St. Mary's Church, Nottingham- and Robin Hood and the Monk

St Mary's Church in Nottingham is the earliest church in the town and is mentioned in Domesday Book. It was at the heart of the original Saxon town. 




The earliest of the surviving ballads of Robin Hood- Robin and the Monk (talkyng of the Munke and Robyne Hode)- written down around 1450- mentions St. Mary's Church in Nottingham. Robin is said to have visited the church (he was devoted to the Virgin Mary) when he was spotted by a Grey Monk whose alarm forced him to be captured. The tale tells of his subsequent rescue from the Sheriff by Little John and Much the Miller's Son. 




The church was almost entirely rebuilt in the Perpendicular Gothic style in the 15th century, and is a fantastic example of this style of architecture- with its south and north transept windows utilising the innovations in architecture to create almost entire walls of glass.




The church was under the control of the nearby Lenton Abbey in the medieval period, and was a the heart of religious life in the town.


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