In a field, not far from Booker’s Cottages, there exists, or did so until a year or two ago, direct evidence of local archery in the shape of a large sandstone, almost five feet in height and eight feet in circumference, grooved and worn in an extraordinary manner, some of the grooves being eight inches deep and extending the entire length of the stone.
These dents or grooves were caused by the sharpening of arrows, the stone being fixed in the ground for that purpose. This was probably the site of the local butts, and the very worn condition of the stone indicates its use over a very long period or by a very large number of men.
In Henry the Eighth’s reign it was enacted that all male subjects, except judges and the clergy, were to practice archery, and butts were to be set up in every township. Similar to modern rifle butts, these old time butts were merely mounds of sod and earth, with targets affixed, the arrows being sharpened upon a fixed stone near at hand.
It may thus be safe to conjecture that the Allerton stone was used by Sir Richard Molyneux’s retainers before proceeding to Agincourt, where their skill and prowess gained the King’s favour for their master and the chief forestership of the Royal parks.
The stone is known as “Robin Hood’s Stone,” local tradition maintaining that the famous outlaw once sharpened his arrows here, but perhaps this is stretching credulity too far.
Hmm yes maybe. And how do you explain that the whole country isn’t full of these stones. Never mind. It’s a good story. Taken from the Liverpool Evening Express of 10th December 1930, in an article about the ‘Romance of Allerton and Calderstones’ by ‘Gradivus.‘