Mansfield

Mansfield, a market town and municipal borough in the Mansfield parliamentary division of Nottinghamshire, England, on the small river Mann or Maun; the junction of several branches of the Midland railway, by which it is 142 m. N.N.W. from London. Pop. (1891), 13,094; (1901), 15,250. Area, 7068 acres. The church of St Peter is partly Early Norman, and partly Perpendicular. There is a grammar school founded by Queen Elizabeth in 1561, occupying modern buildings. Twelve almshouses were founded by Elizabeth Heath in 1693, and to these six were afterwards added. There are a number of other charities. The industries are the manufacture of lace, thread, boots and machinery, iron-founding and brewing. In the neighbourhood, as at Mansfield Woodhouse to the north, there are quarries of limestone, sandstone and freestone. The town is governed by a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors. During the heptarchy Mansfield was occasionally the residence of the Mercian kings, and it was afterwards a favourite resort of Norman sovereigns, lying as it does on the western outskirts of Sherwood Forest. By Henry VIII. the manor was granted to the earl of Surrey. Afterwards it went by exchange to the duke of Newcastle, and thence to the Portland family. The town obtained a fair from Richard II. in 1377. It became a municipal borough in 1891.