Mansfield Through Time

This book offers a cameo glimpse of a town whose character and identity has, over the last few hundred years, been moulded, modified and tempered by coal mining and the Industrial Revolution. This ancient market town evolved into Nottinghamshire’s second largest town, a strategic trading hub from which roads radiate to all cardinal points. With the surrounding area rich in coal deposits and bountiful farmland, corn and textile milling developed alongside a rapidly expanding beer brewing industry.

The latter half of the 20th Century, however, witnessed the demise of both the coalmines and breweries. Engineering companies shut down and the mills closed their doors permanently. The town, to a large extent, reverted to its commercial roots, as it strived towards the regeneration of prosperity lost to the influences of multi-national economics. Much of Mansfield’s past, previously invested in transient buildings and structures, now only exist as sepia images stored in archives. This book offers a comparative—and nostalgic—look at how the town has changed through time.