1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,000
Very old passageway.

2
00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:05,000
Wow, this is amazing.

3
00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:10,000
Do you think that Robin Hood was a real man?

4
00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:15,000
So if the story's true, somewhere on this property,

5
00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:16,000
Robin Hood is buried.

6
00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:23,000
Actually, good lord.

7
00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:25,000
This is amazing.

8
00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:26,000
Robin Hood could be right here.

9
00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:29,000
Oh, look at that.

10
00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:42,000
Look at any movie theater, and you'll see screens filled with superheroes.

11
00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:45,000
They fight for the powerless, they have loyal sidekicks,

12
00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:48,000
they defeat their enemies, and they get the girl.

13
00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:54,000
And they all have a common ancestor, Robin Hood.

14
00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:56,000
Meet the world's first superhero.

15
00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:59,000
He's been a fixture of folklore since the 1300s,

16
00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:04,000
and his popularity shows no sign of waning.

17
00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:10,000
But with so many stories, one simple question has remained strangely elusive.

18
00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:14,000
Was Robin Hood a real person?

19
00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:17,000
Was there a vigilante in Sherwood Forest,

20
00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:20,000
who stole from the rich and gave to the poor?

21
00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:23,000
Recent archaeological discoveries in Nottingham

22
00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:26,000
have revealed miles of tunnels beneath the city

23
00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:29,000
that may provide clues about Robin Hood's identity.

24
00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:31,000
And researchers in two different locations

25
00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:34,000
may be on the verge of uncovering the final resting place

26
00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:37,000
of the world's most famous thief.

27
00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:39,000
New evidence is revealing a Robin Hood legend

28
00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:42,000
unlike any you've ever heard.

29
00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:45,000
And it may change who you root for.

30
00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:46,000
My mission?

31
00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:49,000
To dive into 800 years of legends,

32
00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:51,000
to investigate the tunnels beneath Nottingham,

33
00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:54,000
and join historians in search of Hood's grave.

34
00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:56,000
My hope is to learn once and for all,

35
00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:58,000
who was Robin Hood,

36
00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:05,000
and was he really the hero we've made him out to be?

37
00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:08,000
My name is Josh Gates.

38
00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:13,000
With a degree in archaeology and a passion for exploration,

39
00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:17,000
I have a tendency to end up in some very strange situations.

40
00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:20,000
God, Lord have mercy!

41
00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:23,000
My travels have taken me to the ends of the earth,

42
00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:26,000
as I investigate the greatest legends in history.

43
00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:28,000
We're going to fly, let's go!

44
00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:31,000
This is Expedition Unknown.

45
00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:43,000
A long flight across the Atlantic lands me in London, England.

46
00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:45,000
More than just a world capital,

47
00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:49,000
London sometimes feels like the capital of the world.

48
00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:55,000
The city of London,

49
00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:58,000
maybe more than any other major city in the world,

50
00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:00,000
defies a simple description.

51
00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:03,000
London isn't just a city, it's every city.

52
00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:07,000
A mecca of art, music, fashion, culture.

53
00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:09,000
And while it's dripping in history,

54
00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:12,000
somehow London manages to be totally modern,

55
00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:14,000
and all the pieces seem to fit together

56
00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:17,000
into something that is inherently British.

57
00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:21,000
It's here, in the center of the British Empire,

58
00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:24,000
that I'm about to start my quest to find Robin Hood.

59
00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:29,000
For a moment though, I just want to soak all of this in.

60
00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:33,000
In case you hadn't noticed the English drive

61
00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:35,000
on the left side of the road,

62
00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:37,000
that takes some getting used to.

63
00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:40,000
This is a very dangerous city to be in America.

64
00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:43,000
Welcome to London!

65
00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:45,000
Oh my God, you are London!

66
00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:47,000
Where do you recognize yourself from somewhere?

67
00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:48,000
I'm on TV.

68
00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:49,000
Really? Which one?

69
00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:51,000
It's called To Catch a Predator.

70
00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:53,000
Sir, why don't you have a seat?

71
00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:57,000
The stereotype of the repressed, uptight Englishman

72
00:03:57,000 --> 00:03:59,000
takes yet another hit.

73
00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:02,000
Sightseeing has been a blast,

74
00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:06,000
but I'll admit I was expecting a bit more from one London landmark.

75
00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,000
I gotta tell you, I don't know why they call this thing Big Ben.

76
00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:10,000
It's tiny.

77
00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:14,000
Total disappointment.

78
00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:17,000
I'm in London to check out the humble beginnings

79
00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:18,000
of the Robin Hood legend,

80
00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:20,000
here at the British Library,

81
00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:22,000
home to just about every important document

82
00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:24,000
in the history of the Empire.

83
00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:27,000
The original Robin Hood stories weren't in the movies.

84
00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:28,000
They were ballads,

85
00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:30,000
sung by medieval troubadours

86
00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:33,000
traveling from town to town as the entertainment of the day.

87
00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:36,000
Eventually the songs were written down as lyric poems,

88
00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:39,000
and some of the earliest versions still exist today.

89
00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:41,000
In a special viewing room,

90
00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:43,000
I've been granted extremely rare permission

91
00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:45,000
to see an original printing firsthand.

92
00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:46,000
And what year is this from?

93
00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:50,000
It was published in London around about 1560.

94
00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:52,000
450 years old.

95
00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:54,000
The overdue finds on this thing are brutal.

96
00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:56,000
That is absolutely amazing.

97
00:04:56,000 --> 00:05:00,000
He began as a little jest of Robin Hood and his merry men,

98
00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:02,000
and of the proud sheriff of Nottingham.

99
00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:04,000
That beginning is really what we think of

100
00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:07,000
when we think of the beginning of the story of Robin Hood.

101
00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:10,000
The jest of Robin Hood is a collection of the original ballads,

102
00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:12,000
which have many of the essential Robin Hood details

103
00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:15,000
that we still associate with him today.

104
00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:18,000
He's a proficient archer who lives in Sherwood Forest

105
00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:19,000
with his merry men,

106
00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:21,000
including his faithful right-hand man,

107
00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:23,000
the immense little John,

108
00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:26,000
and the perennially plastered friar Tuck.

109
00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:29,000
And of course, he does battle against the wicked sheriff of Nottingham.

110
00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:31,000
While the core elements of the story

111
00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:33,000
have remained unchanged for hundreds of years,

112
00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:36,000
it turns out there are also startling differences

113
00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:38,000
in the source material.

114
00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:40,000
Many of the tales are brutally violent,

115
00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:44,000
and Robin's love interest made Marion nowhere to be found.

116
00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:47,000
Most shockingly, the original Robin Hood robs wealthy travelers,

117
00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:50,000
but doesn't seem too concerned about giving to the poor.

