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Robin Hood : Prince of Thieves
by Grace Sydney

In this retelling of a timeless legend, Robin Hood (played by Kevin Costner in this 1991 screen version) robs from the rich to give to the poor, and in the process has his own heart stolen away by a woman's smile.

Filming Locations

Although ravaged by the passage of time, Old Waldour Castle still retains its dignity and was aptly chosen to depict the home of Robin's father. Built in the late fourteenth century as the former abode of John, the fifth Lord Level, Old Waldour is an anomaly among English castles-- its unique shape, that of a hexagon, was an architectural design popular among the French of that era. Set in a bucolic landscape near a placid lake in Wiltshire, this castle is open to the public year round.

A domicile befitting a noble lady, Alnwick Castle (www.alnwickcastle.com), along with the romantic remnants of nearby Hulne Priory, a thirteenth century Carmelite monastery on the Northumberland estate, was used in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves as Maid Marion's residence. Known as the "Windsor of The North", Alnwick Castle has been the family home of each successive Duke of Northumberland for the past seven hundred years. The haunting faces from portraits by such masters as Van Dyck and Titian follow you as you make your way through this Italian Renaissance-style abode and up to its three towers, where priceless Roman and British artifacts are on display. A glance out a tower window reveals the river Aln flowing peacefully below, and the aroma of 2,000 roses wafts up from the garden, which is prestigious enough to have Prince Charles as a patron.

Keeping vigil over the sun-dappled vineyards of the Languedoc-Roussillon region of southern France is Carcassonne Castle, an imposing stronghold with fifty-two towers which was used as the exteriors of Nottingham Castle, where Robin of Locksley's climactic final melee was filmed. Within the confines of the town of Carcassonne visitors can light a candle for a knight who rests at the Basilique St. Nazaire, while one of France's oldest organs plays a hymn quietly in the background. During the summer months the years seem to melt away as men once more fight for honor in jousting tournaments and ladies adorn themselves in medieval finery in a renaissance pageant.

A holy vision prompted the erection of London's second oldest house of worship, St. Bartholomew The Great Church. Since 1123 the hallowed walls of this cathedral have heard the whispered prayers of the faithful. The chapel has a cinematic as well as religious history-- not only was it seen in the Kevin Costner version of Robin Hood, it was also one of the many churches used for the multiple nuptials in Four Weddings and A Funeral.

Nature's beauty is also in abundance in this celluloid adaptation of the classic tale, beginning with the sight which welcomes Robin back to his homeland, the Seven Sisters Cliffs (www.sevensisters.org.uk). Located in the 700-acre Seven Sisters Country Park in Sussex, the ghostly white chalk cliffs loom over the horizon, and overhead the cry of seagulls ring out-- or is it the echo of lost souls calling out over the lapping of the waves? The gently eroding landscape has been witness to both shipwrecks and smuggling in the past, but today the cliffs are reflected upon tranquil waters.

Many wooded areas were used to portray the legendary glade of Sherwood Forest, including Burnham Beeches, where tawny owls perch upon the branches of trees that have seen the passing of over five hundred years, and New Forest (www.thenewforest.co.uk), located between Southampton and Bournemouth, where William The Conquerer once darted between beech and oaks as he tracked his prey on hunting expeditions.

The fight between Robin and Little John was filmed at Aysgarth Falls in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, which is also home to the location where Marian stumbles upon Robin bathing. At 100 feet, Hardraw Force is the highest unbroken waterfall in Great Britain, and this veil of white spray has been immortalized in the watercolors of Joseph Mallord William Turner and in the words of William Wordsworth.

Venture on the path leading from the waterfall to The Green Dragon Inn, an establishment which has served the public since the fourteenth century. Like Turner and Wordsworth before you, order a draught of ale, discover the legend of the ghost which roams the inn, and realize that this land has stolen your heart away.