Manuscript volume recording customs of the Manor of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire c.1818

Manuscript volume bound in calf (rebacked) entitled 'Costomes of the Mannor of Mansfeyld'. It starts with a note about the burning of Mansfield Wodehouse in 1304 and continues with details of the practices and rulings of the manorial court, with particular reference to matters of land tenure and inheritance, social responsibility and court procedures.

A customary for the manor of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire was apparently compiled in 1304; a 15th-century copy of it exists in the archive of the Dukes of Portland in Nottinghamshire Archives (DD/P/17/68), which also holds an 18th-century copy in English (DD/P/6/1/30/50). The present copy, which is entitled 'Costomes of the Manor of Mansfield' on its outer cover, was presumably copied from the same source, but supplies no information about its creation beyond the concluding statement 'ex[ecute]d G.M.'. The copy was said, on acquisition, to date from c. 1818, but the evidence for this statement is not known. The paper and binding suggest early 19th or late 18th century.

No archival arrangement has been necessary.

ACCESS: Accessible to all registered readers.

LANGUAGE: English

• This description is the only finding aid available for the collection. Copyright on the description belongs to the University of Nottingham.

REPROGRAPHIC: Reprographic copies can be supplied for educational use and private study purposes only, depending on access status and the condition of the documents.

COPYRIGHT: Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from the Keeper of Manuscripts and Special Collections (email mss-library@nottingham.ac.uk).

The volume was acquired by the library of University College Nottingham (now the University of Nottingham), in about 1938.

• References to the manor of Mansfield can be found in the papers of the Dukes of Portland. See The Portland (London) Collection, being Legal, Financial and Estate Papers of the Dukes of Portland, 1304-1940 Pl
• Manorial court records for Mansfield can be found in the papers of the Dukes of Portland in Nottinghamshire Archives.