Could a simulation or a reproduction of ‘Robin Hood’s last arrow’ be possible? On my last visit to the Gatehouse I borrowed a short plant-stick from the nearby barn about the length of an arrow and rather like a magician’s wand used it to note a few measurements for a proposed future experiment.

Back at home in Sherwood Forest to make the practical experiment a little easier, I sliced off the first and last 50 years of the 200 year-long time-span ; the longbow intended to be used is of the kind used from about the end of the 12th century, and the most popular date for Robin Hood’s death at Kirklees is 1247 - the 13th Century - and most of the supporting evidence for the outlaw’s existence dates from the 14th Century.

Richard Rutherford-Moore

Not a war-bow with a pull of over a 100 pounds, but the sort of bow an outlaw chap might carry on a day-to-day basis to put meat on the table ; about 60 to 80 pounds draw-weight at around five and a half feet in length.

An ash bow would be longer for the same power ratio so a yew bow was selected for the experiment. Similarly, the arrows intended to be used were of the sort suitable for hunting an animal such as fallow deer and not military heavyweight armour-piercing bodkin points.

Hunting arrows are lighter and intended to be loosed at a flat trajectory into the correct place in the intended ‘live’ target ; although clout-shooting is known to have been practised, in a hunting sense it is inapplicable. Dropping arrows on a target from above is a military tactic, performed at long-range against a body of advancing enemy soldiers and these projectiles would be made far heavier. But - before any reconstructed arrow can be shot - a look must also be taken at the many factors influencing power, flight length and direction.

How did Robin Hood shoot his final arrow; was he in a vertical position, a horizontal one - or something in between? At the time, most tales relate he was feeling pretty ill, but in one story he managed despite the great loss of blood to blow a horn-signal loud enough to be heard at a distance outside the building and just after that use a sword to knock out an assassin - by mortally wounding him - despite being wounded himself by the assassin during the fight.

It is this wounding that is said to have been the final straw that did for Robin Hood. The National Blood Transfusion Service suggest a few minutes rest and give donors a cup of tea and a biscuit after taking a pint of blood - taking two or more by this method is said to be very dangerous as it is going far faster than the body can replace it would cause rapid and increasing dehydration.

Artist's impression of Robin Hood shooting his final arrow. The dying Robin Hood, helped by Little John, prepares to shoot a final arrow from his death-bed in the upper room of the Kirklees Priory Gate House. Note the rather short length of the longbow - only around four feet in length. Length does not decree the power of a longbow, but a more usual length from the 12th Century upwards would be over five feet. The artist is also faulty regarding the perspective; he has fitted the length of the bow in the picture without distortion but any arrow shot from the bow in the picture would strike the left edge of the window and if the window wasn't there would probably hit the Priory Church.

Outside of a Hollywood feature film, a man suffering from a combination of rapid blood loss, nervous tension, physical exertion and shock one would at least have him at least sitting down - before he fell down - for more than a few minutes in order to recover.

For an experienced hard-bitten medieval English archer with one foot through death’s door and about to die even aided by a well-built friend, drawing to the chest, judging both elevation and direction and shooting an arrow out of a narrow window from a upwards-facing horizontal position to send it over 600 yards would be quite impossible.

Assuming the archer is within two feet of the window, the nearer the floor - or lying on his back on a bed - the arrow was loosed the higher the possible height, passing as close as possible to the top edge of the window.

Shooting straight through the window from a sitting position, you can get a far better distance but achieve less height ; from a standing position you can judge the optimum height to gain the furthest distance particularly by bending the right knee and drawing the arrow to the chest.

The arrow was shot from an upstairs window; allowance must be made for a starting height of between 12 and 15 feet. This may seem petty, but it is an important factor to consider in terms of a possible trajectory as in front of us we have buildings and we don’t want to hit any.

Artist's impression of Robin Hood shooting his final arrow. In an unusual variation on the theme of Robin Hood's last arrow, this illustration shows the dying outlaw leader supported by Little John whilst Allan a'Dale stands bereft in a corner. Sunlight on the wall shows the south-facing window has been opened to permit the flight of Robin's arrow. As most accounts have the last arrow loosed from a bed, this artist again has altered the shape and the size of the longbow to make it fit the position : in portraying the window, weapons and costume he puts this event in the late 13th - 14th Century. In the accompanying account, Robin's last words were "Marian, 'tis my Marian come at last..."

The highest part of the biggest building extending over 30 degrees to our left is 50 feet away , 80 feet long and 21 feet wide with the highest part somewhere between thirty and forty feet high measured from the ground, and is on the left-hand side of the buildings. The further right we aim, the less the height of the buildings - between nine and 12 feet - in front of the arrow. Beyond the far edge of these buildings - 150 feet away - or across the brook to our right we have a clear area (but a few trees). The window restricts aiming left to right. The closer we are to it, the more angle we gain. But; for a right-handed person using a longbow the forearm must extend up to two feet from our body to gain the power ; a necessary position but an awkward restriction on where we can aim left to right. The farther the archer is away from the window, the more severe the angle of flight for the arrow left or right.

