OS grid reference SK540632 Post town MANSFIELD Local time Monday 11:14 AM | Sovereign state United Kingdom Postcode district NG19 Dialling code 01623 | |
 | ||
Weather 9°C, Wind SW at 23 km/h, 91% Humidity | ||
Mansfield Woodhouse is a large village about 1.2 miles (2 km) north of Mansfield (where the population is included) in Nottinghamshire, England, stretching alongside the main A60 road in a wide, low valley between the Rivers Maun and Meden. With a history dating back before the Roman Empire, it is still noteworthy for its stone-built town centre.
Contents
Map of Mansfield Woodhouse, Mansfield, UK
Mansfield Woodhouse was an entity with its own urban district council but after continuous development, it has become a large section within the Mansfield Urban Area. Following a change in local government structure on 1 April 1974, Mansfield Woodhouse and Warsop Urban District Councils merged with the municipal borough of Mansfield to form a new local government district, Mansfield District.
Mansfield Woodhouse's economy was traditionally based on quarrying, mining, farming and textile industries.
History
The Romans had a fortress and a civilian settlement in the area (remains of a Roman villa were famously found here by Hayman Rooke in the 1780s). The area declined after the Romans left but by the 13th century, there was a growing settlement of smallholders.
On 12 September 1304, fire destroyed the village, including its timber-framed church. The town was rebuilt using local materials and the new stone-built church, dedicated to St. Edmund, still stands.
The village recovered and by Tudor times, was home to a number of wealthy families. Farming and quarrying were the main livelihoods and Mansfield Woodhouse also prospered with the growth of the textile and hosiery trades into the 19th century.
One thing not commonly known about Mansfield Woodhouse is that locally quarried stone was used to build the Houses of Parliament.
On the road to Edwinstowe stands the Parliament Oak, which, according to legend, was once the location of a session of Parliament held by the king. There is a commemorating plaque.
During the UK miners' strike, Mansfield Woodhouse coal miners, at nearby Sherwood Colliery, scabbed. That decision was made as part of the Nottinghamshire Union of Miners. The pit closed in 1992. The Colliery's football and cricket teams carry on through Sherwood Colliery Football Club and Sherwood Colliery Cricket Club.
Natives of Mansfield Woodhouse include D'Ewes Coke (1747–1811), an unusual combination of clergyman and colliery master.
Today
Mansfield Woodhouse is still growing by expanding into former farmland. The village now has a population of over 18,000.
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.
The largest school is The Manor Academy, originally a grammar school (opened in 1959) it merged with Forest View Sec Mod opened 1956) both at Park Hall Road and Yorke Street Sec Mod 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, a public amenity which forms part of the school's facilities.
The Co-op in Mansfield Woodhouse closed on 10 January 2009 and was replaced by a Morrisons store on 29 June 2009. The town is being redeveloped in other areas, including replacement of the older terraced housing around Thoresby Road, near the train station and from Sherwood Street–Blake Street with new housing estates. A new police station has served the town since 2007 but in late 2013, it was earmarked for possible closure by Nottinghamshire Police Commissioner, Paddy Tipping.
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' World War II memories, funded by the Big Lottery Fund.
Sport
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.
From 29 September 2012 the Manor Park, adjacent to the Sports complex and entered from Kingsley Avenue, Mansfield Woodhouse, has regularly hosted a Park Run, an informal, timed 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) fun-run for any class of participant.
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.
Speedway racing, then known as dirt track racing, took place at Mansfield Woodhouse in the pioneer days of 1928.