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Preface
WHEN the history of a town of the importance of Mansfield has not been written for a period of nearly one hundred years, and that not a perfect one by any means, no apology is needed for writing and offering to the public a history of that town. This is precisely the position of Mansfield; and, moreover, the town has just entered upon a new and important epoch by becoming an incorporated borough.
In writing these pages, it has been my aim to make the work as complete as possible down to the present date, and to devote as much space as practicable to the ancient history, which is apt to get lost unless garnered in a storehouse of this description.
The authorities to which I am indebted for much of the information contained in the ancient portion of this work are "Harrod's History of Mansfield" (1801); "A Visit to Sherwood Forest" (in or about 1850); "Annals of Nottinghamshire" (1855); "Percy Reliques" (1765); "Walpoole's British Traveller" (1790); "White's History of Worksop" (1874); and the "Gentleman's Magazine" (Old Series).
The whole of the engravings in this work are from photographs supplied by the Sherwood Photographic Company, West Gate, Mansfield. Rock Houses, King's Mill, and the Old Market Place are from paintings by Miss Paulson and Mr. J. Seddon Tyrer, kindly lent for the purpose of this History by County Councillor J. Harrop White.
William Horner Groves.
Mansfield, 1894.