The bones of legendary outlaw Robin Hood may have been dug up in the mid-18th Century, according to a history buff. Author Richard Rutherford-Moore, who has published two books about Robin Hood, bases the claim on research and a series of experiments with a bow and arrow. According to most Robin Hood legends, the ailing outlaw determined his own burial site by shooting an arrow from his death bed. He is said to have died in the gatehouse of Kirklees Priory, in West Yorkshire. A monument in the privately owned grounds claims to mark Robin Hood's grave, but Mr Rutherford-Moore says it is impossible the outlaw's final arrow could have travelled the full 650 metres from the gatehouse. Using measurements of the old priory building and his knowledge of archery in the 13th Century, Mr Rutherford-Moore fired 20 "test arrows" to re-enact the event. He performed the experiment near his home in Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, because it was unsafe to do so at Kirklees.

The tests were based on research and a number of "educated assumptions", such as the position of the former priory building relative to the bed, the type of bow being used and Robin Hood's health at the time.

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