World Wide Robin Hood Society Award to the Sherwood Forest Archaeology Project and Mercian Archaeological Services CIC

We are extremely proud to announce that:

The Sherwood Forest Archaeology and History Project and Mercian Archaeological Services CIC have won an award from the World-Wide Robin Hood Society for "Engaging people in the heritage, history & archaeology of Sherwood Forest".

Picture: Andy Gaunt, Director, Mercian Archaeological Services CIC (right), and  Robin Hood (Ade Andrews) aka Ezekial Bone (left) receiving awards from  Bob White, Chairman of the World-wide Robin Hood Society (centre).

The "Feather in Your Cap" Awardpresented to Mercian recognises the hard work, expertise and dedication we have put in over the years to investigating, interpreting and promoting the heritage of our world famous #SherwoodForest and King John's Palace.

We also received the award alongside our dear friend the one and only Mr Robin Hood himself Ezekial Bone, aka Ade Andrews- who received a special award for his long term dedication to promoting Robin Hood to the world!

Well done Ade and well done us!

Thank you to the World-Wide #RobinHood Society for your recognition, to Chairman Bob White for presenting the award to Andy Gaunt Mercian Archin front of the statue of our iconic hero outside Nottingham Castle,

...and thank you to everyone for your continued support!!

For more information see the project homepage at: http://mercian-as.co.uk/sherwoodforest.html

and on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/sherwoodforesthistory

Picture: Andy Gaunt, Director, Mercian Archaeological Services CIC (right), and  Robin Hood (Ade Andrews) aka Ezekial Bone (left) receiving awards from  Bob White, Chairman of the World-wide Robin Hood Society (centre).

Picture: Andy Gaunt, Director, Mercian Archaeological Services CIC (left), and Sean Crossley, Driector, Mercian Archaeological Services CIC (right) receiving award from  Bob White, Chairman of the World-wide Robin Hood Society (centre).

Picture: Andy Gaunt, Director, Mercian Archaeological Services CIC (right), receiving award from  Bob White, Chairman of the World-wide Robin Hood Society (left).

King John's Palace Excavation - Nottingham Post article

Archaeologist Andy Gaunt and site owner Mickie Bradley at King John's Palace.

Taken from Nottingham Post Friday 20th July 2012: 'ARCHAEOLOGISTS now believe they have found the "medieval centre" of Sherwood Forest in a dig at a 12th-century site.

Specialists have uncovered more vital information about King's John's Palace, in King's Clipstone.

The dig over the weekend was the latest in a series which have aimed to uncover the historical secrets of the ruin.

Excavations proved that the exterior defences encircled a much bigger area than first thought and seem to finally prove that it was once a huge royal residence.

Notts archaeologist Andy Gaunt, who worked on the dig, said: "I think the site is the medieval centre of Sherwood Forest. For a couple of hundred years this is where all of England's kings were going.

"We've proved what the medieval boundary of the site was."

The series of trenches uncovered a 180m long defensive ditch – proving for certain the site stretched far beyond the three remaining walls of the small ruin and was once a vast complex...'

See the full article at: http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Experts-heart-historic-forest/story-16567795-detail/story.html

Mercian Archaeological Services CIC

Robin Hood Interview BBC

In May 2010 Ridley Scotts Robin Hood film was released. It was claimed it would be the most historically accurate version of the legend ever.

Interest in Robin Hood and Sherwood Forest was high, and so the BBC sent a camera crew to Sherwood Forest to interview the author on BBC Breakfast News.

Click on the image below to see the interview

 

Time Team at King John's Palace 1

In the heart of medieval Sherwood Forest lies King John's Palace, a royal hunting lodge. This royal palace was situated alongside the royal deer park of Clipstone.

All 8 Kings from Henry II, Richard I and John through to Richard II visted the palace with a number of parliaments being held there.

A Geophysical Resistance survey of King John's Palace , Clipstone, Nottinghamshire was undertaken in 2010 by Andy Gaunt (now of Community Archaeology Company Mercian Archaeological Services CIC).
This subsurface survey of the Medieval royal hunting palace in the heart of Sherwood Forest discovered the medieval boundary of the royal hunting lodge.

As previously stated this survey and the work undertaken alongside it led to Channel Four's Time Team excavating at the site!

The boundary ditch was excavated as part of the programme. The video below is a time lapse of that excavation (Andy Gaunt (now of Mercian Archaeological Services CIC is in the blue hooded top with the blue hard hat).

Robin Hood Guardian Interview

My search for the real Robin Hood The Guardian newspaper April 2010. Interview including comments by Andy Gaunt

Ridley Scott claims his new film starring Russell Crowe will be the most historically accurate ever. But what do we actually know about the real outlaw and his merrie men?

by Stephen Moss

 
...'In the cafe, Andy Gaunt, an archaeologist with Nottingham county council, tells me not to think of medieval Sherwood as just a forest. It was a working community, governed by forest law (a draconian code introduced by William the Conqueror to protect his hunting land). The inhabitants of areas governed by forest law loathed it, and would have been likely to lionise anyone who flouted it. It is easy to see how outlaws became heroes, and common criminals could be confused with freedom fighters.

People were being outlawed all the time," Gaunt says. "It was quite common in medieval times – it was a violent society. The forest was seen as a wild place and after dark it would be pitch black. I wouldn't want to go there on my own (though there are parts of Nottingham I wouldn't want to go on my own now). Robin Hood in the ballads is quite a brutal character, but people didn't seem to worry about that, just as people in the Wild West didn't worry that Billy the Kid was actually a serial murderer."' 

See the full article by clicking on the title or see Stephens profile by clicking on his name.