Worksop Priory

Worksop Priory stands in the centre of Worksop, a town in Nottinghamshire. It began as an Augustinian priory founded in 1103 by William de Lovetot. The church survived the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539 and still serves as a parish church today. Most of the monastic buildings were lost, but the nave and a 14th-century gatehouse remained. The priory is recognised as a Grade I listed building of outstanding historic interest. The priory’s long history includes important donations and events. In 1187 Philip, a canon of Lincoln Cathedral, gave the priory the Worksop Bestiary, now in New York. Two lords of Worksop died on crusade in the 13th century, and the Tickhill Psalter was produced in the 14th century by the prior John de Tickhill. The Lady Chapel, restored in the 1920s, honours parishioners lost in the First World War. Visitors enter through the early 14th-century gatehouse, once used as a school. The nave survives from the medieval priory, while later restorations added a south transept in 1929 and a north transept in 1935. The crossing tower, completed in 1974, holds a modern sanctuary and an organ with 1,634 pipes. A carved face dating from about 980 was uncovered in 2017, set into a wall finished around 1260.