Castles and Sherwood forest

One of the interesting puzzles about Sherwood Forest is its shape.

The lop-sided hour-glass shape stretching from the river Trent in the south to the river Meden in the north.

This was the outline of the forest from the 13th century (see boundaries page).

But was this its original shape and size?

A previous blog post described a boundary covering all of the west of Nottinghamshire in the reign of King Henry I (see oldest known boundary post)

Was this the original boundary?

One possible indicator is that there are no early casltes (11th and 12th century) within the 13th century boundary of Sherwood Forest.

Is this a coincidence, or is this because the original boundary was the same as the 13th century boundary?

Was the original forest within an area under the control of Nottingham Castle? A Castlery? (See the image oposite showing the forest and the location of early castles, the castles are around the perimeter of the Forest at strategic positions).

And was the 13th century Sherwood Forest a retreat back within these bounds?

This will be discussed further in another post... with other evidence to come...

and more discussion on the possible nature of this castlery and the area it may have protected...