Private Tour · Sherwood Forest & Newark · Nottinghamshire
Sherwood: Myths, Magic and Murder!
Ice Age cave carvings 13,500 years old. Hundreds of medieval witch marks. The Major Oak. Robin Hood’s wedding church. A castle where a king died. Five hours through 60,000 years of extraordinary history.
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From the Ice Age to the English Civil War — in a single extraordinary day
Like all our best tours, Sherwood: Myths, Magic and Murder is totally unique. We collect you from Newark-on-Trent Railway Station and take you on a private journey through some of the most remarkable and least-visited places in England — places you’d almost certainly never find on your own. A gorge with 60,000 years of history. An ancient forest containing one of the most famous trees on earth. A ruined castle by a river where a king breathed his last. And an old market town with cannonball scars still visible on its church tower.
Cresswell Crags — 60,000 years of human history
Entry included
We begin at Cresswell Crags — a dramatic limestone gorge on the Nottinghamshire-Derbyshire border containing an astonishing 60,000 years of human history within its caves and rock faces. It is one of the most significant prehistoric sites in Britain, and one of the least celebrated.
What we are specifically here to find are some of Britain’s rarest treasures — stone-age cave carvings made around 13,500 years ago, at the very end of the last Ice Age. Some of the earliest art ever created in these islands, carved into the rock by people who lived here when mammoths still roamed.
Just a tiny selection of the hundreds of witch marks carved into the cave walls
A short walk from the Ice Age carvings is another cave with an altogether more foreboding atmosphere. Apotropaic carvings — ritual protection marks, commonly known as witch marks — cover the walls in their hundreds. Made by people centuries ago to ward off evil spirits, spending time in these caverns it is very easy to imagine how terrifying the darkness once was.
The Major Oak & Sherwood Forest
A short drive brings us to Sherwood Forest — and a ten-minute walk through ancient woodland to the Major Oak, one of the most famous trees on the planet. This extraordinary ancient oak has assumed legendary status in all things Robin Hood, said to have sheltered Robin and his Merry Men within its hollow trunk.
Now lovingly protected in its extreme old age — which also makes it far easier to enjoy and photograph in all its magnificent, spreading glory — the Major Oak is a genuinely awe-inspiring sight. No photograph quite prepares you for the scale of it.
A short walk from the Major Oak is St Mary’s Church, Edwinstowe — said by many to be the church where Robin Hood and Lady Marian were married. It is not always open, but always worth looking at.
The Major Oak — home of Robin Hood and his Merry Men
Newark Castle — where ‘Bad’ King John breathed his last in 1216
Newark Castle & the Market Town
We return to Newark — a beautiful old market town with its own remarkable connections to Robin Hood, for it was here that ‘Bad’ King John died in Newark Castle in 1216. The castle itself is now a dramatic ruin, reduced to its present state by Newark’s starring role in the English Civil War — but the view of its ancient walls beside the River Trent is a sight to behold.
We’ll walk the historic streets, take in the large market square and visit the magnificent church — look carefully at the tower and you can still see where it was struck by a cannonball during the Civil War. The damage is still there, right at the top, nearly 400 years later.
Newark is full of wonderful pubs and restaurants. If time allows before your train home, the town’s famous antique shops and unhurried atmosphere make for a fine way to finish the day.
Pricing
Per Person — Cresswell Crags Entry Included
Private car transport throughout. Child prices available on request.
Train fare to Newark-on-Trent not included — book via National Rail.
Book by email or use the booking calendar below. Interested in Robin Hood in the city too? Try our Nottingham Walking Tour.
Frequently Asked Questions for our Sherwood Forest Private Tour
Starting Time approx 9.30am.
Meeting Point: Newark Railway Station for those arriving from London, Nottingham, Lincoln or elsewhere. Otherwise we can meet you at your hotel in Nottingham City Centre.
Location: Sherwood Forest, Newark, Nottinghamshire
Duration of Tour: 5 hours approximately.
How to book our Private Sherwood: Myths, magic and murder!
Standard Adult Prices per person includes any entry tickets to Cresswell Caves (child prices available upon request).
1 Adult = ÂŁ200
2 Adults = ÂŁ190
3 Adults = ÂŁ155
Fancy more Robin Hood? Our Nottingham Private Walking Tour takes you to the city sites — combine both for the complete Robin Hood experience across forest and city.
