WORKSOP, a market-town and parish in the Hatfield
division of the wapentake of BASSETLAW, county
of NOTTINGHAM, 26 miles (N.) from Nottingham, and
146 (N. N.W.) from London, containing 4567 inhabitants.
This place, which in Domesday book is written
Wirchesope, and in other records of that period Wyrksoppe
and Wirkensop, appears to have belonged, prior to
the Conquest, to Elsi, a Saxon nobleman; after that
event it was granted by the Conqueror to Roger de
Busli, and subsequently became the property of Wil-
liam de Lovetot, who, in the reign of Henry I, founded
here a priory for canons Regular' of the order of
St. Augustine, the prior of which was, in the reign of
Henry III., summoned to parliament. It passed, after a
considerable period, by the marriage of the heiress of
the Lovetots, to the family of Furnival; then to that of
Nevill; and from that family to theTalbots, afterwards
Earls of Shrewsbury, to whom, on the dissolution of
monastic establishments, the revenue of the priory, then
valued at £239, was granted by Henry VIII. From
this family the manor descended by marriage to the
Earls of Arundel, now Dukes of Norfolk, who still hold
it as tenants in chief of the Crown, by the service of a
knight's fee, and of procuring a glove for the king's
right hand at his coronation, and supporting that hand
while holding the sceptre. In December 1460, an engagement
took place at Worksop, between the forces of
the Duke of York and those of the Duke of Somerset,
when the latter were defeated. Gilbert, first Earl of
Shrewsbury, who so much distinguished himself in the
French wars under Henry V., built the vast and magnificent
mansion-house, afterwards the ducal residence.
It was the place of confinement of Mary, Queen of
Scots, in the sixteenth year of her captivity, she being
at that time in the custody of the earl; and her son,
James I, on the 20th of April, 1603, rested here, on
his way to London to assume the English crown. In
1761, it was accidentally destroyed by fire, but was
soon afterwards splendidly rebuilt by His Grace the
Duke of Norfolk.
The town is situated in a pleasant valley, near the
northern extremity of the forest of Sherwood, in the
midst of a well-wooded and picturesque country} and
its vicinity is ornamented by the magnificent seats of
several noblemen, amongst which are "Worksop Manor,
the noble mansion of the Duke of Norfolk, alluded to
above, standing in a park eight miles in circumference
Welbeck Abbey, the seat of the Duke of Portland;
Clumber, the mansion of the Duke of Newcastle;
and Thoresby, the seat of Earl Manvers.  It is
neat in its general appearance, and consists, in the
higher and principal part, of one long street, with a second
running into it at right angles, which are well
built and paved; it is lighted by subscription, and well
supplied with water. Camden describes Worksop as
famous for the production of liquorice, which has long
since ceased to be cultivated. Malt, which is made in
considerable quantities, barley being much grown in
the surrounding country, is the principal article of
trade; and the Chesterfield canal, passing on the northern
side of the town, affords every facility for its conveyance
to Manchester, and the other markets to which
it is chiefly sent: on this canal are wharfs communicating
with the town, and to the east it crosses the
river Ryton by an aqueduct. The market is on Wednesday
and there are fairs on March 31st and June
21st, for cattle and sheep; on October 14th, for horses
and cattle; and a statute fair about three weeks after.
Constables are chosen at the annual court leet of the
lord of the manor. It is in contemplation to take down
the old moot hall (which has been many years in a
dilapidated state), and some of the adjoining buildings,
and to erect on their site a handsome structure,
comprising a town hall, assembly-room, prison, market-house, &c.
The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry of
Nottingham, and diocese of York, rated in the king's
books at £12. 4. 2., and in the patronage of the Duke
of Norfolk. The church, dedicated to St. Mary and
St. Cuthbert, standing on the eastern side of the town,
comprises the western portion of the priory church'
and its cathedral-like towers form an interesting object
in the view of the town; 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 western
entrance is under 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. The body of
the church is one hundred and thirty-five feet in length;
the roof of the nave is supported by eight pillars, alternately
cylindrical and octangular, joined by circular
arches ornamented with quatrefoils; at the east end is
the great central tower, supported by arches springing
from several massive pillars; the pulpit is curiously or-
namented in the Norman style; and the church contains
some ancient monuments, principally of the Furnivals
and Lovetots. There are places of worship for Independents
and Wesleyan Methodists; and near the Manor-
house is a chapel for Roman Catholics, who are
numerous ,in the neighbourhood. In the National
school, which is supported chiefly by voluntary subscription,
upwards of two hundred children of both
sexes are educated and partially clothed. There are
some small endowments for the benefit of the poor.
The principal gateway to the priory still exists, forming
the entrance towards the church: it is twenty
yards in front, with a pediment, in which is a niche
covered with much tabernacle-work, and in it a figure
in a sitting posture. Its style of architecture is the later
English, with a pointed roof and flat arch; it is ornamented
above with a window of twelve lights, and canopied
niches of great beauty, while figures in ecclesiastical
costume enrich the interior: the room over the
gateway is used as the National school for boys. On
the right of the entrance are the remains of the beautiful
chapel of St. Mary, forming an interesting ruin, the
ornamental parts of which are most richly executed,
and the windows considered some of the most perfect
models of the lancet shape in the kingdom. On the
northern side,' and contiguous to the church, are
some fragments of the walls of the priory, and in the
meadows below are extensive traces of the foundation.
The priory well is still in high estimation, for
the purity and softness of the water. On a hill, at
the western side of the town, the site of the ancient
castle of the Lovetots may still be traced; and in the
park of the manor are some tumuli, which, from fragments
discovered in them, appear to be ancient British.
Within the parish are the Shire Oaks, so named from
an oak, whose branches are said to overshadow a portion
of the three counties of Nottingham, Derby, and
York. At Osberton, a hamlet in this parish, human
bones, stone coffins, an antique font, some stained
glass, &c., have been found at various times, the supposed
remains of a church: they are preserved at Osberton
Hall. The ruins of the ancient manor-house of
Gateford, with its gables, moats, &c., are still visible;
and near them, in 1826, several Roman corns of Nero
and Domitian were found.