Expert calls for end to Sheffield vs Nottingham row over reclaiming Robin Hood

It comes after a recently published book, Reclaiming Robin Hood: Folklore & South Yorkshire’s Infamous Outlaw, made the case for the iconic character, known as Robin of Locksley, being born in the Loxley area of Sheffield.

Bob White, chairman of the World Wide Robin Hood Society, a former public relations officer for Nottingham City Council, welcomed the debate as it helps keep the Robin Hood story alive but felt it was impossible to say exactly where he was born.

He said: “Arguments go on all the time as to who Robin Hood was, and whether he ever existed, so you don’t have a starting point. No matter how many times he’s been referred to in different books and songs, you can’t prove who he was or that he actually existed, there’s no undisputed historical evidence.

“Robin Hood has become a public icon for what he stands for, the fight for justice, and that’s the most important thing.”

It is not the first time Yorkshire has claimed Robin Hood. When it first opened, Doncaster Sheffield Airport was named Robin Hood Airport, experts at the time explaining the legend’s links to the area.

Loxley link

The new book contains a chapter by Loxley Primary School teacher Dan Eaton, who claims to have pinpointed the exact location where a Robin Hood was born according to a 17th-century document.

Current sheriff of Nottingham, Merlita Bryan, said: “Robin Hood is as much from Sheffield as Jarvis Cocker is from Nottingham. Everyone knows his arch-rival wasn’t the sheriff of Sheffield.

“We get it – Yorkshire wants a piece of the legendary action – but really everyone knows that he was from Nottingham.”

Dr David Clarke, a co-founder of the Centre for Contemporary Legend at Sheffield Hallam University and one of the book’s contributors, said: “All we’re doing is examining the evidence, we’re not stealing something from Nottingham. But the fact that people are getting so hot under the collar about it, even now, 800 years after this person is supposed to have lived and died, suggests it does actually mean something to people.”

Reclaiming Robin Hood is part of a project to keep alive South Yorkshire’s connections to the legend.