Place:Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Mansfield is a market town in Nottinghamshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1891. It is the main town in the Mansfield local government district. Nestling in a pocket within the Maun Valley surrounded by hills, the town is around 12 miles (19 km) north of Nottingham. The District of Mansfield is a largely urban area situated in the northwest of Nottinghamshire populated by 99,600 residents, the vast majority of whom live in Mansfield (including Mansfield Woodhouse). Market Warsop is a secondary centre, and the remainder of the population live in the rural north of the district.

Historically, the district has been influenced heavily by its industrial past with coal mining and textiles thriving in the district until their decline in the 1990s, but in common with the national economy the area has seen the decline of these sectors. Many of the areas adjacent to the town and its surrounding countryside still bear the marks of the area's vibrant mining history.

Nineteenth century illustrations

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Mansfield from John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles of 1887:

"Mansfield, market town and [parish], Notts, on river Maun, 16 miles N. of Nottingham and 137 miles NW. of London by rail, 7252 [acres], pop. 13,653; 3 Banks, 2 newspapers. Market-day, Thursday, From coins and other relics found here, Mansfield is supposed to have been a Roman station. It is surrounded by the vestiges of Sherwood Forest. Silk and cotton mills, iron foundries, engine works, brick and tile works, and breweries, &c., give employment to the inhabitants. The cattle markets and corn markets are important."

A Vision of Britain through Time provides a very extensive description from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72, most of which has not been reproduced here. Wilson lists the surrounding villages which have since been absorbed into the Municipal Borough of Mansfield. These are listed here for identification.

"The parish contains also the hamlets of Pleasley-Hill, Radmanthwaite, Moorhaigh, Penniment-Houses, Dalestorth, Bleak-Hills, and Oakham. Acres: 9,070. Real property: £32,798; of which £293 are in quarries, and £600 in gas-works. Population in 1851: 10,667; in 1861: 10,225. Houses: 2,248. A section of the parish, forming the chapelry of St. John, was constituted a separate charge in 1857, and had a pop. of 4,192 in 1861. The living of St. Peter is a vicarage, and that of St. John is a Vicarage, united with the chapelry of Pleasley-Hill, in the diocese of Lincoln. Value of St. Peter, £250; of St. John-with-Pleasley-Hill, £300. Patron, of both: the Bishop of Lincoln."

The hamlets and ecclesiastical parishes listed above have all been redirected here. Mansfield Woodhouse and Skegby were civil parishes absorbed into Mansfield. No date has been found for Mansfield Woodhouse, but Skegby was absorbed in 1935.

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