Robin Hood, West Yorkshire


Robin Hood is a village in West Yorkshire, England, within the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, with Wakefield WF3 postcodes. It is on the A61 between Leeds and Wakefield, close to Rothwell and Lofthouse.
It forms part of the Ardsley and Robin Hood ward of Leeds City Council and the Morley and Outwood parliamentary constituency.

History

It was in origin a coal-mining community, its mines at their peak employing several hundred underground workers for the firm J&J Charlesworth, but the last mine closed in the 1960s. There has been considerable residential and commercial development in recent years.

Football club

Robin Hood Athletic Football Club were crowned champions of the West Yorkshire Football League Division One in 2013–14 and have since played in its Premier Division. The team play from the Coach Ground located just behind the Coach and Horses pub.

The folk hero connection

The village has a suspected link with the medieval folk hero Robin Hood as some of the original legends do mention an "Outwoods" and the original legends also mention a "Stane Lea". Also, most of the original Robin Hood ballads have him operating in and around Barnsdale forest which is close to Wakefield and surrounding areas.

Notable former residents