Edwinstowe

Edwinstowe is a village and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district of Nottinghamshire, England, on the edge of Sherwood Forest and the Dukeries. It is associated with the legends of Robin Hood and Maid Marian, and to a lesser extent Edwin of Northumbria, from where the village gets its name. The civil parish population at the 2011 census was 5,188. A 2019 estimate put it at 5,261, and was 5,320 at the 2021 census.

Heritage
The etymology of the village name, "Edwin's resting place", recalls that the body of Edwin of Northumbria, King and Saint, was hidden in the church after he was killed in the Battle of Hatfield Chase. The battle against King Penda of Mercia is thought to have occurred near the present-day hamlet of Cuckney, some five miles north-west of modern Edwinstowe, though this location is disputed.



Like Thoresby, Budby and Mansfield, Edwinstowe belonged to King Edward the Confessor and afterwards became the property of King William the Conqueror.

Edwinstowe is referred to twice in Domesday Book as having five households, in addition to a priest and his four bordars, in 1086.

Legend has it that Robin Hood married Maid Marian in St Mary's Church. Edwinstowe is known for the presence near the village of the Major Oak in Sherwood Forest, a feature in the folk tales of Robin Hood, and Robin Hood's Larder.



By the turn of the 20th century Edwinstowe consisted of a cluster of houses along Town Street, East Lane, Church Street and High Street. A hamlet called Hazel Grove was bordered by Mill Lane and the railway line and a cluster of houses at the top of Rufford Road was another hamlet called Lidgett. Lidgett was the site of a fireworks factory owned by F. Tudsbury and Co. before George Pinder, a local wine, spirit and porter merchant who resided at Lidgett House, took over ownership by 1886. These settlements eventually merged as the result of infills from World War I, much of it housing for colliers and named after the largest area.

Economy
Nottinghamshire County Council's Sherwood Forest Visitors' Centre is located near the village and was redeveloped and improved in 2017 at a cost of £5.3 million. This centre is operated in partnership by the Council and the RSPB.

Center Parcs' Sherwood Forest holiday village is a local employer established in 1987, close to the edge of the village.

Sherwood Pines Forest Park is set within Sherwood Forest near to Old Clipstone and has activity walking/cycling trails, play areas and bike hire for the general public. Sherwood Pines is managed by the Forestry Commission. A Go Ape adventure area is on-site too.

There was a post windmill south of the Mansfield Road with a small box-style roundhouse. It was driven by two common and two double-patent windmill sails.

Thoresby Colliery served as Edwinstowe's main source of employment until July 2015, when the mine was permanently closed. The loss of one of the last remaining deep coal mines in the country has left tourism as the main factor in the local economy. The colliery has now become a large housing development for 800 homes, to make use of the now brownfield site.

Amenities


The two schools in the village are St Mary's Primary School and King Edwin Primary School. The former Rufford School on the north side of the village closed in 2003 and has become residential housing by Barratt Developments, known as Friars Park. A skate park on the development proved controversial with concerns over noise and anti-social behaviour.

The village has a business services provider, a St John's Ambulance amenity, an antiques centre, workshops, a fun park, a youth hostel, two arts and crafts centres, a village hall, and a community pest-control centre. Leisure facilities include Thoresby Colliery Band and Youth Band, a high-wire forest adventure course, a mountain biking, cyclo cross and forest walks centre, a forest fun park, and an outdoor adventure park.

Environmental concerns are addressed under the Maun Valley Project Conservation Area.

Transport
Edwinstowe railway station functioned between 1897 and 1955. A goods line remains. The nearest passenger railway stations are at Mansfield Woodhouse and Mansfield, both about 6 mi from Edwinstowe.

The village is served by half-hourly daytime Monday–Saturday bus services to Mansfield and Ollerton, six buses a day Monday–Saturday to Worksop, and one bus a day Monday–Friday to Nottingham. Services run twice a week to Newark and once a week to Lincoln.

Notable people
In order of birth:
 * King Edwin of Northumbria (c. 586 – 632/633) gave his name to the village.
 * The legendary Robin Hood is said to have married Maid Marian here.
 * John Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle (1662–1711), politician and landowner, was born here.
 * Henrietta Harley, Countess of Oxford and Countess Mortimer (1694–1755), noblewoman and heiress was born here.
 * E. Cobham Brewer (1810–1897), lexicographer, died at the vicarage, where his son-in-law was the vicar.
 * Henry Morley (1852–1924), first-class cricketer, was born and died here.
 * Fanny Jean Turing (1864–1934), politician and activist, was probably born in the village, where her father was vicar.
 * Charles Otway Alexander (1888-1970), rear admiral, was born in Edwinstowe Hall.
 * Fred Kitchen (1890–1969), countryside writer and autobiographer, was born here.
 * Cecil Day-Lewis (1904-1972), Poet Laureate and father of Daniel Day-Lewis and Lydia Tamasin Day-Lewis, lived in Edwinstowe when his father, Frank Cecil Day-Lewis, was appointed vicar of St Mary's Church in 1918.
 * Francis Woodhead (1912–1991), first-class cricketer, was born here.
 * Philip Brett (1937–2002), musicologist and conductor, was born here.
 * Brendan Clarke-Smith (born 1980), Member of Parliament for Bassetlaw, was living in the village in December 2019, but now resides in nearby Retford.