118
00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:54,000
That character trait doesn't appear for centuries.

119
00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:57,000
Do you think that these writings are based on a real man?

120
00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:00,000
Characters throughout the ages were called Robin Hood,

121
00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:03,000
and I would think probably a grain of truth in there.

122
00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:04,000
How much I don't know.

123
00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:06,000
Somebody starts telling the story,

124
00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:08,000
are they always based on something?

125
00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:10,000
That's the mystery.

126
00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:14,000
Now that I've seen one of the original ballads for myself,

127
00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:17,000
my first stop is one of the most famous locations

128
00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:20,000
in the Robin Hood legend, Nottingham.

129
00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:22,000
There we go.

130
00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:24,000
She's alive.

131
00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:26,000
Alright, Robin Hood.

132
00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:28,000
Let's do this.

133
00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:32,000
My sweet ride through the English countryside is older than I am,

134
00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:36,000
but it's still a triumph, one might say, of British engineering.

135
00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:41,000
This is a 1968 Triumph Bonneville 650cc.

136
00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:45,000
This is the bike that I dream about when I go to sleep at night.

137
00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:47,000
Although I am on the wrong side of the road,

138
00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:49,000
and my brake and my shifter are reversed,

139
00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:52,000
I can't imagine what could go wrong.

140
00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:57,000
Nottingham is just over 100 miles north of London,

141
00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:01,000
which means I can get there without missing tea time.

142
00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:08,000
This is the heart of where many of Robin Hood's adventures took place,

143
00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:12,000
and of course was home to his arch enemy, the Sheriff of Nottingham.

144
00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:16,000
And even today, Hood's influence is felt everywhere you look.

145
00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:31,000
When I think of Nottingham, I think of a legendary place,

146
00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:33,000
a medieval city with an infamous outlaw,

147
00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:36,000
which is why it is very surprising to find this.

148
00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:44,000
A modern, bustling town, including the suburbs,

149
00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:46,000
there's more than a million and a half people here.

150
00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:49,000
It's brimming with shops and pubs and students.

151
00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:52,000
It's a place that Robin Hood would hardly recognize.

152
00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:56,000
On the other side of town, I nervously make my way

153
00:07:56,000 --> 00:08:00,000
to meet someone who's made a career out of hunting down Robin Hood,

154
00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:04,000
the dreaded and very real Sheriff of Nottingham.

155
00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:06,000
Next to the Monarch of England,

156
00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:11,000
the Sheriff of Nottingham is the oldest continuously held office in the country.

157
00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:14,000
We know the Sheriff of the 12th century's stories

158
00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:17,000
as a treacherous villain who led a corrupt regime.

159
00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:20,000
As for the Sheriff of 2015,

160
00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:22,000
I'm about to find out.

161
00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:24,000
Hello?

162
00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:35,000
My search for the real Robin Hood has brought me, naturally, to Nottingham.

163
00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:39,000
Home jurisdiction of Hood's nemesis, the evil High Sheriff.

164
00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:41,000
I'm not going to be a good man.

165
00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:43,000
I'm going to be a good man.

166
00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:47,000
Home jurisdiction of Hood's nemesis, the evil High Sheriff.

167
00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:53,000
Hello?

168
00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:55,000
Hello.

169
00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:57,000
Very nice to meet you.

170
00:08:57,000 --> 00:08:59,000
Welcome to Nottingham.

171
00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:01,000
Thank you very much. You are the...

172
00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:03,000
Real Sheriff of Nottingham.

173
00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:05,000
I have to say that is so cool.

174
00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:08,000
For someone with the most notorious job title in the world,

175
00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:12,000
she's a lot less Alan Rickman and a lot more Maggie Smith.

176
00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:15,000
Actually, I'd actually felt nervous knocking on your door.

177
00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:17,000
Nobody's nervous of me.

178
00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:20,000
Are you out there busting crime?

179
00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:22,000
It's a ceremonial role these days.

180
00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:24,000
Your predecessor has kind of a bad reputation.

181
00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:27,000
Yes. They administered the land for the king,

182
00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:31,000
and they helped the powers to condemn people to death.

183
00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:33,000
Do you have the power to condemn me to death?

184
00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:36,000
Not now, not since 1972.

185
00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:41,000
Well, nobody was better at capturing Robin Hood than the Sheriff of Nottingham.

186
00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:43,000
Any tips for me?

187
00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:46,000
Well, we didn't hold on to him for very long, so it weren't much good.

188
00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:48,000
I think he died an old man, apparently.

189
00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:50,000
You were good at catching him, but not keeping him?

190
00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:52,000
Not keeping him, yeah.

191
00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:54,000
Jackie tells me that in the jest of Robin Hood,

192
00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:57,000
the Sheriff of Nottingham captures our hero and imprisons him

193
00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:00,000
in the infamous dungeons of Nottingham Castle.

194
00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:04,000
But he flees through a series of tunnels beneath the fortress.

195
00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:06,000
But is this even possible?

196
00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:08,000
The ability to verify the story could tell us

197
00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:11,000
whether or not Robin Hood was a real man.

198
00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:15,000
And lucky for me, the remains of the castle survived today.

199
00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:17,000
This is what's known as Castle Rock,

200
00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:20,000
a really commanding position that looks out more than 100 feet

201
00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:22,000
over the city and the river beyond.

202
00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:26,000
And there's been some sort of fortress here for at least a thousand years.

203
00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:28,000
Tim, please tell me how are you?

204
00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:31,000
Tim Pollard is a lifelong Nottingham resident and researcher

205
00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:34,000
who has spent decades studying the legend of Robin Hood.

206
00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:36,000
This does not look like Nottingham Castle,

207
00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:39,000
but it does look like a castle, so it's like a nice, stately home.

208
00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:40,000
It is.

209
00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:43,000
But at the time of Robin Hood, there would have been a stone castle here,

210
00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:45,000
and that would have been the seat of the Sheriff of Nottingham.

211
00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:47,000
But of course, you've heard of.

212
00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:49,000
OK, well, let's see where Robin Hood was locked up.

213
00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:51,000
Absolutely. This way.

214
00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:53,000
Let's head down into the darkness now.

215
00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:55,000
It is dark.

216
00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:57,000
And a poker and fashioned gate.

217
00:10:57,000 --> 00:10:59,000
Wow, this is amazing.

218
00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:02,000
Very old passageway.

219
00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:05,000
Going down underneath the sandstone that the castle's built on,

220
00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:07,000
it does go quite deep underground.

221
00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:09,000
Absolutely. From the top of the castle rock,

222
00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:11,000
40 meters all the way down to ground level,

223
00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:14,000
and then it continues to go further underground than that.

