Mansfield, United Kingdom

In the time of Henry II of England, the King visited what is now known as Kings Mill, staying at the home of Sir John Cockle for a night having been hunting in Sherwood Forest; Cockle was later known as the Miller of Mansfield. In 1199, the Manor was owned by King John; he used to visit Mansfield frequently between 1200 and 1216, and built a residence here. Later, Edward I held a royal council in the town. The manor, then owned by Henry III, subsequently passed to Henry de Hastings. In 1329, Queen Isabella, mother of Edward III, was the lady of the manor of Mansfield.

Market-petition documents of 1227 spelt Mansfield Maunnesfeld. Richard II signed a warrant in November 1377 to grant tenants the right to hold a four-day fair each year; the spelling had changed to Mannesfeld. Mansfield, Skegby and Sutton in Ashfield were the land of the king in 1086 as stated in the Domesday Book. There are remains of the 12th-century King John's Palace in Kings Clipstone, between Mansfield and Edwinstowe, and it was an area of retreat for royal families and dignitaries through to the 15th century. It was here that William the Lion of Scotland met Richard I of England (Richard the Lionheart) to congratulate him on his return from the crusades. It was also where Queen Eleanor, the first wife of Edward I, was taken ill and moved to Harby. King John and Edward I are reputed to have had impromptu parliaments at the Parliament Oak, near Market Warsop.

St Peter and St Paul's Church is mentioned in the 1086 Doomsday Book and, in 1092, it was passed by William II to Robert Bloet the bishop of Lincoln and Lord Chancellor of England.

Access to the town was by road from the city of Nottingham, on the way to Sheffield. In the town centre, a commemorative plaque was erected in 1988, together with a nearby tree to mark the point thought once to be the centre of Sherwood Forest. The plaque was refurbished in 2005 and moved to a ground plinth.

In 1516, during the reign of Henry VIII, an act of parliament settled the manor to Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk.

Dame Cecily Flogan in 1521, gave extensive land to the parish church and community in Mansfield in her will. The church, at the time, was in the hands of Edward VI.

Travellers in the 16th and 17th centuries had several inns and stable yards, dating from the medieval period, to stop at: the Harte; the Swan, which survives and has a 1490 dating stone; the Talbot; the White Bear; the Ram, with timber from before 1500; and the White Lion.

Several timber-framed cruck buildings were demolished in 1929; in 1973, a local historical society documented another during demolition dated to 1400 or earlier. Other Tudor houses in Stockwell Gate, Bridge Street and Lime Tree Place were also demolished to make way for development before they could be viewed for listing. Most remaining buildings are from the 17th century. The Swan was rebuilt in 1584 and became a coaching inn in the 1820s/30s.

The manor was passed to George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury the husband of Bess of Hardwick, Countess of Shrewsbury in 1589, who then passed it to Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury (the 6th Earl's son) until his death in 1616. Bess's daughter Mary Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury the wife of Gilbert Talbot became the owner. Finally, the Manor was passed to the Dukes of Newcastle and Portland.

Mansfield and surrounding areas in Nottinghamshire became a strong centre for Nonconformism, separating from the Church of England.

In 1647, George Fox, who was originally from Fenny Drayton in Leicestershire, lived in Mansfield and worked as a shoemaker for four years. George lived in a cottage at the site of St Phillip Neri Catholic Church and ground on Chesterfield Road. It was at this time that he started his ministry. George Fox was imprisoned in Nottingham in 1649, for interrupting the service at the church in Mansfield Woodhouse. He became the founder of the Religious Society of Friends, better known as Quakers. Mansfield became the birthplace of the Quaker religion after Fox had a revelation walking past St Peter and St Paul's Church; he felt compelled to preach to others. The revelation is mentioned in his journal to which he states "and as I was walking by the steeplehouse side, in the town of Mansfield the Lord said unto me, that which people do trample upon must be thy food. And as the Lord spoke he opened it to me how that people and professors did trample upon the life, even the life of Christ was trampled upon…" This was during the time of the English Civil War.

There is a Quaker Heritage Trail in the town; the former meeting house was on the current site of the bus station. Fox met Elizabeth Hooton at her home Quaker House in nearby Skegby; she is usually considered to be the first person to accept the doctrines of Quakerism.