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Worksop

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Not to be confused with workshop.
Worksop
File:Picture (62).jpg
Worksop Town Sign
Population39,072 
OS grid referenceSK585795
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townWORKSOP
Postcode districtS80/S81
Dialling code01909
PoliceNottinghamshire
FireNottinghamshire
AmbulanceEast Midlands
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Nottinghamshire

Worksop is the largest town in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England on the River Ryton at the northern edge of Sherwood Forest. It is about 19 miles (31 km) east-south-east of the City of Sheffield and its population is estimated (mid-2004) to be 39,800. It is twinned with the German town Garbsen.

Worksop is known as the "Gateway to the Dukeries", so called for the number of ducal residences in the area.

History

Evidence that Worksop existed before the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 is provided by the Domesday Book of 1086:

"In Werchesope, (Worksop) Elsi (son of Caschin) had three carucates of land to be taxed. Land to eight ploughs. Roger has one plough in the demesne there, and twenty-two sokemen who hold twelve oxgangs of this land, and twenty-four villanes and eight bordars having twenty-two ploughs, and seven acres of meadow. Wood pasture two miles long, and three quarentens broad."[1]

This early period of the town's history was humorously depicted in the children's television show, Maid Marian and her Merry Men, where it was largely portrayed as a mass of mud.

After the conquest, in about 1103, William de Lovetot established a castle and Augustinian priory at Worksop. Subsequently Worksop grew into a market town. The building of the Chesterfield Canal in 1777, and the subsequent construction of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway in 1849, both of which passed through the settlement, led to a degree of growth. Discovery of sizable coal seams further increased interest in the area.

In recent years Worksop has been recognised as having a serious drugs problem attributed to the decline of coal mining in the early 1990s during the government of John Major. Now a dedicated drug and alcohol team have strived to clean up the once overwhelming problem that blighted the town. Since 2005 the number of addicts has been in a steady decline. The member of parliament for Bassetlaw, John Mann, has fought a high-profile campaign to tackle the problem,[citation needed] once described as being at levels seen in inner cities.

In June 2007 Worksop, along with several nearby villages, was hit by one of its worst floods for a hundred years.

Education

  • Welbeck College, a sixth-form college for potential army officers was based near Worksop from 1953 until 2005, and has now moved to Woodhouse in Leicestershire.
  • The Portland School is on Sparken Hill near the A57/B6034 roundabout.
  • Valley School is on Valley Road next to the leisure centre. Valley School achieves higher results at GCSE.
  • Both Portland and Valley have a Post 16 centre which works as a replacement to the sixth forms they had. They opened on 3rd September 2007. They offer a wide range of A level qualifications along with vocational courses. The centre runs in partnership with the two schools and the college.
  • North Notts College is on Carlton Road (A60).
  • Both of the two secondary schools in Worksop, have undergone a major redevelopment and have been rebuilt. Both old buildings have been knocked down.
  • Redlands primary is a school on Crown Street. It was the first school in Worksop to go under redevelopment.
  • Norbridge is a primary school on Valley Road near Valley School.
  • St. Johns primary is a school on Raymouth Lane at the end of Valley Road, it too is nearby Valley School.
  • The town is also home to Worksop College, a co-educational day and boarding school.

Health

Worksop is served by the Bassetlaw District General Hospital, part of the Doncaster and Bassetlaw NHS Foundation Trust. It is a large hospital, treating 33,000 people in year in addition to 38,000 emergencies at the A&E department. It is also used as a Teaching hospital by the University of Sheffield Medical School.

Local economy

An important manufacturer in the town is Premier Foods UK, which produces products such as Batchelor's Soups and Super Noodles and Oxo. Oxo is solely produced in Worksop. Greencore Sandwiches also have a production facility. The Wilkinson UK headquarters are at JK House, Manton Wood, south of the town on the A57. Their distribution centre is an important employer. There is also a B&Q distribution centre and a liquid chocolate manufacturing plant owned by OCG Cacao, part of Cargill.

Worksop has benefited from a large amount of new housing recently with a similar increase in businesses locating to the Worksop area, increasing the amount of jobs in the local economy.

Places of interest

Worksop Priory

Main article: Worksop Priory

The Priory Church of Saint Mary and Saint Cuthbert, Worksop is a Church of England parish church.

Clumber Park

Main article: Clumber Park

Clumber Park, just south of Worksop is a country park owned by the National Trust and is open to the public.

Mr Straw's House

Worksop is home to Mr Straw's House, the family home of the Straw family, which was left by the Straw brothers, William and Walter Straw when their parents died in the 1930s. The house remained unaltered until the National Trust acquired the house in the 1990s and opened it to the public.[2]

The Acorn Theatre

The Acorn Theatre is a 200 seat performing arts venue in Worksop town centre, providing a full programme of professional and amateur live theatre and folk music. It is a registered charity managed and run by volunteers,and the building has become the home of several community performing groups and a youth theatre.

The Worksop Regal

Young Potential have taken over the former Circle Arts and provide theatre and recording studio facilities in the heart of Worksop including professional live music and arts performances and a range of arts training courses and social support services. It is managed and run mainly by volunteers who believe that involvement with the arts is vital for individual and community health.

Many new businesses have relocated in Worksop, providing much support to the local economy.

Notable people from Worksop

See also

References and notes

  1. ^ White, Robert (1875) Worksop, The Dukery, and Sherwood Forest. Transcription at Nicholson, AP: Nottinghamshire History (Accessed 24 December 2005).
  2. ^ Mr Straw's House by The National Trust, accessed May 28, 2006.
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