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Mansfield Woodhouse

Coordinates: 53°10′N 1°11′W / 53.16°N 1.19°W / 53.16; -1.19
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Mansfield Woodhouse
Market Place, Mansfield Woodhouse
Mansfield Woodhouse is located in Nottinghamshire
Mansfield Woodhouse
Mansfield Woodhouse
Location within Nottinghamshire
OS grid referenceSK540632
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townMansfield
Postcode districtNG19
Dialling code01623
PoliceNottinghamshire
FireNottinghamshire
AmbulanceEast Midlands
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Nottinghamshire
53°10′N 1°11′W / 53.16°N 1.19°W / 53.16; -1.19

Mansfield Woodhouse is a town and civil parish in the Mansfield district of Nottinghamshire, England. It is about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Mansfield, along the main A60 road in a wide, low valley between the Rivers Maun and Meden.[1] Founded before the Roman Empire, it is noteworthy for its stone-built centre.

Originally separate with its own urban district council, after continuous development it has become a part of the Mansfield Urban Area. After the Local Government Act 1972, Mansfield Woodhouse and Warsop Urban District Councils merged with the Municipal Borough of Mansfield on 1 April 1974, to form a new local government area known as Mansfield. Mansfield Woodhouse's economy was traditionally based on the quarrying, mining, farming and textile industries.

History

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Roman Period

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The Roman tessellated pavement found in Mansfield Woodhouse

The Romans had a fortress and a civilian settlement in the area (remains of two Roman Villas were famously found here by Major Hayman Rooke in the 1780s). A Roman tessellated pavement was found in one of the Villa’s near Mansfield Woodhouse.[2]

13th and 14th Century’s

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The area declined after the Romans left but by the 13th century, there was a growing settlement of smallholders.[3]

On the road to Edwinstowe Peafield Lane, stands the Parliament Oak, which, according to legend, was once the location of a session of Parliament held by King John and Edward I. There is a commemorative plaque.[4][5][6]

On 12 September 1304, fire destroyed the settlement, including its timber-framed church. The settlement was rebuilt using local materials and the new stone-built church, Church of St Edmund, still stands.[7]

Tudor/stuart Times

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The town recovered and by Tudor times, was home to a number of wealthy families. Farming and quarrying were the main livelihoods.

The Manor, Mansfield Woodhouse

The Manor House (which used to be known as the castle) was formally the home of the Digby family. In 1589, John Digby married Elizabeth Slaughter, the daughter of Margaret , the half sister of Bess of Hardwick Countess of Shrewsbury. Elizabeth had a close relationship with Bess and was one of Bess’s trusted ladies in waiting. On the birth of Elizabeth’s baby both Bess and Lady Arbella Stuart gave gifts.[8]

George Fox the founder of the Quakers visited the Church of St Edmund in 1649. He tried to preach in the church but was severely beaten, placed in the stocks at cross hill for a time, then stoned out of the village.[7]

St Edmunds Church

18th Century

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Major Hayman Rooke lived at Woodhouse Place in Mansfield Woodhouse, but originally from the City of Westminster, London. In 1790 he discovered the Major Oak Tree in Sherwood Forest.[9]

Former Home of Major Hayman Rooke

19th Century

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Mansfield Woodhouse also prospered with the growth of the textile and hosiery trades into the 19th century.

In 1816 the church steeple at St Edmunds Church was damaged by an earthquake, which necessitated repairs. [7]

In 1839, the designer of the present Houses of Parliament, Sir Charles Barry, selected a sand-coloured magnesian limestone as the stone that would be used in its construction. This was quarried in Anston, South Yorkshire as well as in Mansfield Woodhouse.

Today

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The town was recorded as having a population of 18,500 according to the 2011 census.[10]

It has a number of schools; the larger primary schools are St. Edmund's Church of England Primary School, Northfield Primary and Nursery School, Peafield Lane Primary and Nursery School, Leas Park Junior School and Nettleworth Primary and Nursery School.

Old Market Place

The largest school is The Manor Academy; originally a grammar school (opened in 1959), it merged with Forest View Secondary Modern (opened 1956 – both at Park Hall Road) and Yorke Street Secondary Modern to form a comprehensive school, opened in September 1973. The Yorke Street building was about a mile away to the south.

After a fire in 1996, the Park Hall Road buildings were enlarged during rebuilding to incorporate the former Yorke Street facility, which was sold for housing land. Near the school is The Manor Sport and Recreation Centre, which is currently not open to the public and is being used for facilities the academy can use.

Mansfield Woodhouse Station

The Co-op store in Mansfield Woodhouse, opened in late 1984,[11][12] closed in January 2009 and was transformed into a Morrisons using the same building in June 2009.[13][14][15] The locality is being redeveloped in other areas, including replacement of the older terraced housing around Thoresby Road, near the railway station and from Sherwood Street–Blake Street with new housing estates. A new-build police station served the area since 2007, but was earmarked for closure in 2013 by Nottinghamshire Police Commissioner Paddy Tipping.[16][17] In use by police until 2017, it was sold in 2019 for around a third of the new-build cost.[18][19]

The town is served by Mansfield Woodhouse railway station, on the Robin Hood Line.