224
00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:16,000
Eight centuries fall away,

225
00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:18,000
just going down the stairs from the surface

226
00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:20,000
to the dungeon of Nottingham Castle.

227
00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:24,000
Here we are coming into a genuine medieval dungeon.

228
00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:27,000
This would have been here from 1068.

229
00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:29,000
This is original stonework from the dungeon.

230
00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:31,000
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you know, feel the history.

231
00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:34,000
Imagine you're Robin Hood.

232
00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:37,000
You've been captured by the Sheriff of Nottingham.

233
00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:40,000
You're trapped in here. There's really no way out.

234
00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:44,000
If you're going to get out of this, you need to be good.

235
00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:47,000
One of the rooms that's attached to this cave system

236
00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:49,000
is the Sheriff of Nottingham's wine cellar,

237
00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:51,000
where he kept all of the good stuff for himself.

238
00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:55,000
One of the legends tells that Robin engages the Sheriff in conversation,

239
00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:59,000
gets the Sheriff and his guards very, very drunk.

240
00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:03,000
He manages then to escape through some of the other exit lines.

241
00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:09,000
Now, we just came down a single staircase,

242
00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:11,000
a single tunnel into this one room.

243
00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:13,000
That seems pretty hard to escape from.

244
00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:16,000
Is that everything that's down here? Or is there more?

245
00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:19,000
No, underneath the castle is riddles or caves.

246
00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:24,000
We're actually coming down further underground.

247
00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:30,000
Whoa!

248
00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:32,000
This is wild.

249
00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:34,000
This is the entrance to some of the caves.

250
00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:35,000
Oh, wow.

251
00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:38,000
Underneath the castle is riddled with natural caves,

252
00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:40,000
as well as the man-made ones.

253
00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:42,000
And there's areas of caves underneath and tunnels underneath the rock

254
00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:44,000
that we still haven't explored fully, either.

255
00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:47,000
And if Robin can find his way into one of those passageways,

256
00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:50,000
he's going to be able to make his way out through the castle rock

257
00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:52,000
and escape to freedom.

258
00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:55,000
A lot of these passages haven't been explored even today.

259
00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:57,000
Not even today. No, there's a project going on to map

260
00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:00,000
a lot of the tunnels and caves under Nottingham Castle

261
00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:03,000
and around the city centre on the building of 3D map

262
00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:05,000
of all the tunnels and caves that defined...

263
00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:07,000
That's amazing.

264
00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:09,000
Do you think there was a Robin Hood?

265
00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:11,000
Yes. There's lots of things that tie this together,

266
00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:13,000
and there's every reason to believe that there was a real man

267
00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:15,000
at the basis of that.

268
00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:20,000
So if a labyrinth of caves under Nottingham is being mapped,

269
00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:24,000
perhaps one of those caves contains a clue to Robin's true identity.

270
00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:27,000
Tim directs me to meet with archaeologist Peter Hammond,

271
00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:30,000
part of a team that's been making incredible new findings

272
00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:32,000
underneath Nottingham.

273
00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:34,000
But instead of a dig site, the address he's given me

274
00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:37,000
appears to be a high-end men's clothing store.

275
00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:40,000
Oh, Josh. Yes, are you Peter?

276
00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:43,000
I'm Peter Hammond. Welcome to the Paul Smith shop here in Nottingham.

277
00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:46,000
I'm happy to be here, but I'm very confused to be here.

278
00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:49,000
So this is a lovely store, but I was told that you are a man

279
00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:52,000
to see about caves and dungeons and things like that.

280
00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:54,000
Correct.

281
00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:57,000
Many Nottingham buildings are secrets beneath.

282
00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:59,000
Come this way.

283
00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:02,000
I do need some pants, too, while I'm here.

284
00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:04,000
Just this way?

285
00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:06,000
Like most stores, there's a basement.

286
00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:09,000
Unlike most stores, there is a secret sub-basement.

287
00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:12,000
This way, Josh.

288
00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:14,000
Look at that.

289
00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:16,000
And this goes way down.

290
00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:20,000
Whoa!

291
00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:27,000
Deep underneath the city of Nottingham, archaeologist Peter Hammond

292
00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:31,000
is excavating a network of caves that could verify aspects

293
00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:34,000
of the Robin Hood legends of the 13th century.

294
00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:39,000
This is not what I expected to find under a posh men's clothing store.

295
00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:41,000
Certainly not.

296
00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:43,000
This is incredible. What is this?

297
00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:45,000
It's basically a wine cellar.

298
00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:47,000
All hand dug, all handmade. You see the pick marks.

299
00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:49,000
This is amazing.

300
00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:51,000
Are there many of these caves under Nottingham?

301
00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:53,000
There's hundreds. There's over 500 caves discovered so far.

302
00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:55,000
500. And there's still things being found down here.

303
00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:58,000
In fact, we're doing this work down these caves at the moment.

304
00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:00,000
Just down here.

305
00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:04,000
Dr. Hammond leads me deeper into the caves where I make another discovery.

306
00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:07,000
This guy. Hello.

307
00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:11,000
This is Dr. Lucas Bonnenberg from the University of Nottingham.

308
00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:16,000
He's been using cutting-edge laser mapping to make 3D renderings of the Nottingham caves.

309
00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:19,000
It's quite noisy. There's a laser there.

310
00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:21,000
We should do a tail-eye on the access.

311
00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:26,000
Beams of light pour over every inch of surface area, creating a detailed map of the cave,

312
00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:29,000
far more accurate than any hand measurement could ever be.

313
00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:31,000
Here we go.

314
00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:33,000
Look at that. That is so cool.

315
00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:37,000
So it's a full 3D laser scan of the entire room.

316
00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:43,000
Yes. So the concept is to have a recording of all the caves underneath the city of Nottingham.

317
00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:46,000
The 3D images this thing creates are amazing.

318
00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:50,000
There's nothing that can hide from the lasers, including us.

319
00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:53,000
And in terms of archaeological evidence, can you show me a bit of what you're finding down here?

320
00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:55,000
Sure. Yeah, if you come over this way.

321
00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:56,000
Sure. Yeah.

322
00:15:57,000 --> 00:16:00,000
Wow, this is something else. Look at all of this glass.

323
00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:05,000
Are you finding things down here from the era that Robin Hood is supposed to have lived in?

324
00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:10,000
Yes, 12, 13, 1400s. Lost material, particularly pottery from that time.

325
00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:13,000
Here's an old clay pipe. Just before the Civil War, I'd say.

326
00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:14,000
That's incredible.

327
00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:16,000
And a lot of bottles.

328
00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:18,000
Someone had a real blowout down here.

329
00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:19,000
It was a smashing time.

330
00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:20,000
What a neat window into the past.

331
00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:21,000
It is amazing.

