Course
The river rises on the north side of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, just to the south of Sutton Parkway railway station. It is a little above the 490-foot (150 m) contour at this point. It crosses under the railway line, and there are two short culverted sections as it crosses under the B6022 road, to emerge in the Maun Valley Industrial Park. Passing under the B6139 and the A617 roads, it feeds King's Mill Reservoir. The reservoir was once a medieval mill pond, but in 1837, William Bentinck, the fourth Duke of Portland agreed with the millers who leased mills further down the river that a large head of water was required to maintain the water supply throughout the year. He built a dam, and 72 acres (29 ha) of farmland were flooded, some of which he bought from the Unwin family. The work was completed by 1839, when rates to be paid by the millers were agreed, which were to be reduced after 20 years. A 1.5-mile (2.4 km) walk has been created around the lake, from where some of the waterfowl which live on it can be seen. It is also used for sailing. At the exit from the reservoir, the river is crossed by Kings Mill viaduct, built around 1819 for the Mansfield and Pinxton Railway. The engineer for the project was Josias Jessop, and the bridge was the location for the opening ceremony of the railway. A local newspaper described it as "the beautiful five-arched bridge, constructed under the direction of Mr. Jessop, the engineer", when reporting the opening. The central arch carries the date 1817. It was adapted for locomotive traffic in 1847, was restored in 1990, and is a grade II listed structure. It is now used as a footpath, as the railway line has been diverted to avoid it.
The diverted railway line forms part of the Robin Hood Line, which crosses another millpond just below the reservoir. This supplied the late eighteenth century Hermitage Mill, originally a textile mill, but now uses as a building suppliers. After crossing under some minor roads and Sheepbridge Lane, where there was another eighteenth century textile mill, now a joinery works, the river is spanned by the disused Drury Dam railway viaduct, this one built in 1875, and consisting of ten round arches, constructed of brick and rock-faced stone. At its west end, a cast-iron arch carries it over Quarry Lane. It is grade II listed, was restored in 1989, and is used as a footpath. Part of it spans the Quarry Lane local nature reserve, on the south bank of the river, where a sculpture created by Lewis Morgan was installed in December 2009. The river continues to weave through the east of Mansfield, where it has been culverted in places. At Bridge Street, the Town Mill public house was originally a watermill, built around 1775, and restored in the late twentieth century. To the north of the B6033 Bath Lane, there is a disused textile mill, built between 1822 and 1831, which used water power. W. Goldie and Co. extended it in 1880, and altered it to work as a hosiery mill, which it continued to be until 1984. Part of it has been re-used as apartments. Next, the river passes through Carr Bank, with woodland to the east, and a large sewage treatment works to the west. The outflow from the works contributes a significant portion of the flow below this point.
After passing under the A6117 road, the river enters Maun Valley Park, a local nature reserve covering 42 acres (17 ha), which includes water meadows and other wetland habitats. New Mill Lane lies at its northern edge, after which the river passes through more rural scenery. Approaching Clipstone, Cavendish Woods lie to the south east, while extensive fish ponds are located on the other bank. Vicar Water, which flows northwards from Vicar Park, joins on the east bank, before the river is crossed by a railway at Clipstone Junction. It flows eastwards to the south of Edwinstowe, to be joined on the western edge of Ollerton by Rainworth Water, flowing northwards from Rufford Abbey. To the east of the A614 road is Ollerton Watermill, which is still operational, and is open to the public on Sundays in the summer. Passing to the west of New Ollerton, the river flows northwards through open countryside to join the River Meden. After a short distance, two channels are created by a weir, the southern one still called the River Maun, and both proceed eastwards, before turning northwards near Markham Moor roundabout on the A1 road, and joining again to form the River Idle. There are two disused water mills on this stretch, one at Haughton and one called Jacket Mill at Rockley. There were two water mills in Haughton in the reign of King Edward III, during the fourteenth century. Jacket Mill is of red brick construction, and much of it dates from the late eighteenth century, although parts were altered in the nineteenth century.
Read more about this topic: River Maun