We are after maximum power to gain a maximum range. We are assuming the archer has enough strength left for at least one good shot from his bow, with a bit of help from a friend. We are assuming that this friend can move him to face in the best direction so he doesn’t have to get up off the bed or chair he is lying on or sitting in. Using the imagination - or your bedroom and few props to get a better understanding perhaps - the reader should now have arrived at a point where they have a rough idea of how and where the arrow could have been shot.

I had to repeat my calculations in the Priory Gatehouse twice; because of the right-hand edge of the window there is only a 20-degree wide slot ten degrees to the right out of the window to the right of the highest building from in which to be able in the body-position proposed to actually shoot the arrow through the window to suit the requirements for reaching the optimum height to gain a maximum distance and stay very clear of the water in the brook. You have the power to clear the brook by aiming well to the right but anywhere to the right beyond the specified degree the left arm, the window edge and the gatehouse wall severely restrict an aiming point to be able to do so.

Artist's impression of Robin Hood shooting his final arrow. Robin Hood again looses his last arrow whilst supported by Little John from a bed. Note the tiny hunting horn that is supposed to have sent the traditional blast to summon Little John. Once again, a diminutive longbow is the only way to fit it into the bed position : but an arrow shot by a dying man from a bow like this would not go very far

We now have an elevation; we don’t require any particular target to shoot at but we do require to calculate the available power. We can ‘cheat’ a little here - by drawing the bowstring back towards the chest and loosing a number of arrows when a mark on the base of a thumb of the right hand is between 12 and zero inches from the chest, we can get a variation in power and an average ‘fall of shot’. Let’s say we loose an arrow every two inches out from the body until we reach two inches back from fist-mele; the problem with that is the far edge of the buildings is 150 feet away from us. We must have the power to clear not only the height of the buildings but also the length; all 150 feet. We now have the estimated minimum power as we must clear that distance at the optimum height. Maximum power is pure guesswork but the bow can be shot at full-draw, which is the maximum possible power.

Despite the obvious temptations, shooting an arrow out of the actual window of the Priory Gatehouse was never considered. The place is a historic building and there is a modern road, other buildings and people and pets that live there - gardens, hedges and trees make visibility into many areas quite impossible. One needs to take precautions when indulging in live archery; I had very good teachers who impressed this factor on me continuously but I am also lucky in that there are some pretty wide open areas in Sherwood Forest where I live. Standing with a companion at the end of a long grassy field, having checked for hazards and keeping an eye open for any developing hazards, I could measure the height to identify the area in terms of elevation and windage my arrow must pass through in a simulation of the restrictions in space to shoot an arrow out of the window of the Priory Gatehouse. I had 20 arrows, all the same weight and design. Obviously the additional power supplied by a friend helping you shoot has a lower and an upper limit - the upper limit is not far from actually shooting the arrow himself with the restriction that he actually has his arms around you to reach this level of power. The practical experiment here introduced another hitherto unconsidered problem - what to do with the bottom end of the longbow; we can’t saw it off as it is a necessary requirement! Aiming to the right or left brings the lower end into contact with the no-go area of the bed or chair. Lying on a bed or sitting in a chair the bow can only be drawn by an archer and a friend helping him by having the upper part of the bow tilted to the left at least thirty degrees from vertical or by increasing the elevation which reduces the distance. This affected both the distance and direction of the loosing of the arrows.

Artist's impression of Robin Hood shooting his final arrow. In this illustration, Robin is held up on his feet by Little John whilst he draws the last arrow. Although visibly unbalanced being on his feet is likely the position an experienced archer like a dying Robin Hood would choose to loose a last arrow - but the artist in having the outlaw draw the arrow to his right eye rather than his chest once again means this arrow won't be travelling very far or very fast.

One last bit of evidence to read, from an old hand-written document known as The Sloane MS, now in the British Museum: Robin Hood left for the Priory because he felt ‘… distempered with cold and with great pain in his limbs, his blood being corrupted …’ ; so the poor chap was already feeling pretty awful even before he arrived at the Priory and in addition to his weakness having then walked all the way from Barnsdale or Sherwood Forest, a distance of between 25 and 50 miles. Add to this loss of blood followed by a deadly sword-fight, a wound from an edged weapon, ensuing shock and a high fever … maybe I had all this on my mind as if guided by the hand of Providence - or someone related to them - the first arrow shot went too far to the right and dropped short into where the running water of the Priory brook would have been if shooting from the upstairs Priory Gatehouse window. The rest of my arrows that did achieve the necessary height and clear the ‘no-go’ area within 50 metres of where I was standing - simulating the buildings of the Priory - on average fell at a distance of between 60 and 80 metres away roughly within five metres of each other.

So; what does the reconstruction prove? The reader is perhaps thinking by now I’ve gone to a lot of trouble and an awful long way around to prove what was already well known before I started; an English medieval arrow cannot be shot from an English medieval bow over a range of over 600 metres.

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