Earliest Meeting: Monday 1st November 1841
Final Meeting: Tuesday 2nd November 1841
The Nottinghamshire village of Edwinstowe lies in beautiful countryside on the edge of Sherwood Forest, and is in the district of Newark and Sherwood. The village boasts a rich history and was recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book. Indeed, the village's name means' Edwin's resting place' and it is believed that the body of Edwin of Northumbria was hidden in the church after he was killed at the Battle of Hatfield Chase. The Trueman family are buried in the churchyard; John Trueman was a prominent entomologist who met his death in a tragic accident when returning from the local races held at nearby Ollerton on Tuesday 3rd May 1853, the final meeting to be held in the village.
As well as race meetings being staged at Ollerton and nearby Rufford, Edwinstowe also held a Steeplechase meeting in the 1840s. A poster advertising the races is shown opposite, although no record can be found of the results from that solitary meeting, and there is no evidence of further steeplechase meetings being staged in the village. The 2-day meeting appears to have been quite a spectacle, with the principal race, the Sherwood Grand Steeplechase Plate, offering a beautiful engraved Gold Piece suitably engraved with an impression of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. The recipient of the award would certainly have treasured his prize, but what became of it? The programme was supplemented with human races, a climbing competition, when the prize was a new Beaver Hat, a donkey race and a race for ponies. The day after the races, Wednesday 3rd November, was trophy presentation day, with a Sherwood Feast laid on for subscribers at the Bickland and Bilhagh Lodge Room. I wonder if any of the village's residents know of the location of the Lodge Room?
There was a sad ending to the final meeting at Ollerton concerning John Trueman. John Trueman, well known as an entomologist, was born at Edwinstowe on 3rd May 1802. He never married and lived his entire life at “Trueman’s Yard”, earning a living as a shoemaker. He is described as, “a little man, about five feet five inches tall in stature, with a broad and lofty forehead, over which his black hair stands erect, and a pair of large dark eyes in his head, which are at once merry and thoughtful” (Searle, 1850). Many were the rare insects his intelligent industry collected, including beetles, butterflies and moths of Sherwood Forest from a boy of around seven years and concluding only with his unfortunate death on Tuesday, 3rd May 1853. He was apparently killed in a collision with an omnibus on his 51st birthday together with the pony he was riding while returning home from the races at Boughton Brake (Anon, 1853a). A large, but plain, monument commemorating his indefatigable contribution to entomology was erected over his grave by village subscription next to Edwinstowe church (Anon, 1853b).
Much of the information about this course has been found using internet research and is in the public domain. However, useful research sources have been:-
London Illustrated News
Racing Illustrated 1895-1899
The Sporting & Dramatic Illustrated
Northern Turf History Volumes 1-4 by J.Fairfax-Blakeborough
The Sporting Magazine
A Long Time Gone by Chris Pitt first published in 1996 ISBN 0 900599 89 8
Racing Calendars which were first published in 1727
