On The Doorstep - History

We decided to spend a day wandering in an area near Sheffield, Rotherham and Worksop. There are so many places of historical importance to visit, we restricted ourselves to five during the the afternoon.

Roche Abbey is a English Heritage site. It was closed when we got there. Fortunately the path around the site still allowed us to appreciated the place. The abbey must have looked splendid in its day, situated as it is, in the valley at the base of a limestone cliff.

On to Tickhill for a coffee and cake. St Mary's church in Tickhill dates from the 12th C. The present building dates from late 14th and early 15 C. We were surprised by the size of the church.

At Blyth we bought some lunch at the PO. St Mary and Martin's church was locked. I managed to find the verger and, after a long chat about the history of the place, she gave us the key. The building is an amazing example of a Norman Benedicine Priory dating from 1088. Uncle Henry didn't destroy the place because part of the building, the south aisle, was used as the parish church. The remains of a 15th C fresco, Norman arches and the 15th C rood screen are some of the more important features.

Our visit to Worksop Priory was blighted because the place was closed. A huge building with some modern additions. We'll have to visit again to see the 15th C shrine and chapel. The town traffic directions are so bad, we ended up in a Tesco's car park! Eventually we found our way out of the town ,,,

More Norman delights at St Peter's church in Thorpe Salvin rounded off the day. The main part of the church dates from 1130. The chained bible was bought in 1641; I was surprised to see the bible just placed on a shelf with a loose glass cover. The font came from Normandy in the 12th C.

The ruins of Thorpe Hall is visible from the church, but we couldn't find a way to visit it.












Back to Sheffield in time for the rush hour; an excellent afternoon which emphasised the depth of our culture and it's history.