A corner of yorkshire

ROBIN HOOD’S BRIDGE, WENTBRIDGE

The village of Wentbridge, just off the A1, has two entries in the history of England. The first is that there was a major battle nearby in AD 665, when a king called Penda was defeated by his rival, Oswiu. Penda was a pagan monarch, and Oswiu was a Christian. This was the end of the Anglo-Saxon worship of the “old gods”.

The second entry is possibly more romantic, and English Heritage has placed a blue plaque on the medieval bridge which crosses the River Went. It commemorates the first reference to our folkloric hero Robin Hood, which can be found in a manuscript that translates as “Robin Hood and the Potter”. The lines run: “Y met hem bot at Went breg,” seyd Lytyll John. Or, as we would say today: “I met him at Wentbridge,” said Little John.

The geographical layout of the area is such that Robin and his chums had a superb view of the main road as it dipped into the narrow valley, and then out again – ideal for waylaying enemies.