ISSUE #2

THE
REAL
ROBIN
HOOD
Sir Humphrey Kynaston
About 400 years ago, the rural
landscape of Shropshire could
be a dangerous place to be.
But nowhere was as dangerous as
Nesscliffe, the lair of the notorious
highwayman Sir Humphrey Kynaston.
Back in the 1500s, Shrewsbury made
its fortune on the wool trade.
Wool merchants based in the town
bought Welsh cloth at Oswestry
Market, then took it back to their
home town to be made into clothes.
Trading these clothes in London
reigned in fat prots for Shrewsbury
merchants, who built themselves ne
timber houses.
However, it wasn't all plain sailing for
these merchants. Trading meant
carrying large quantities of gold and
silver to Oswestry.
And Nesscliffe, with its high wooded
hill, was just the place for the
enterprising highwaymen to relieve
them of it.
Highwaymen would wait on Nesscliffe
Hill, where they could see the
approaching merchant's horses, before
attacking.
And the pub just east of the village,
the Wolf's Head, was well-known as a
meeting place for all sorts of
criminals.
Of all the highwaymen who terrorised
the road between Shrewsbury and
Oswestry, Sir Humphrey Kynaston
was the most feared.
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