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Situated between Little
Lane (now Market Street) and Scotts Hill/Hole, later known as Swan Street.
In 1828, an inquest was held “at the sign of the Robin Hood and Little
John”, following the death of George Wilson, aged 15, who “suffocated in an
ash hole” in his father’s cellar. However, the Robin Hood was not listed in
Pigot’s Directory for that year, nor was it mentioned in the Alehouse
Recognizances for 1826/7 or in the preceding four years.
The name “Robin Hood & Little John” was mentioned in 1830, 1835 and 1841.
During the 1850’s, then landlord Michael Heathcote also ran a business as a
Carrier, travelling to Nottingham every Wednesday and Saturday.
In October 1886, an inquest was held at the Robin Hood Inn, upon the death
of John Shaw, aged 66, who had been run over by a cart. During the inquest,
the landlord Samuel Cudworth also appeared as a witness, as he’d been
present when the accident happened.
In early 1892 the Robin Hood Inn was put up for sale by auction. It was
described in the Nottinghamshire Guardian as an:
“Old-established Fully Licenced Inn, known as the Robin Hood, with brewhouse
and stable, for many years in the occupation of Mr Samuel Cudworth; also a
piece of Freehold land adjoining, lately purchased from his Grace the Duke
of Portland. This lot has frontages to Swan Street and Market Street and
contains in the whole 486 square yards or thereabouts, is in the very centre
of the town, (opposite to the new Town Hall) and offers capabilities for
development of the highest order.”
On the day of the auction it was sold to the Mansfield Brewery Company for
£2,600.
In 1894, Samuel Cudworth was listed as "Victualler and Cow Keeper".
In 1899, the Robin Hood Cricket Club won a silver cup and medals from the
Notts Cricket League having not lost a match all season. The Robin Hood was
the headquarters of the club, which held its annual dinner at the inn in
December 1905. The property was also the headquarters of the Fanciers'
Association in 1907.
When the property was valued in 1916 at £406, John George Stevenson had at
that time held the licence for five years.
In 1925, The “Robin Hood Hotel, Sutton-in-Ashfield” was advertising in the
Beeston Gazette & Echo for a “strong girl, about 22 wanted.”
The redevelopment of the town centre required large-scale demolition of many
old properties. It affected everything between Market Street and Swan
Street, including the Robin Hood Inn, although the Robin Hood itself was one
of the few buildings still standing on an Ordnance Survey Map of 1967 that
had not yet been knocked down.
The location where the Inn used to stand is now around the Market Street
service yard/delivery bay for the Idlewells Shopping Centre and the lower
end of the multi-storey car park. |