332
00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:24,000
It is amazing. And to say they're still being excavated all the time.

333
00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:26,000
And just never know what we're going to find next.

334
00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:27,000
That's what makes it so exciting.

335
00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:31,000
When I find artifacts like these in the caves, and I think who lost healthies was Robin Hood.

336
00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:32,000
You never know.

337
00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:35,000
Amazing. Well, thank you so much for the tour, Achre. I appreciate it.

338
00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:36,000
Thank you.

339
00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:37,000
You're all the best. Thanks, Doctor.

340
00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:42,000
The final scans reveal not just this cave, but a spider web of passages beneath the castle,

341
00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:45,000
along with materials from Robin Hood's era.

342
00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:49,000
We now know that his legendary escapes were possible,

343
00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:52,000
and hold up to the scrutiny of modern archaeology.

344
00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:55,000
Satisfied that new evidence could emerge here in time,

345
00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:58,000
I leave nodding him to get back on the case.

346
00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:02,000
But like everywhere else in the world, you exit through the gift shop.

347
00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:11,000
Hard to believe they have this very, very rare, original Robin Hood mouse pad.

348
00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:16,000
Hi, I'm Robin Hood. Hi, I'm Fryer Tuck.

349
00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:19,000
We've scaled way back this season in our budget.

350
00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:24,000
We've got Robin Hood, we've got Fryer Tuck in the course, made barian.

351
00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:27,000
It's a softball, but I'm taking it.

352
00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:34,000
Back on the trail, my trusty bike and I head out to the most famous location in Robin Hood lore.

353
00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:37,000
It's 20 short miles north to, where else?

354
00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:40,000
Sherwood Forest.

355
00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:44,000
Sherwood Forest isn't just where Robin Hood robbed the rich.

356
00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:47,000
It was said to be his home, and that of his merry men.

357
00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:51,000
So in medieval times, Sherwood was a royal forest, and it was huge.

358
00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:53,000
Stretched on for more than 30 miles.

359
00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:56,000
It's much smaller today, but you can still imagine what...

360
00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:58,000
My good lord!

361
00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:03,000
Oh boy.

362
00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:05,000
Who are you to walk through my forest?

363
00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:08,000
Uh, I'm Josh. Are you...

364
00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:09,000
Robin Hood?

365
00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:10,000
Yes.

366
00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:15,000
I stand before you, hero of Sherwood Forest, champion of England.

367
00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:18,000
Definitely having an acid trip right now.

368
00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:20,000
I'm sorry to intrude, I appreciate you not killing me.

369
00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:23,000
You are welcome, you are granted safe passage.

370
00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:26,000
Ate Andrews is the Robin Hood of Sherwood.

371
00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:29,000
Of course he is. What else is he going to do dressed like that?

372
00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:34,000
He's dedicated his life to studying and recreating the persona of the world's most famous thief.

373
00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:37,000
There's this huge legend and it's changed so much over time.

374
00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:40,000
But what I want to know is, is there a man underneath it all?

375
00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:43,000
If you want to understand the truth of the legend of Robin Hood,

376
00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:45,000
you need to know what it was like to live in those times.

377
00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:48,000
You need to feel it in your bones, my friend.

378
00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:51,000
I've got a funny feeling this is going to be very embarrassing for me.

379
00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:54,000
How's it going, man?

380
00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:56,000
I'm pretty sure I look ridiculous.

381
00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:00,000
It'll do, my friend. The forest is waiting.

382
00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:10,000
I feel like you look like a badass warrior.

383
00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:13,000
I look like an extra in a Monty Python sketch.

384
00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:14,000
Like a peasant.

385
00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:15,000
Yes, I look like a peasant.

386
00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:16,000
Well, Robin, it was a peasant.

387
00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:17,000
So I'm in good company.

388
00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:18,000
You are indeed.

389
00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:22,000
Let's step into the Greenwood path and show you what it was like to be an outlaw in medieval England.

390
00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:23,000
Let's do it.

391
00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:27,000
Now appropriately attired, I follow aid into Sherwood,

392
00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:32,000
trying to connect the stories of 800 years with the woods that surround us today.

393
00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:35,000
What are the elements and the legends that we know are true?

394
00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:40,000
The locations, the geography passing right through Sherwood Forest was the Great North Road,

395
00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:43,000
which is a main road linking London with York.

396
00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:48,000
So of course, there were many travellers on this, whether it was the Fat Bishops or the Norman Lords.

397
00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:51,000
These would have been easy prey, those that have outside the law.

398
00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:56,000
And of course, this tree here is the major oak, the world's most famous tree, surely.

399
00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:02,000
Legend tells us Robin Hood and his merry men met here.

400
00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:06,000
The heartwood of the oak tree dies away and it becomes hollow.

401
00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:09,000
So there's a natural cave in there, 14 people.

402
00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:10,000
Wow.

403
00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:11,000
How old is the tree?

404
00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:13,000
It's around a thousand years old.

405
00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:15,000
That's insane.

406
00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:19,000
So if Robin Hood were real, this tree may have been alive when he was alive.

407
00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:20,000
Indeed.

408
00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:21,000
Who knows what this tree saw?

409
00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:25,000
We go deeper into the forest and as the trees close in around us,

410
00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:30,000
I begin to consider what it might have been like to actually live here in medieval England.

411
00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:35,000
We see Robin Hood through a kind of Disney lens today, this sort of sanitized noble outlaw.

412
00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:36,000
That is far from the truth.

413
00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:39,000
Can you imagine living in this forest in the deepest midwinter?

414
00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:44,000
Mud, sleet, rain, ice, no food, darkness.

415
00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:46,000
It would have been an absolute nightmare.

416
00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:50,000
And of course, these real outlaws, they were desperate and dangerous people.

417
00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:54,000
The Robin Hood legends were born of a time when a king ruled over nobles

418
00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:57,000
who heavily taxed the people of their districts.

419
00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:02,000
Outlaws like Robin Hood rose up to strike out against the only class in England with money

420
00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:05,000
and became heroes for the poor and the disenfranchised.

421
00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:08,000
They would have robbed and killed anyone who crossed their path.

422
00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:10,000
Stop it, you're breaking my heart.

423
00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:14,000
In a clearing, Aide introduces me to a couple of his merry men.

424
00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:16,000
Robin Hood had little John.

425
00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:18,000
He's got these two guys.

426
00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:19,000
My outlaws, Wolf.

427
00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:20,000
Friar Tuck.

428
00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:21,000
Nice to meet you.

429
00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:22,000
Bless you, my son.

430
00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:23,000
Wolf is it?

431
00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:24,000
Pleasure.

432
00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:25,000
So, merry men.

