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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. The member of parliament for Bassetlaw, John Mann, has fought a high-profile campaign to tackle the problem, once described as being at levels seen in inner cities.In July 2007 Worksop was hit by one of its worst floods for a hundred years, along with the rest of the near by villages.
[edit] 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 Comprehensive School is on Baulk Lane near the leisure centre in the town centre. Both schools have sixth forms which work as a consortium. How ever they have bulit a new 6 form. North Notts College is on Carlton Road (A60) in the town centre. Valley School achieves higher results at GCSE. Both of the two secondary schools in Worksop, are currently undergoing a major redevelopment. Both schools are being rebuilt and will be knocked down when construction is complete. Also a new Post 16 centre has been opened on the 3rd September 2007, which offers a wide range of A level qualifications along with vocational courses. The centre runs in partnership with the two schools and the college
[edit] 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.
[edit] Local economy
Coal mining was an important source of employment. Manton Wood had a large colliery until 1994. This site has now been redeveloped as the main distribution centre for Wilkinson's in England, just off the A57. It is the home of the Manton Wood Enterprise Zone. Greencore sandwiches (formerly Hazelwood Foods) and OCG Cacao, and Solway Foods (now part of Northern Foods and make pre-packed sandwiches) are based there. Major retail sites are Tesco, on Gateford Road, near the town centre and Sainsburys, on Highground Farm Road in Rhodesia, next to the A57 roundabout with Sandy Lane (A60).
Worksop has two radio stations: Trax FM, which is broadcast from mainly Doncaster and has taken much criticism for this factor over recent years. It broadcasts from studios on Bridge Street on 107.9. The other radio station is TrustAM which is the Bassetlaw Hospital Radio station which can be found on 1278MW around the Hospital grounds.
The town is connected by rail to Nottingham and Mansfield by the Robin Hood Line, which follows the A60. The A57 connects the town to the M1 and the nearby A1. Netherthorpe Airfield, 2 miles west of Worksop, provides facilities for general aviation and pilot training.
[edit] Places of Interest
[edit] Worksop Priory
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Main article: Worksop Priory
[edit] Clumber Park
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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.
[edit] 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]
[edit] Circle Arts Centre
The Circle Arts Company 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.
[edit] Famous people from Worksop
[edit] See also
[edit] References and notes
- , White, Robert (1875) Worksop, The Dukery, and Sherwood Forest. Transcription at Nicholson, AP: Nottinghamshire History (Accessed 24 December 2005).
- , Mr Straw's House by The National Trust, accessed May 28, 2006.
(Source: Wikipedia) |