Beautiful EnglandVolumes Ready | |
|---|---|
| Oxford | The Cornish Riviera |
| The English Lakes | Dickens-Land |
| Canterbury | Winchester |
| Shakespeare-Land | The Isle of Wight |
| The Thames | Chester |
| Windsor Castle | York |
| Cambridge | The New Forest |
| Norwich and the Broads | Hampton Court |
| The Heart of Wessex | Exeter |
| The Peak District | Hereford |
| The Dukeries | |
| Uniform with this Series | |
Beautiful Ireland | |
| LEINSTER ULSTER | MUNSTER CONNAUGHT |
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
- Page
- The Priory Gateway, Worksop
[Frontispiece]
- Worksop Manor
[8]
- Robin Hood's Larder
[14]
- The Major Oak, Thoresby Park
[20]
- The Beech Avenue, Thoresby
[26]
- Welbeck Abbey
[32]
- Clumber
[36]
- Thoresby
[42]
- Ollerton
[48]
- Rufford Abbey
[52]
- The Japanese Garden, Rufford Abbey
[56]
- Edwinstowe
[60]
WORKSOP AND THE MANOR
Although within the last twenty-five years Worksop has suffered many changes, unfortunate enough from an æsthetic point of view, the Dukeries end of the principal street still suggests the comfortable market town in the neighbourhood of folk of quality. The only relic of notable antiquity is the quaint inn, known as the Old Ship—a building with projecting upper story and carved oaken beams that might have been transported from Chester.
The twin-towered Priory Church, a gatehouse of singular interest, and some slight, gracefully proportioned ecclesiastical ruins are the main features of interest. The Priory was founded by William de Lovetot, and used by the canons of the order of St. Augustine. Great men were buried there, notably several chiefs of the Furnival family, who had for town residence Furnival's Inn in Holborn. The interior of the church contains some excellent round and octagonal pillars, and one or two ancient effigies. The walls are coated with stucco, which detracts considerably from the beauty of this handsomely proportioned building. One of the most interesting things to be seen is a piece of a human skull, pierced with an arrowhead. This hangs to the left of the doorway by which the vestry is reached. There is a weird superstition concerning the moving of this relic.
Near by is the ruined chapel, erected about the middle of the thirteenth century. It was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and in olden times must have blazed with gorgeous colours. The roof has fallen; little remains of its former beauty save the lancet windows. The double piscina and the sedilia are still in fair preservation, and we are shown the round holes in the stonework once filled with the pegs of the canons' oaken seats.