433
00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:28,000
But if you really want to know what it's like to be Romford,

434
00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:29,000
you've got to be able to fight like Romford.

435
00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:30,000
OK, so what are the options?

436
00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:33,000
Well, you can either fight me with a sword or we can show you the bow and arrow.

437
00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:35,000
Well, let's do the sword.

438
00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:36,000
OK.

439
00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:52,000
Let's do the arrows.

440
00:21:56,000 --> 00:22:03,000
Aide Andrews and his merry men are helping me on my quest to uncover the real Robin Hood

441
00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:06,000
by showing me how medieval bandits actually fought.

442
00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:11,000
For his hands-on lesson in Sherwood combat, I've been given a choice.

443
00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:13,000
Archery or sword fight?

444
00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:16,000
Let's do the arrows.

445
00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:21,000
Despite having spent his life as Robin Hood, Aide isn't the best shot in this bunch.

446
00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:24,000
His friend Wolf is going to teach me the art of the longbow.

447
00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:27,000
This is the type of bow generally that would have been used in that period?

448
00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:28,000
Very similar.

449
00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:30,000
This looks quite a bit bigger than a modern bow.

450
00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:31,000
The lens has its purpose.

451
00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:33,000
It doesn't have to draw back as far.

452
00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:36,000
You can't hold them at full draw for very long at all because they will snap.

453
00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:38,000
But that's sort of in the movies what we see, right?

454
00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:40,000
The whole army draws back.

455
00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:41,000
Yes.

456
00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:42,000
Hold.

457
00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:43,000
Yes.

458
00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:44,000
Hold.

459
00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:45,000
Yes, and that's wrong.

460
00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:46,000
My dreams are getting crushed today.

461
00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:48,000
Ryer, do you have any booze on you?

462
00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:50,000
Come back later tonight.

463
00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:51,000
We'll sort something out for you.

464
00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:52,000
OK, perfect.

465
00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:53,000
Archery, very simple.

466
00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:54,000
You focus on your target.

467
00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:57,000
You draw to a point of anchor on your face.

468
00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:02,000
Come on.

469
00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:07,000
Have we alerted everybody in this area of the forest?

470
00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:10,000
Children, families, squirrels, anybody?

471
00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:12,000
When you ready, release arrow.

472
00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:18,000
That was a nice clean shot.

473
00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:19,000
OK.

474
00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:20,000
I came out of the bow nice and quiet.

475
00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:21,000
Thank you, thank you.

476
00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:24,000
You're a very polite band of outlaws.

477
00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:26,000
You're on the board.

478
00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:27,000
I'm on the board.

479
00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:30,000
Come on.

480
00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:32,000
A little high.

481
00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:34,000
Brian, how you feeling standing right there?

482
00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:35,000
Relatively safe.

483
00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:36,000
I got this.

484
00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:37,000
I got this.

485
00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:41,000
Oh, sorry, Friar.

486
00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:43,000
You're forgiven, myself.

487
00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:44,000
Love this guy.

488
00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:45,000
It's not easy.

489
00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:48,000
No, it's a simple process, but not necessarily easy.

490
00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:52,000
And so I certainly have a feel for how difficult it would have been to be an outlaw out in these woods.

491
00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:55,000
But do you think that Robin Hood was a real man?

492
00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:57,000
The background to this story is all true.

493
00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:06,000
By apprenticing with aid, I've been able to verify that the geography of Robin Hood's stomping grounds and the weapons of the day both align closely with the legends.

494
00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:16,000
Having gained a better understanding of the realities of outlaw life, I see now that it isn't nearly as romantic as the Hollywood version of the legend.

495
00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:21,000
But in terms of identifying an actual man, I have no names and no body.

496
00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:23,000
But all that may be about to change.

497
00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:30,000
I'm driving north into Yorkshire to investigate one of the most compelling leads in the case.

498
00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:39,000
Kirkley's Priory may have something that no other place in England claims to have.

499
00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:41,000
Robin Hood's grave.

500
00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:46,000
This is private land, and I'm lucky to have been given access by historian David Hepworth.

501
00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:50,000
Kirkley's is mentioned by name in the very last Robin Hood story.

502
00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:54,000
According to the legend, this is where Robin Hood died.

503
00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:56,000
Robin Hood comes here, why?

504
00:24:56,000 --> 00:25:01,000
He's got a relative who's the prioresse of the millerate.

505
00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:02,000
She's the head of the millerate.

506
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:03,000
She's the head of the millerate.

507
00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:10,000
What he doesn't know is that she didn't like a lot of what he'd done in his time, and has done this path to do him in.

508
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:14,000
The ballads say a wounded Robin Hood is brought to the priory for medical care.

509
00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:19,000
His cousin, the prioresse, treats him by bleeding him, a common medical practice at the time.

510
00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:23,000
But she goes too far, and soon Robin Hood is dying.

511
00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:25,000
And so what's the final end of all this?

512
00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:33,000
Well, in one version, little John is there to see him, and John helps him throw his bow,

513
00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:37,000
shoots an arrow, and says wherever this lands, that's where I want to be buried.

514
00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:41,000
And so if the story's true, somewhere on this property Robin Hood is buried?

515
00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:42,000
Yeah.

516
00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:44,000
Okay, so where?

517
00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:47,000
There is a grave on the site way away from here.

518
00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:49,000
Whether it is or not, it's another matter.

519
00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:54,000
There's lots of controversy surrounding it.

520
00:25:54,000 --> 00:26:02,000
As rain begins to fall over Kirkleys, David and I make our way up a tree-lined path to a clearing that seems like it's from a children's book.

521
00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:07,000
There, under the oak trees, stands the crumbling grave of Robin Hood.

522
00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:10,000
Welcome to Robin Hood's grave.

523
00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:12,000
This is amazing.

524
00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:17,000
Here underneath this little stone lays Robert Earl of Huntingdon.

525
00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:24,000
Near Archer were as he's a good, and people called him Robin Hood December 1247.

526
00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:26,000
So how long has this been here?

527
00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:30,000
There's been this grave slab here since at least 1669.

528
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:33,000
So this was built for 500 years after Robin Hood's death, right?

529
00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:35,000
And has the grave ever been fully excavated?

530
00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:36,000
No.

531
00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:37,000
Never?

532
00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:38,000
Never.

533
00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:42,000
Despite this being a hotly contested and totally possible final resting place for Robin Hood,

534
00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:46,000
the previous estate owners never consented to an investigation,

535
00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:50,000
but new owners now want the question settled.

536
00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:54,000
Determined to solve the mystery and with unprecedented access to the grave,

537
00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:57,000
we call in Thomas Grout-Javis.

538
00:26:57,000 --> 00:26:58,000
Tom.

539
00:26:58,000 --> 00:26:59,000
Hello.

