RUFFORD, a liberty (extra-parochial), in the Hatfield division of the wapentake of BASSETLAW, county of NOTTINGHAM, 2 miles (S. S. W-) from Ollerton, containing 323 inhabitants. An abbey for Cistercian monks, in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was founded in 1148, by Gilbert, Earl of Lincoln, which, at the dissolution, possessed a revenue of £254. 6. 8.