In Domesday one mill value 3/-. In 1329-30 the gate and sluice at Clipstone was in a weak and ruinous condition. By 1653 there was a charcoal iron forge on the site and in 1658 George Wakefield was licenced to build a mill on Clipstone Brook. In 1668 William, Duke of Newcastle could pull down Clipstone Forge at any time. In 1670 Richard Neale leased Clipstone Park including forge from the Duke of Newcastle. The following year Neale was suing Henry Smith regarding a debt for cutting 61 tons of bar iron at Clipstone slitting mill. Later in the same year Francis and George Sitwell of Renishaw were leasing two forges for bar iron for 11 years at Clipstone. Joseph Neale leased the forge from the Duke of Newcastle in 1697 and was still leasing it in 1722 when he was in dispute with Richard Knight. Nothing further has been traced and the actual site has not been found. (1)
c 1650, George Sitwell leased sites, including a forge at Clipstone. This site and others were taken over by the Spencer family at the beginning of the C18. (2)
See M17906 for Forge Bridge.

<1> Morley D, 1997, Corn and Cotton - Waterpower in Notts (draft), p 4 (Unpublished document). SNT1693.

<2> Riden P, 1991, The Charcoal Iron Industry in the East Midlands 1580-1780 (DAJ 111), pp 64-84 (Article in serial). SNT2613.