How Bentinck Memorial landmark will be spruced up -- all the latest Mansfield plans
Details of the project to spruce up the iconic Bentinck Memorial are included in the latest batch of planning applications for Mansfield.
The landmark monument, which dates back to 1842, is grade II listed and the centrepiece of the town’s Market Place.
It is to remain in situ as part an exciting £2 million plan, announced by Mansfield District Council last week, to give the historic Market Place a facelift and turn it into a modern space to host events, complete with a public town garden.
Now a fresh planning application has been lodged, outlining the work earmarked for the structure to ensure its future.
The existing metal railings, which are fixed to the lowest step, will be removed, with the remaining pockets infilled with molten lead or marching stone indents.
Lighting fixed to the monument is also to be removed -- and replaced with lighting mounted on bollards next to the structure.
New metal heritage railings, set on a stone plinth away from the monument, are to be installed.
And new seating, soft planting and heritage information boards will be installed around the perimeter of the memorial.
The large gothic memorial, by Nottingham-based architect Thomas Chambers Hine, was erected 177 years ago to honour Lord George Bentinck, a Conservative politician, landowner and horse-racing owner and gambler, who grew up on the Welbeck Estate.
Known as an aristocratic dandy, who wore a new silk scarf every day, Bentinck was also renowned for his volatile temper and once took part in a ‘pistols-at-dawn’-type duel. But he survived because his rival’s shot missed, firing straight through Bentinck’s hat!
Bentinck, who never married, died at the age of 46 in 1848 when suffering a heart attack while walking from Welbeck Abbey to have dinner at Thoresby Hall.
The monument has had a chequered history. It is meant to include a statue of the former MP, but that never materialised because the funding dried up.
In 1914, its stone seating had to be removed on the grounds that it needed disinfecting every day. And in 2023, calls were even made to knock down the monument because of Bentinck’s strong links to slavery, both in Britain and abroad.
Other planning applications received by Mansfield Council include these:
Bethel Methodist Church, Nottingham Road, Mansfield – retrospective application for internally illuminated signage.
2C Old Mill Lane, Forest Town – work to tree covered by preservation order.
44 Abbott Road, Mansfield – retrospective application to remove existing boundary wall and replace with new wall with render finish and timber infill panels, plus sliding access gate.
2 Firbeck Avenue, Mansfield – single-storey side and rear extensions.
23 Meden Road, Mansfield Woodhouse – detached garage/store.
23 Hamilton Drive, Warsop – retrospective application for alteration to boundary fencing.
9 Victory Drive, Forest Town – lawful development certificate for erection of single-storey rear/side extension.
33 Lichfield Lane, Mansfield – single garage with car port and boundary wall.
15 Glebe Avenue, Warsop – amendment to plan for attached garage at side, namely removal of parapet wall which will reduce height by 350 millimetres.
THE details of many planning applications can be found in public notices advertised by local and regional newspapers. To catch up on all the latest public notices, go to https://publicnoticeportal.uk/