ROBIN Hood fans are being given the chance to see where the legendary outlaw is thought to be buried.

Calderdale Heritage Group is organising guided walks to the grave in Kirklees Estate next month.

It will be a rare opportunity to see inside the grounds of the private estate near Clifton.

Legend says that Robin Hood also died there and visitors will be able to look at his grave and the nunnery site where the hero is said to have met his maker.

The estate was off limits to the general public until Calderdale Heritage Group was given permission to take small parties there.

Tour guide David Nortcliffe said people come from all over the country to get a glimpse of the final resting place of fabled Hood.

He said: “It’s very popular. People come from all over Calderdale and Huddersfield, but we also get some Robin Hood fanatics who come from quite a distance away.

“We get all kinds of people – from fans who have wanted to go all their lives to those who are interested in the history of the other buildings on the estate.”

Participants on the walks around the grounds will also be able to see the gatehouse and 15th and 17th century Home Farm buildings.

Folklore says that Robin Hood shot his final arrow from the window of the nunnery gatehouse.

He is said to have died at the hands of an evil prioress who bled him to death.

Mr Nortcliffe has spent hours researching the history surrounding the Robin Hood story to set the scene for visitors to the site.

He said: “The site was in the hands of the nuns between 1155 and 1538 and the Robin Hood story overlaps with this period.

“The story has, of course, been elaborated over the years, but history talks about his death being at a nunnery. There’s also no other site that claims Robin Hood’s grave.

“He is said to have gone to the nunnery ill in his 70s because he was an outlaw and there was nowhere else he could get treatment.

“He was bled to let out the ‘bad blood’, but the prioress – a friend of one of his enemies – deliberately let him bleed to death.”

Visitors will be able to see the grave of Robin Hood which bares an inscription stating that the hero lies there.

The Outlaws and Nuns tour takes place on May 24. Places cost £4 per person and must be booked in advance on 01422 843831.

It is part of a series of heritage walks being held this summer throughout Calderdale. For more information visit www.CalderdaleHeritageWalks.org.uk.