The town also has a volunteer-run newsletter called The Woodhouse Warbler, produced quarterly since late 2000, with a circulation in the thousands. It also produced a magazine collating locals' Second World War memories, funded by the Big Lottery Fund.[20]

Sport

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Skate area at Yeoman Hill Park

The Manor Sport and Recreation Centre is a £1.9 million indoor and outdoor sports facility opened on 11 May 2002, largely funded by a £1.4 million Sport England Sports Lottery grant, with the remainder from a variety of organisations and sponsors. The Manor Sport and Recreation Centre is not open to the public and is privately owned by The Manor Academy for their students to use.[21]

First mooted by Mansfield District Council advertising for volunteer organisers in August 2012, a weekly running event was envisaged in collaboration with Nottinghamshire County Council and Manor Academy.[22]

From 29 September 2012 the Manor Park, adjacent to the Sports complex accessed from Kingsley Avenue, has regularly hosted a Park Run – an informal, timed 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) fun-run for any class of participant.[23][24]

The town also has its own non league football club, Sherwood Colliery F.C. who currently play in the United Counties League Premier Division North at Debdale Park.[25]

Mansfield Woodhouse is known around Nottinghamshire for its junior football clubs: Woodhouse Colts JFC and Manor 4th FC, both of which offer football to youngsters from 6 to 18.[citation needed]

Mansfield Woodhouses' and Manor Parks newest sports club addition is the Sherwood Wolf Hunt Youth Rugby League teams, offering Boys & Girls Rugby League from 12-18 and currently play in the Midlands and Hull leagues respectively.[citation needed]

Speedway racing, then known as dirt track racing, took place at Mansfield Woodhouse in the pioneer days of 1928.[26]

Industrial Revolution

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During the UK miners' strike, some coal miners at nearby Sherwood Colliery on the edge of Mansfield Woodhouse continued working, a decision made with members and officials as part of the Union of Democratic Mineworkers, a breakaway from the National Union of Mineworkers.[27] The pit closed in 1992.[28][29] The Colliery's football and cricket teams carry on through Sherwood Colliery Football Club and Sherwood Colliery Cricket Club, with the former swimming pool that was part of the original pit head baths complex being renamed as Rebecca Adlington Swimming Centre in 2010.

Notable People

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Natives of Mansfield Woodhouse include D'Ewes Coke (1747–1811), an unusual combination of clergyman and colliery master, and the pianist and composer John Ogdon (1937–89).

References

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  1. ^ OS Explorer Map 270: Sherwood Forest: (1:25 000):ISBN 0 319 24040 1
  2. ^ "maps_k_top_33_45". British Library Images. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  3. ^ White Robert|title= Worksop, The Dukery, and Sherwood Forest|1875)|Publisher R White, Worksop|access date on 3 May 2025
  4. ^ Inspire Picture Archive. Nottinghamshire County Council. Retrieved on the 20th April 2023
  5. ^ Palmer, F. P.; Forrester, Alfred Henry (1846). The Wanderings of a Pen and Pencil. J. How. p. 360|access date 10 May 2025
  6. ^ Hight, Julian (2011). Britain's Tree Story. London: National Trust. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-907892-20-2.|access date 10 May 2025
  7. ^ a b c "Mansfield Woodhouse - History". southwellchurches.nottingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  8. ^ "The Manor House – The Old Mansfield Woodhouse Society". Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  9. ^ Robert White, Worksop, The Dukery, and Sherwood Forest, (1875)|access date on 3 May 2025
  10. ^ Mansfield Urban Area
  11. ^ Co-op Superstore, opened 18th October 1984 Nottinghamshire County Council via Inspire cultural services. Retrieved 4 February 2025
  12. ^ "Memory Lane: Checking it out..." Chad, 8 January 2014, p.10. Accessed 4 February 2025
  13. ^ "Car parking protest at supermarket. ...a Morrisons spokesman said: The current parking system was introduced over 18 months ago..." Chad, 26 January 2012, p.7. Accessed 16 June 2022
  14. ^ Planning – Application Summary, Morrisons Welbeck Road Mansfield Woodhouse Mansfield District Council, 18 June 2009. Retrieved 16 June 2022
  15. ^ Completed acquisition by WM Morrison Supermarkets plc of 30 stores from Co-operative Group Limited assets.publishing.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 June 2022
  16. ^ New Woodhouse police station opens soon Chad, 2 October 2007. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2025
  17. ^ 'Appalling'. "Controversial plans to close down Mansfield Woodhouse Police Station have been branded as 'appalling' by Mansfield MP Sir Alan Meale" Chad, 4 December 2013, p.1. Accessed 29 December 2013
  18. ^ Former Mansfield Woodhouse police station sold for £390,000 Chad, 11 March 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2025
  19. ^ Plans to convert former Mansfield Woodhouse police station into offices NottinghamshireLive, 27 February 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2025
  20. ^ "Woodhouse Warbler - Newsletter for Mansfield Woodhouse". www.mansfieldwoodhouse.info. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  21. ^ "Manor Active | Gym, Sports & Recreation Centre, Mansfield, Notts". www.manor-sportscentre.co.uk. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  22. ^ "On your marks for new Park Run event". Chad, 22 August 2021, p.30. Retrieved 23 October 2022
  23. ^ "parkrun Support". support.parkrun.com. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  24. ^ "home | Mansfield parkrun | Mansfield parkrun". www.parkrun.org.uk. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  25. ^ "Sherwood Colliery F.C. Full-Time : Club". fulltime.thefa.com. Archived from the original on 12 February 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  26. ^ "Mansfield Woodhouse 1928" (PDF). Speedway researcher. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  27. ^ Amos, David (December 2011). "THE NOTTINGHAMSHIRE MINERS', THE UNION OF DEMOCRATIC MINEWORKERS AND THE 1984-85 MINERS STRIKE: SCABS OR SCAPEGOATS?" (PDF). University of Nottingham. p. 12 retrieved on the 20th April 2023
  28. ^ Independent Sherwood Colliery closed January 1992 Retrieved 26 May 2014
  29. ^ "Our Mansfield and Area | Places | MANSFIELD | ANNALS OF MANSFIELD FROM 1086 TO 1999 | Some notable events in the history of Mansfield". www.ourmansfieldandarea.org.uk. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
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