Mansfield is thought to date back at least to Roman times, with coins from those times having been found there, as well as a villa. Later the early English royalty are said to have stayed there, the Mercian Kings having used it as a base for hunting in the nearby Sherwood Forest.
Economy
Mansfield has a large market square and around the market a large commercial centre including a museum, the Palace Theatre and numerous pubs, bars and night clubs. It has also a new indoor market which is nearing completion.
Mansfield was originally the home of Mansfield Brewery, once the largest independent brewer in the UK. The brewery was acquired by Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries for £253m in October 1999, with production of the Mansfield range of ales moving to other parts of the country. The brewery's assets were later sold to Pubmaster Ltd and the former site of the brewery is due for redevelopment. In the 1980s, Mansfield Bitter was advertised with a photograph of then US president Ronald Reagan and the tagline "He may be president of the most powerful nation on Earth but he's never had a pint of Mansfield"; "Not much matches Mansfield" was also used. Mansfield was also the location of an Irn-Bru factory, owned by the Scottish drinks company A. G. Barr, production ceased in January 2011 when A. G. Barr decided to close the factory. The brewery was demolished in late 2008 and the land is for sale.
The Coal Authority is based in the town.
Mansfield has many retail outlets and the Four Seasons shopping Centre contains many popular shops such as Primark, HMV and the bookstore W.H. Smith.
Several urban regeneration projects are underway in Mansfield, including reconstruction of the nearby Kings Mill Hospital and the MARR (Mansfield and Ashfield Regeneration Route) which was completed 3 months early; it is basically a bypass route round the town designed to reduce traffic flow and improve public transport.
In 2009 Mansfield made a bid for city status and many more redevelopment plans were unveiled to fit with this, such as retail & residential developments, leisure facilities and road improvements, which are underway around the town. However the Town was Absent from the 2012 short list.