In 1637 John Harrison visited
Loxley while compiling his history of Sheffield. He records that a local man
pointed out to him a few stones lying in a field a little outside the village.
These, Harrison was told, were the ruins of the cottage where Robin Hood had
been born. No doubt Harrison was telling the truth, but there is no way of
knowing if the local man was passing on a genuine tradition dating back to the
middle ages or pulling Harrison’s leg. By this date the Locksley birthplace of
Robin Hood had become famous so the local inhabitants may have simply invented
the fact that the outlaw had been born in the ruined cottage for the benefit of
visitors.
Loxley
