military rank or its sheer size. It was named after Major Rooke, an antiquarian who published a detailed description of the majestic tree back in 1790. Before that, locals simply called it the Queen’s Oak or the Cockpen Tree (because it was once used to hold cockerels for cockfighting).

The Major Oak will remain standing in the forest as a monument for people and wildlife, and saplings from the tree have also been planted across the world.

The Robin Hood we know from movies and books was not a real person. There is no historical evidence of a single, heroic outlaw named Robin Hood who stole from the rich, gave to the poor, and lived in Sherwood Forest with Maid Marian and Friar Tuck during the reign of King Richard the Lionheart.

The character is a composite myth, in some ways like King Arthur. He was likely stitched together over hundreds of years from real-life medieval criminals, shifting folklore, and the creative embellishments of later writers. In 13th-century England, the name “Robin Hood” (or variations like Robehod or Hobbehod) actually became a generic slang term for an outlaw. If a thief fled into the woods, legal clerks would sometimes just write “Robin Hood” in the court records as a placeholder name—much like we use “John Doe” today.

Statue of Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest #folklore #History #legends #RobinHood #tress

#folklore #history #legends #robinhood #tress