Mansfield, market town and par., Notts, on river Maun, 16 miles N. of Nottingham and 137 miles NW. of London by rail, 7252 ac., pop. 13,653; 3 Banks, 2 newspapers. Market-day, Thursday, From coins and other relics found here, Mansfield is supposed to have been a Roman station. It is surrounded by the vestiges of Sherwood Forest. Silk and cotton mills, iron foundries, engine works, brick and tile works, and breweries, &c., give employment to the inhabitants. The cattle markets and corn markets are important.

(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))