540
00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:00,000
Hey, I'm Josh.

541
00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:02,000
And his miraculous ground penetrating radar.

542
00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:10,000
GPR uses pulses of sound to look underground without the trouble and potential damage of excavation.

543
00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:13,000
So Tom, walk me through what we're seeing up here.

544
00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:16,000
Okay, so the smaller spikes you can see are tree roots.

545
00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:19,000
If you were looking for something like a grave, you'd be looking big as disturbance.

546
00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:21,000
It'd be a lot more clear.

547
00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:24,000
We begin by scanning the perimeter of the grave,

548
00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:29,000
and then we find other ground disturbances that might indicate a larger graveyard on the site.

549
00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:31,000
Tom, where are we at?

550
00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:33,000
There's nothing really.

551
00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:35,000
It is clean as can be down there, it looks like.

552
00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:37,000
Yeah, just tree roots, nothing substantial at all.

553
00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:43,000
The scanning is tedious, but the prospect of confirming the location of Robin Hood's body is beyond exciting.

554
00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:47,000
I literally can't wait to scan this grave.

555
00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:49,000
Are we okay to go inside?

556
00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:51,000
Yeah.

557
00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:55,000
I'll bag the GPR unit over the wall, and I get to work.

558
00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:01,000
Oh, got something.

559
00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:02,000
Got something.

560
00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:04,000
We got something here.

561
00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:17,000
At Kirkley's Priory in England, historian David Hepworth and I are using ground penetrating radar

562
00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:22,000
to determine if the grave here that bears the name of Robin Hood actually contains his body.

563
00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:29,000
This monument has been here for over 300 years, but only now, for the first time, has anyone scanned the grave.

564
00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:33,000
We're about to finally know, is Robin Hood buried here?

565
00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:35,000
Oh, got something.

566
00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:36,000
Got something.

567
00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:37,000
Yeah?

568
00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:39,000
Yeah, there's definitely a layer down here.

569
00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:40,000
It's really distinct.

570
00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:42,000
Here, Tom, David, look at this.

571
00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:44,000
What is that?

572
00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:49,000
There's a clear disturbance in the ground there, and there's definitely something down there.

573
00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:50,000
What am I looking at there?

574
00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:52,000
We've got kind of a black layer here.

575
00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:53,000
It's not particularly large.

576
00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:55,000
Could be a rock under the ground, or...

577
00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:56,000
Robin Hood?

578
00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:58,000
Or, well...

579
00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:00,000
Tom, be hopeful, Tom.

580
00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:04,000
I would describe it as an anomaly.

581
00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:06,000
The ground above it is undisturbed.

582
00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:10,000
If it were to be a grave, the top would have been disturbed.

583
00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:13,000
Are you saying that you don't think that the soil's been turned over?

584
00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:14,000
No, it hasn't, not much.

585
00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:18,000
So I guess the real question is, is anybody buried here?

586
00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:19,000
No.

587
00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:21,000
It would be clear.

588
00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:22,000
Wow.

589
00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:24,000
You can amend the history books.

590
00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:27,000
The monument, his gravestone, all false leads.

591
00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:28,000
This is a big deal.

592
00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:30,000
I mean, it does settle this grave site.

593
00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:34,000
There has always been this question, did this grave contain bodies?

594
00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:36,000
Now we've got firm evidence.

595
00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:37,000
Nothing here.

596
00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:39,000
So that means the hunt continued.

597
00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:41,000
It continued.

598
00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:43,000
With no body in the grave with his name on it,

599
00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:46,000
could Robin Hood be buried somewhere else at Kirkleys?

600
00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:50,000
David and I returned to the priory to continue our investigation.

601
00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:53,000
David has an incomplete estate map from the 15th century

602
00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:55,000
that may help us locate the building,

603
00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:59,000
where Robin Hood fired an arrow to choose his final resting place.

604
00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:01,000
How many buildings would have been in here, do you think?

605
00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:02,000
About 20.

606
00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:03,000
And today, how many are there?

607
00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:05,000
There's three to four.

608
00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:07,000
For your money, where do you think that arrow shot could have happened from?

609
00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:11,000
I think it had to have happened in the enclosure of the nunnery itself.

610
00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:13,000
Because that's where a sick person would have been taken.

611
00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:14,000
Yeah.

612
00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:16,000
What would be helpful is to be able to get an aerial

613
00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:19,000
so that you could look at the buildings that exist now,

614
00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:22,000
look at the buildings on the oldest maps,

615
00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:24,000
and collate the data together.

616
00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:26,000
Okay, well, now we just need a plane.

617
00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:28,000
Well, there are a few people that have got plates around here,

618
00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:31,000
but you're going to have to accept it's a bone shaker.

619
00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:32,000
A bone shaker?

620
00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:33,000
Yeah.

621
00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:34,000
A bone shaker.

622
00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:40,000
This is a bone shaker.

623
00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:45,000
A World War II-era Tiger Moth that was once part of the most valiant fleet in the air,

624
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:47,000
the Royal Air Force.

625
00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:51,000
The plane comes with a pilot who also appears to be World War II Vintage.

626
00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:52,000
This is amazing.

627
00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:53,000
She's an absolute beauty, isn't she?

628
00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:54,000
Yeah, I'm talking about the mustache.

629
00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:56,000
Oh, well, thank you very much.

630
00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:58,000
Ben, I have some amazing news for you.

631
00:30:58,000 --> 00:30:59,000
The war is over.

632
00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:00,000
We've won.

633
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:02,000
With the open cockpit, I can scout Kirkley's priory,

634
00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:05,000
and I can see that the plane is going to be a little bit more powerful.

635
00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:07,000
With the open cockpit, I can scout Kirkley's priory,

636
00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:10,000
and photograph and tag the buildings with GPS

637
00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:13,000
to create a precise map of the site.

638
00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:24,000
This aircraft is living history.

639
00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:29,000
And to soar over Britain in one of the planes that helped to win World War II

640
00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:33,000
is just about the most thrilling thing I have ever experienced.

641
00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:37,000
Here again, in this open cockpit, we can see the whole world.

642
00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:39,000
Absolutely incredible.

643
00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:42,000
It puts in the eggs together again.

644
00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:44,000
We like to take the piss out of each other,

645
00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:47,000
but, uh, we can save the whole world once.

646
00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:49,000
Yeah, absolutely.

647
00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:54,000
Okay, so, headed up to the old Kirkley's priory.

648
00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:57,000
As we approach the airspace over Kirkleys,

649
00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:00,000
we begin to photograph and scan the site from above.

650
00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:04,000
With exact readings, we should be able to overlay the ruins detected today

651
00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:08,000
with David's old site plan to make an accurate picture of the priory

652
00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:10,000
as it appeared in Robin Hood's time.

