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I know there are one or two on here that enjoy a little local archaeology and I stumbled across this report which is downloadable in pdf form from the below link. The investigation regards an apparent man made mound near the edge of the wood.

I've always been a little fascinated by Thieves Wood and it's name.

'Thieves Wood is located to the south of Mansfield and is one of a number of

woodlands in the area either side of the A60. It is called Thieves Wood on

Chapman’s map of 1774, and this seems to be the earliest reference to this

name. It was previously part of much larger woodland, but as areas became

deforested one part became separated from the rest and acquired its own

identifying name.

There are various suggestions for the origin of the name of the wood. It is

possibly a romantic reference to the Robin Hood legend. It is also suggested

that the wood was thought to be once the hideout of ‘thieves and vagabonds’

(Lewis, 2). There is a further suggestion that the woods could be the location

of ‘Galow Tre Hyl’ (Gallow Tree Hill) which is noted on the 1437 Belvoir Map

of Sherwood Forest. This map shows that ‘Galow Tre Hyl’ was located

somewhere between Newstead and Mansfield on the main road from

Nottingham to Mansfield (now the A60), but does not place it precisely.

Gallows were where criminals (such as thieves) were hung, so if the mound

within Thieves Wood is this ‘Galow Tre Hyl’ that could explain why the wood is

later referred to as ‘Thieves’.

On Chapman’s 1774 map Thieves Wood is shown as being small and fairly

circular. The shape and size of the wood seem similar on Smith’s map of

1801, though Hayman Rooke (1799, 19) notes that areas of the wood had

recently been sown with acorns by the Marquis of Titchfield. He records that

prior to this time the woodland had been one of ‘scraggy oaks’, which had

recently been felled and started to regenerate. He says that 13 acres were

sown with acorns, extending the total woodland to 19 acres. This plantation

could have been a response to ongoing concerns at the time about the lack of

good quality naval timber in the region (White, 1844, 33). By the time

Sanderson published his map ‘Twenty Miles round Mansfield’ in 1835 the

extent of the wood had greatly increased.

The survey focussed on a very visible mound not far from the A60 within

Thieves Wood. It is thought that this mound is at least partially man-made,

and it is marked on the Nottinghamshire Historic Environment Record.

Recent clear felling has revealed the mound as a prominent feature in the

landscape. It is oval in plan and rises approximately 10m above the

surrounding landscape. About two thirds of the way up the mound, on the

east slope, there is a large oval hollow that appears to be man-made. There

is evidence for disturbance on the top of the mound in the form of uneven pits.

These pits might be the result of unauthorised digging on top of the mound by

people hoping to find archaeological remains. Some of the pits are quite deep

and the sides of them have not eroded, suggesting that they might be quite

recent.'

Download report from here:

http://www3.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/learning/history/archaeology/communityarchaeology/projects/?entryid68=99119

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There have been quite a few finds over the years including Roman coin in between the Hutt and Harlow Wood.I believe there are mounds closer to Kirkby in Ashfield that have yet to be fully investigated. I think they are assuming a lot that this mound is the site of the gallows hill...I would have thought that would be sited closer to Mansfield..not in an area that was on the very edge of the forest.Not forgetting that much of the forest was not just trees...but heathland and gorse.

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When I say later I mean of course the date the hoard was hidden...Just recalled there was a hoard of Roman coins found in Newstead in the nineties and a large Roman brooch found in Harlow Wood.

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Brings back a memory, a lad named Graham who lived on Northgate went to Mansfield on a old mobylette moped with another mate on an itom, later the latter came back saying the moped broke down there and Graham was pushing it home! I found him coming down the hill past thieves wood, can't recall the fault, but serious, I told him to chuck it in the hedge bottom and jump on my pillion, but he would have none of it and many hours later got home! that's some walk, true he could roll down hills but hell of a push

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Thanks very much for the info Pooh - very interesting. I can see we have some shared interests. It's sometimes mind-boggling to imagine what lies beneath the ground we walk on.

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Brings back a memory, a lad named Graham who lived on Northgate went to Mansfield on a old mobylette moped with another mate on an itom, later the latter came back saying the moped broke down there and Graham was pushing it home!

That has to be around a 10/12-mile push! Well done that man!

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Historians are quick to say that the Romans paid little attention to Nottinghamshire apart from Margidunnum on the Fosse.(Near East Bridgeford)

And yet there have been finds all over.A coin hoard reported at Wilford in the 1800s...a wharf at Sawley...and amazingly a hoard of coins found on Berridge road when they first built Forest Fields.

Major finds at Dorket Head and camps at Fox Wood Woodborough and Farnsfield.

There's no doubt too there were camps at Sutton in Ashfield and Mansfield...and two Villas at Mansfield Woodhouse.

I'm pretty sure the road from Mansfield cemetery across the Robin Hood hills to Derby is Roman based.In Derby a Roman agger (Road foundations) has been identified near Breadsall an obvious part of the same route.

To my mind there is a huge amount to be found in Notts yet including the route from Dorket Head to Margidunum crossing the Trent near Gunthorpe...I'm damned sure it's there if it could just be identified.

Both Dorket Head and Margidunum are within sight of each other on a fine day for the use of fire or heliograph signals.

There's a lot out there to be found yet.

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Also Southwell:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-13083692

http://www.southwellarchaeology.org.uk/save_roman.html

There's another obvious point above Woodborough to the other side, Ploughman Wood, that I understand was inhabited (and not just by the green woodpecker I spotted there recently) not sure by whom.

This man has a good handle on the Romans in Nottinghamshire:

http://www.inpressbooks.co.uk/roman-nottinghamshire/

'Somewhere along the River Trent east of Nottingham there was a Roman bridge, but its precise location remains a mystery.'

Roman Thurgarton link:

http://www.thurgartonhistory.co.uk/2011/03/roman-thurgarton/

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Thought I'd read somewhere that oak piles had been found in the Trent somewhere Wilford/Clifton.There was definitely a bridge there somewhere.Round abouts the area of this painting.

fb34d644.jpg

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  • 8 years later...

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