Description
Sherwood Forest is a royal forest in Nottinghamshire, England. Its peculiar fame arises from its historic association with the legend of Robin Hood.
The area has been wooded since the end of the Last Glacial Period (as attested by pollen sampling cores). Today Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve encompasses 424.75 hectares (1,049.6 acres), surrounding the village of Edwinstowe, the site of Thoresby Hall. It is a remnant of an older and much larger royal hunting forest, which derived its name from its status as the shire (or sher) wood of Nottinghamshire, which extended into several neighbouring counties (shires), bordered on the west by the River Erewash and the Forest of East Derbyshire. When Domesday Book was compiled in 1086 the forest covered perhaps a quarter of Nottinghamshire (approximately 19,000 acres or 7,800 hectares) in woodland and heath subject to the forest laws. The forest gives its name to the Sherwood Parliamentary constituency.
Mansfield anciently became the pre-eminent in importance among the towns of the Forest.