653
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:12,000
Okay, we're up to the priory now.

654
00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:15,000
Now I'm left in terms of original buildings.

655
00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:17,000
You can see the remains of the, uh, the house,

656
00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:19,000
and the old barn down there,

657
00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:21,000
tagging down on GPS.

658
00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:27,000
It's the pretty biggest site. It's about 2,000 acres.

659
00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:30,000
Okay, let's circle back and down from the home.

660
00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:43,000
See the silk.

661
00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:45,000
Hello, pilot Ben. Thank you for a great flight.

662
00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:47,000
Thank you very much.

663
00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:51,000
I'm never getting out of this plane. I'm literally sewn into this plane.

664
00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:53,000
With my bones thoroughly shaken,

665
00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:55,000
I return to Kirkleys with a new chart.

666
00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:58,000
Based on the GPS coordinates that I took from the air.

667
00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:01,000
David has brought in an expert archer to help us recreate

668
00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:04,000
one of the most famous arrow shots in history.

669
00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:06,000
I'm Josh. Rob. Robin.

670
00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:08,000
Robert. Damn.

671
00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:09,000
So close.

672
00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:12,000
So we've gone up in the plane, we've got some better data now,

673
00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:15,000
and we have GPS markers so that we can get our distances a bit more exact.

674
00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:18,000
Where do you think that arrow could have been fired from?

675
00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:19,000
The most likely place?

676
00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:22,000
The most likely place is down in that area there,

677
00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:24,000
because you've got water inlet.

678
00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:26,000
So for a guy receiving medical treatment?

679
00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:28,000
Fairly essential.

680
00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:31,000
Our scans are able to recreate the layout of Kirkleys

681
00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:33,000
as it would have appeared to Robin Hood.

682
00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:36,000
Based on the layout and proximity to fresh water,

683
00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:39,000
David believes this structure is the most likely spot for the hospital

684
00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:41,000
where Robin lay dying.

685
00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:43,000
Here's the plan.

686
00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:46,000
Rob, our longbow archer, will shoot from the exact spot

687
00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:48,000
we think Robin would have fired.

688
00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:50,000
We'll use his arrows to establish a radius

689
00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:52,000
for where Robin's arrow might have fallen.

690
00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:55,000
Then we'll scan the radius with our ground penetrating radar,

691
00:33:55,000 --> 00:34:00,000
hopefully giving us a chance at finding the long lost grave of Robin Hood.

692
00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:12,000
All right, last one. Here we go.

693
00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:15,000
You're getting high marks from us.

694
00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:18,000
All right, great. So let's go. Let's go find some arrows.

695
00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:23,000
Handheld GPS gives us precise distances on all of Rob's arrows.

696
00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:27,000
Arrow one, two, 83. Pretty good.

697
00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:28,000
All right.

698
00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:32,000
310 feet, 462. You're getting better.

699
00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:36,000
Last one, 671. That's lethal.

700
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:39,000
With the farthest arrow reaching 600 feet

701
00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:42,000
and the shortest arrow at only 200 feet,

702
00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:45,000
we have a 400 foot diameter to search around the firing site.

703
00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:48,000
We link back up with Tom and once again

704
00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:51,000
unleash the ground penetrating radar to begin to scan.

705
00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:55,000
We've identified this kind of donut shape of space that we need to scan.

706
00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:57,000
We'll be relying on you to interpret the screen, of course.

707
00:34:57,000 --> 00:34:58,000
Sound good?

708
00:34:58,000 --> 00:34:59,000
Yeah, brilliant.

709
00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:00,000
All right, let's get cracking.

710
00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:01,000
Okay.

711
00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:07,000
So what will one of these set me back, Tom?

712
00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:10,000
You'd be looking at around $25,000.

713
00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:13,000
Okay, I'm going to let you run the machine.

714
00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:17,000
Covering this amount of territory is an arduous process.

715
00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:19,000
I'm learning that this is about patience.

716
00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:23,000
You can't do it too quickly because it's not going to pick everything up

717
00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:24,000
that you potentially want to see.

718
00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:25,000
Slow and steady wins the race.

719
00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:28,000
That's right. Slow and steady finds the grave.

720
00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:30,000
After hours of scanning,

721
00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:33,000
we find no evidence of a ground disturbance in this area.

722
00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:36,000
But the absence of evidence here is significant.

723
00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:39,000
With the marked grave turning out to be no grave at all

724
00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:42,000
and with no other burials in the search diameter,

725
00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:46,000
Kirkley's has faded as the site of a real Robin Hood burial.

726
00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:50,000
But what if Robin Hood was buried somewhere else under a different name?

727
00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:55,000
A monumental new theory suggests that the man behind the legends

728
00:35:55,000 --> 00:35:57,000
might not be the man we've assumed,

729
00:35:57,000 --> 00:36:00,000
and he might not be the hero we've always hoped for.

730
00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:05,000
In a lonely churchyard near Loxley, I find Robert White,

731
00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:07,000
another Robin Hood aficionado,

732
00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:10,000
but one with a theory about his true identity

733
00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:13,000
could completely upend the Robin Hood legend.

734
00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:15,000
This is Loxley.

735
00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:16,000
It is. That's right.

736
00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:20,000
You're a member of the World Wide Robin Hood Society.

737
00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:23,000
As you know, I'm trying to separate the legend of Robin Hood

738
00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:25,000
from the history of Robin Hood.

739
00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:26,000
Yes.

740
00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:27,000
So how does that bring us here?

741
00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:33,000
Because one of the contenders is reputedly buried here under this stone.

742
00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:36,000
So Robin Hood could be right here.

743
00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:37,000
He could be right there.

744
00:36:41,000 --> 00:36:43,000
In a quiet English churchyard,

745
00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:46,000
historian Robert White and I are standing above the grave

746
00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:49,000
of a man who could be the real-life inspiration

747
00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:50,000
for the Robin Hood legend.

748
00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:53,000
Right here.

749
00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:54,000
Right there.

750
00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:55,000
Who's that?

751
00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:56,000
Roger Godbird.

752
00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:57,000
Roger Godbird.

753
00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:01,000
And Godbird, he was a real man.

754
00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:03,000
He was a real man, yes.

755
00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:06,000
Roger Godbird was a character from the film,

756
00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:08,000
and he was a real man.

757
00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:13,000
Roger Godbird was a convicted arsonist, burglar, and murderer.

758
00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:17,000
There aren't many stories where I could imagine him being the good guy.

759
00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:23,000
His story and elements of the Robin Hood story fit quite nicely.

760
00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:27,000
He was in Sherwood Forest in the right period of history.

761
00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:31,000
He also was an outlaw from this particular village of Loxley.

