Day-to-night: Ye Olde Robin Hood Inn

This public house is located between Ironbridge town and an area called The Lloyds; immediately adjacent to the Free Bridge, which crosses the River Severn. Although it is a detached building now, it was once part of a long terrace and was then just ‘The Robin Hood’. I’m not sure exactly when it was built, but it is marked as a public house in the Ordnance Survey map of the area created in 1883.

What seems to be unsure is whether it has always been called this name, because there is no obvious reason why it should. Robin Hood, the folk hero, was first mentioned in written ballads in the 1300s, but was then just depicted as a violent criminal who lived with his gang in Sherwood Forest. It wasn’t until much later that Maid Marion and Friar Tuck entered the legend and Robin Hood became a rebel, fighting injustice from the infamous Sheriff of Nottingham. I can’t recall any connection to Ironbridge or the pub trade.

At some point in the early 1970s the Robin Hood ceased being a licensed premises and became an antiques shop, but later in the same decade it reverted back to being a hostelry.