Worksop
About
Shireoaks station is adjacent to the Chesterfield canal completed in 1777 and ran from Chesterfield through Worksop and Retford to join the river Trent at West Stockwith. It remained in commercial use until 1949 carrying coal, stone, agricultural products, and other goods.
Perhaps the most famous cargo carried on the canal was quarried stone for the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster in the 1830s.
Turn right out of the station and right again to walk the towpath to Kiveton or left to walk the towpath past the marina to Worksop.
Shireoaks village has a long terrace of miners' cottages built by the Duke of Northumberland in 1864 to serve the coal mine on land adjacent to the marina, where barges were loaded with coal to be sent down the canal to the River Trent.
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For information about the canal visit the Chesterfield Canal Trust.
The River Ryton runs at the far end of the village street.
What's in the Area?
Turn right out of the station and walk down Carlton Road towards the town centre. Cross over the Chesterfield Canal and turn left into Church Walk. Keep to the right. At the end of the street, you walk into gardens beside the River Ryton. Ahead is the Priory Church of Our Lady and St. Cuthbert.
The market cross by the gatehouse shows the medieval town lay just outside the priory precinct.
The priory was founded in 1103 by William de Lovetot as an Augustine house. The nave that stands now belongs to the second building on the site. The church in its heyday was 360ft long but the surviving nave is just 135ft in length. The Lady Chapel lay roofless, ruined, and detached for 400 years. But it was restored in 1922 as a memorial to the men of the parish who died in the Great War.
Inheriting a half-completed building, Fr Peter Boulton took up the challenge, and with the support of the people and a generous legacy from Mr. Ellis a local timber merchant, the present central tower and choir, designed by Laurence King were completed in 1974.
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Close to the south of the Priory is an early 14th-century gatehouse, one of only two walk-through shrines in England. The main window above the entrance is to a hall with a fine unretouched fireplace.
Worksop Priory website
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Walk from Worksop to Shireoaks and pass the Giant's Staircase on the Chesterfield Canal. There are 23 locks up from Boundary Lock through the Turnerwood and Thorpe flights, with more in a mile than any other canal in England. It was named the Giant’s Staircase in Victorian times when it was a tourist attraction. Scenery hereabouts is a delight. This is just one of 11 Stagecoach Bus Walks.