Worksop | |
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Approaching Worksop Town Lock |
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Worksop shown within Nottinghamshire | |
Population | 44,790 |
OS grid reference | SK585795 |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | WORKSOP |
Postcode district | S80, S81 |
Dialling code | 01909 |
Police | Nottinghamshire |
Fire | Nottinghamshire |
Ambulance | East Midlands |
EU Parliament | East Midlands |
UK Parliament | |
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 2012) to be 44,970. It is also twinned with the German town Garbsen. Worksop is attracting an increasing quantity of commuters to the local area because of its close proximity of Nottingham, Lincoln and Sheffield.
Worksop is known as the "Gateway to the Dukeries", because of the now four obsolete ducal principal sites of which were closely located next to each other, south of the town. These four ducal locations were; Clumber House, Thoresby Hall, Welbeck Abbey and Rufford Abbey.
Evidence that Worksop existed before the Norman conquest of England in 1066 is provided by the Domesday Book of 1086:
In about 1103, William de Lovetot established a castle and the Augustinian priory at Worksop. Subsequently, Worksop grew into a market town.
A skirmish occurred in the area during the Wars of the Roses on 16 December 1460, commonly known as the Battle of Worksop.
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 sizeable coal seams further increased interest in the area.