NEWSTEAD, a liberty in the parish of PAPPLERICK,
northern division of the wapentake of BROXTOW,
county of NOTTINGHAM, 5 miles (S.) from Mansfield,
containing 174 inhabitants. A priory of Black canons,
in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was founded
here in 1170, by Henry II.: at the dissolution its revenue
was valued at £219. 18. 8., and the site granted
to the then lieutenant of Sherwood Forest, Sir John
Byron, in whose family the estate continued until it was
sold by the late Lord Byron, the poet. The present
mansion, in which his lordship resided but for a short
period, exhibits considerable remains of the venerable
monastic buildings; the cloisters and the west end of
the abbey church are elegant specimens of the early English
style of architecture, and in excellent preservation.