762
00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:35,000
He was even captured by the sheriff of Nottingham at one point

763
00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:37,000
and taken to Nottingham Castle.

764
00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:41,000
To tie the thing even more closely with the Robin Hood legend,

765
00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:46,000
the records from this church show that this gravestone may well have been moved

766
00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:49,000
from a place called Kirk Lee's Priory.

767
00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:55,000
It's the place where Robin Hood actually died.

768
00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:57,000
Right, yeah, we were just there.

769
00:37:57,000 --> 00:38:01,000
Where he fired his last arrow, and consequently,

770
00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:03,000
there is a grave site there,

771
00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:07,000
and this stone was reputedly moved from there.

772
00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:13,000
And in the 16th century, someone drew what the gravestone was like,

773
00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:17,000
and it bears a remarkable resemblance to the one we've got here.

774
00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:19,000
And so Robin Hood could be right here.

775
00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:20,000
It could be.

776
00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:21,000
Wow.

777
00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:27,000
So if Robin did die at Kirk Lee's, he may have been buried there,

778
00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:29,000
but then they moved the grave here.

779
00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:32,000
Now, did they move the stone or the stone and the body?

780
00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:34,000
Well, we don't know at the moment.

781
00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:35,000
So that's the mystery then?

782
00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:36,000
Yes, that's the mystery.

783
00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:39,000
And I take it that excavating here is probably not an option.

784
00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:40,000
No, it's not.

785
00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:41,000
No, it's sacred ground.

786
00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:43,000
We'd be wrong to disturb it.

787
00:38:43,000 --> 00:38:49,000
So what we're really going to do is scan this area and find out once and for all,

788
00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:52,000
is there something in this grave?

789
00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:56,000
Once again, I'm bearing witness to a world first.

790
00:38:56,000 --> 00:39:00,000
This is the first time that Robert and the society have been granted permission

791
00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:01,000
to scan the grave,

792
00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:04,000
and we're using a device known as a ferro scanner to do it.

793
00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:06,000
Am I safe to be holding this?

794
00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:07,000
Oh, yes.

795
00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:08,000
I'm OK to have children.

796
00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:09,000
You are.

797
00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:10,000
OK, here we go.

798
00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:12,000
Scanning starting now.

799
00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:16,000
A ferro scanner detects iron-based materials underground.

800
00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:20,000
If Robin was indeed buried with his spear, bow, and arrows, as the legend says,

801
00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:22,000
this scanner will detect it.

802
00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:24,000
It should also tell us if there's a burial here

803
00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:27,000
or just a stone moved from Kirk Lee's prior.

804
00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:31,000
All right, well, that's a lot of it.

805
00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:32,000
I think you had the better deal up here.

806
00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:33,000
Oh, definitely.

807
00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:34,000
Without doubt.

808
00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:37,000
Now I'll import the data onto here,

809
00:39:37,000 --> 00:39:40,000
and we'll have a look and see what we've got.

810
00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:41,000
So what am I looking for here?

811
00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:42,000
A guy holding a bow?

812
00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:45,000
What we're now looking for is any indications underneath

813
00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:47,000
as we move across from left to right.

814
00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:49,000
This up here is just kind of the stone on top.

815
00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:50,000
Is that what I'm saying there?

816
00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:51,000
Yeah.

817
00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:52,000
So I'm looking at a profile of you.

818
00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:53,000
That's right.

819
00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:54,000
OK, got it.

820
00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:55,000
Nothing yet down there.

821
00:39:55,000 --> 00:39:56,000
No, nothing.

822
00:39:56,000 --> 00:39:58,000
Only just, oh, look at that.

823
00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:00,000
Look at that right there.

824
00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:01,000
There's something down there.

825
00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:02,000
That's really significant.

826
00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:04,000
Bob, there's something down there.

827
00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:05,000
There is?

828
00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:06,000
Absolutely.

829
00:40:06,000 --> 00:40:07,000
That's amazing.

830
00:40:07,000 --> 00:40:09,000
I mean, that is as clear as the stone above.

831
00:40:09,000 --> 00:40:10,000
It's a clear solid object.

832
00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:11,000
Could be a burial.

833
00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:12,000
It could be a burial.

834
00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:13,000
That's right.

835
00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:16,000
How cool is it to be the first people to look under this grave

836
00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:17,000
in hundreds of years?

837
00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:18,000
That's quite something, isn't it?

838
00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:19,000
Absolutely.

839
00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:21,000
We've hit, Paydirt.

840
00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:25,000
This is an occupied grave, confirming that this is Godbird

841
00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:27,000
will take future DNA analysis,

842
00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:30,000
but there is a distinct possibility that we are standing

843
00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:33,000
on the grave of Robin Hood.

844
00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:36,000
So it could be that the legend leads right here.

845
00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:37,000
Yeah.

846
00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:40,000
We may well be looking at Robin Hood himself.

847
00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:42,000
That's amazing.

848
00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:47,000
My travels have carried me across England, chasing down

849
00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:50,000
the many sites and stories associated with the Robin Hood

850
00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:51,000
legend.

851
00:40:51,000 --> 00:40:54,000
I've languished in the dungeons of Nottingham Castle,

852
00:40:54,000 --> 00:40:57,000
soared over the British countryside, and fired arrows

853
00:40:57,000 --> 00:41:00,000
with the merry men of Sherwood Forest.

854
00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:03,000
I've recreated Robin's final moments and searched underground

855
00:41:03,000 --> 00:41:05,000
for his remains.

856
00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:08,000
I've even explored the possibility that the greatest hero

857
00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:11,000
of the English language may in fact be the villain of his

858
00:41:11,000 --> 00:41:12,000
own story.

859
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:15,000
I've been able to confirm that many of the important elements

860
00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:18,000
of the Robin Hood ballads are not only possible,

861
00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:20,000
but almost certainly true.

862
00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:23,000
But was Robin Hood a flesh and blood man?

863
00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:26,000
The events of his day seem too clearly reflected in the ballad

864
00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:28,000
to be pure fiction.

865
00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:31,000
Perhaps there was a little of God-bird in him, along with

866
00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:34,000
dozens of other bandits that roamed the forests.

867
00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:36,000
And though they were important in forming the Robin Hood

868
00:41:36,000 --> 00:41:39,000
legend, the most important authors of his story have been

869
00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:41,000
you and me.

870
00:41:42,000 --> 00:41:46,000
His story may have begun in the 12th century, but it continues

871
00:41:46,000 --> 00:41:50,000
to grow today, with Robin always becoming what we need him

872
00:41:50,000 --> 00:41:51,000
to be.

873
00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:54,000
And no matter what lies ahead, we can rest assured that

874
00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:57,000
Robin Hood will be there to save us.