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Worksop Priory
In 1103 a grant of monies and lands was made by local landowner William de Lovetot for the foundation of the Priory of Our Lady and St Cuthbert at Radford, near Worksop. The Priory belonged to the Canons of St Augustine who were notable for their service of the local community as well as the worship of God. In time Worksop Priory became a famous centre of learning, piety and practical expertise. The Canons from Worksop Priory built the church in the village of Sheffield.
The great Priory Church is still impressive and contains fine tombs and chantries of the de Lovetot family, and their successors the Furnivals and Talbots, Earls of Shrewsbury. The cloisters and living accommodation were built on the north side of the great church near the river Ryton. The river brought water first to the Priory Mill on the Canch, then to the kitchens, (where the church hall now stands) and then flushed away the kitchen and domestic waste before being dammed to provide fish ponds on what is now Bracebridge. There were farm buildings, barns and storerooms, splendid rooms for the Prior, scriptorium and a library. All these have now gone.
The Gatehouse was built in 1314 for the use of travellers and visitors. In many religious houses ordinary folk were not allowed into the precincts of the priory/monastery and so accommodation was provided in the gatehouse. Worksop Priory certainly has an impressive gatehouse with with a chapel and shrine where travellers could offer their prayers for a safe journey and a great hall for meeting and eating.
On November 15th 1539, the Commissioner for King Henry VIII demanded entry to the Priory at the Gatehouse. Over two thousand acres of land, the buildings and the treasures were seized by the Crown. The Earl of Shrewsbury who did very well indeed out of the Dissolution of the Monasteries acquired much of the land and treasures of the Worksop Priory. The Prior and Canons were pensioned off, whilst the lay brothers, servants and hangers-on cast out to find new employment if they could. The townspeople of Worksop were determined that at least part of the church should they were allowed to keep the nave as the parish church, and the Gatehouse as the vicarage. Eventually, all the monastic buildings were plundered for stone and lead, and collapsed into ruin.
The surviving part of the Augustinian Priory of St Cuthbert and St Mary consists of the nave, western front and twin towers. These date from the second half of the 12th century, as does the heavy iron-bound door in the south porch. The church has been subject to much alteration and restoration including a major restoration in the 19th Century and a rather horrid 20th Century extension.
The Gatehouse also survives. It became a school in 1628; rumoured to be the first elementary school in England. For a building nearly seven hundred years old it is in pretty good nick although it could do with a bit of brass spending on it. The church hall, a very nice but much later building also looked as if it was in need of some TLC - tender, loving care. There are extensive grounds, mostly a graveyard, which is a very pleasant quiet spot.
