Imagine Mansfield town centre transformed into a fantasy forest, inhabited by fantastical beasts and even some of Robin Hood’s Merry Men!

It is all part of a heritage trail map activity, which has been devised to provide families with children, aged 3 to 12, with some free Easter holiday fun, while giving them a chance to learn a little local history.

The illustrated maps can be picked up from seven points in the town centre and will lead participants on an adventure, hunting for treasures using street names, historic buildings, and landmarks to lead the way.

With 13 treasures to find, the trail should take about 90 minutes to complete in one go, but can be broken down into several shorter stages. A Treasure Hunter certificate can be downloaded and saved at the end of the hunt.

There are 2,000 free maps available from Mansfield Museum, Leeming Street; The Glazey Place, Leeming Street; Toffee Hut, Regent Street; Toffee Hut, Four Seasons Shopping Centre; Mansfield Library, Westgate, Mansfield Bus Station, and St Peter’s Centre, Church Side.

The treasure hunt will continue until the free maps have all been collected. Once they have all gone, the map will still be available to buy on the Treasuremaptrails.com website.

The treasure trail is part of the Mansfield Townscape Heritage Project, a five-year programme of conservation, community engagement, and educational events.

The project administered by Mansfield District Council is supported by a grant of £849,100 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and has total funding of around £1.3m.

It aims to help revive parts of Leeming Street and the Market Place conservation area by helping local businesses and property owners carry out repairs and refurbishments to enhance the architectural quality of their Victorian and Georgian buildings. Match-funded grants of up to 70% have been available to help owners with the cost of making improvements.

The project’s community participation programme is being delivered in partnership with Mansfield BID, Vision West Nottinghamshire College, Mansfield Museum and Nottinghamshire County Council.

Theresa Workman, the townscape heritage project’s activities co-ordinator, said: “This is a perfect adventure for the school holidays, a chance to see the town in a whole new light. There are no phones or screens involved – just lots of fresh air, detective skills and teamwork!

“The maps are so beautiful you will want to keep it long after your adventure is over.”

Mansfield Townscape Heritage Project is part of a wider vision by the council to improve the appearance and vibrancy of the town centre and to put Mansfield on the map as a good place in which to live, work, invest and visit.

More information can be found at www.mansfieldtownscape.org.uk.