Nottinghamshire Contents

The Priory, sometimes called the Abbey, was the greatest ornament of Worksop, and stood in that part of the town called Radford, adjacent to those fine specimens of gothic architecture, the Church and the Abbeygate, near which some few fragments of the cloisters &c. still remain, and some parts of the monastic walls have been converted into small dwelling houses. It was founded in the reign of Henry I, by William de Lovetot, for canons regular of St Augustine, and dedicated to St Mary and St Cuthbert. The first grant

"consisted of the whole chapelry of his whole house, with the tithes and oblations of the church of Worksop, in which these canons were, with the land and tithes, and all things belonging to the church, and the fishpond and mill near to the church, and a meadow adjoining to them; of the tithes of the fence of all his set rents, as well in Normandy as in England; of a carucate of land in the field of Worksop, and of a meadow called Cratelu; of all the churches of his demesne in the honour of Blyth, with all the lands, tithes of pannage, honey, venison, fish, fowl, malt and mills, and all other things of which tithes were wont to be given"

This grant was confirmed by King Henry the First, and added to by Richard de Lovetot, who approved of his father's gifts, granting also his part of the church of Clareborough, and two bovates of land. Cecilia de Lovetot gave the church of Dinsley, in Hertfordshire, also to this monastery, but that grant was not valid until confirmed by Pope Alexander the Third. Gerard de Furnival granted to it "pasture for 40 head of cattle in his park at Worksop, every year, from the close of Easter to the feast of St Michael". He also gave his body to be buried in the Monastery (this was always considered a bequest of some value, as it brought large sums in the shape of oblations, offerings, masses, requiems &c.; there have been many instances where the monks of one church have, by force, taken a rich man's body from the monks of another, in order to bring all the grist to their own mill!), and with it he gave to the canons a third of his mill at Bradfield, with the suit of the men of that soke. His wife, the pious Matilda, also granted them a mark yearly out of her mills at Worksop, to celebrate the anniversary of her husband. bertha, the widow of Sir Thomas de Lovetot, afterwards gave them an additional four pounds of silver out of the said mills at Bradfield, and they subsequently received many other benefactions, all of which were confirmed by the Roman Pontiffs, until Henry VIII, whether for the good of his own soul or not, we will not pretend to say, thought proper to take them into his own hands. It appears from a bull of Pope Alexander, in 1161, that the canons had a power of appointing the priests for their parish churches, "who were answerable to the bishop for the cure of the people's souls, and to the prior for the profits of their livings." At its dissolution, the yearly revenue of the priory was valued at £239 15s 5d.

The Church, which belonged to, and has the same tutelary Saint as the priory, has yet an august appearance, and its two lofty towers strike the eye of the beholder with an impression equal to those of Westminster Abbey. It is one of the principal remaining specimens of Norman architecture, in which style it was originally entirely constructed, but in the exterior much of the English style has been mixed with it. In form and size it resembles a Cathedral.. The west entrance is superb, copnsisting of a beautiful receding Norman arch with diagonal ornaments, and the towers which surmount it have Anglo-Norman, or circular and pointed arched windows in different gradations. On the north side of the edifice are some fragments of the Priory, and in the meadows below many traces of foundations have at various times been discovered. But the most spendid of antique architecture is the ruinous Chapel of St Mary, at the south-west corner, the windows of which are still in good preservation, and are perhaps the most perfect model of the lancet shape now remaining in England

On entering teh church, the visitor is struck with its spacious and venerable appearance, though it now consists of only a nave and two side aisles, 135 feet in length, the chancel and centre tower having long since disappeared. The roof of the nave is supported by eight pillars on each side, alternately cylindrical and octangular, joined by Norman arches, ornamented by quarterfoils. Over these are two alternate rows of windows, one over the arches, the other over the intervals above the respective pillars. The old pulpit was curiously ornamented in the Norman style, but this is now supplied by a modern neat oak one, which is placed in the centre aisle, over which is a high sounding board. In 1841 the churchyard was enlarged by the addition of three roods and sixteen perches of land. These improvements were completed at a cost of £400, defrayed by a rate on the parish. In 1846, the church was thoroughly restored both internally and externally, the contract for which was £2,122, 12s, twoards which £300 out of the church rates, £600 for old materials, and £1,429 19s raised by subscription, of which the Duke of Newcastle gave £500, the Duke of Portland £100, Earl Manvers £105, Sir Thomas W. White £50, Rev. John Stacey £50, Henry Owen Esq. £50, and the two churchwardens, viz. Mr Francis Henson and Mr John Miller, £40 each, and many more handsome subscriptions. Through the untiring efforts of the latter gentleman the whole of the subscriptions were collected.

The monuments are only remarkable for their antiquity, and are principally in the memory of the Furnivals and Lovetots, or as the Cleerone, who showed them to the Laird, designated them "morals of antikkity, merable of the Funnyfields and Lovecats". Most of these mutilated tombs have been removed from their original places. The approach to this venerable pile is through the Abbey Gate, a fine specimen of the latest gothic mode of workmanship, with aprtments over it, covered with a pointed roof, and lighted with florid windows and niches of great beauty. The statues which stood on each side of the gateway are gone, but there are still three over it. The gateway itself has a flat ceiling of oak, with gothic groins and supportes, but this is nothing more than the floor of the room above, which is now used as the boys' national school. The gateway was double, with a wicket, and the whole, even now, is a pleasing specimen of ancient architecture, especially when viewed in connection with the venerable cross that stands in front, and consists of a lofty conical flight of stairs, surmounted by a slender pillar, which has long since lost its transverse capital. Henry VIII, in 1542, granted to Francis, Earl of Shrewsbury,

"the whole site and precinct of the Priory of Worksop, and all messuages, and houses, and several closes and fields, and four acres of arable land in Manton, in the parish of Worksop, to hold to him and his heirs, of the King, in capite, by the service of the tenth part of the kinght's fee, and also by the royal service of finding the King's right hand glove at his coronation, and of supporting his right arm that day, as long as he should hold the sceptre in his hand; paying yearly £23 8s rent."

This grant was said to have been made in exchange for the manor of Farnham Royal, in the county of Surrey, which the Furnivals had held for many generations, by the aforesaid coronation service.

Edward VI granted to Henry Holbeach, Bishop of Lincoln, and his successors, in pure and perpetual arms, the reversion of the Rectory, and all the tithes of corn, hay &c., of the parish of Worksop, and all that yearly rent of £35 reserved upon the demise made to William Chastelyn, merchant of London. This grant was conferred on the said bishop in consequence of his having given up to the King many of the ancient possessions of the see of Lincoln, in which the impropriation of Worksop still remains, but is leased to the Duke of Newcastle, who has also the advowson of the vicarage, which is valued in the King's books at £12 4s 2d, now £388, and is in the incumbency of the Rev. James Appleton. The yearly sums of £12 on lady Day, and £6 13s 4d on Michaelmas Day, are paid out of the great tithes to the vicar, and he also received £10 annually from the Duke of Newcastle, for not exercising his right to the patronage of Shireoaks Chapel.

White's Directory of Nottinghamshire 1853

© Copyright C.R.G. Henly 1998