Mansfield was listed in Domesday Book as a royal estate, and was the administrative centre for much of northern Nottinghamshire. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of Sherwood Forest, and its position made it an important trading centre. This book, however, primarily tells the story of Mansfield’s later transformation into an industrial centre. In the 1780s the town helped set the pace of the Industrial Revolution, and it developed at an astonishing rate over the next 150 years.

Art teacher A.S. Buxton recognised the effects of this constant change on the town’s heritage and, from the 1890s to the 1920s, he recorded vanishing Mansfield scenes in paintings and with photography. A number of the paintings are well known, but many of the photographs are rarely seen. They reveal the dilapidated condition of many buildings that he recreated in his charming watercolours, and some show scenes he never painted, which have disappeared with continued development.

This long awaited book can be dipped into, or read as a fascinating narrative, recounting Mansfield’s history from the 11th century to 1945.