Worksop

Worksop is a busy market town in north Nottinghamshire, sitting between the rolling farmland of the Trent Valley and the ancient oak woodlands of Sherwood Forest. Long known as the gateway to the Dukeries, the area of great estates including Clumber, Welbeck and Thoresby, the town grew up around its medieval priory and later prospered through coal mining and the Chesterfield Canal, which still runs through the centre.

The town's standout building is Worksop Priory, properly the Priory Church of Our Lady and St Cuthbert, an Augustinian foundation whose Norman west front and twin towers date from the twelfth century. Nearby stands the impressive fourteenth-century Priory Gatehouse, one of the finest surviving examples in the country. Other notable sights include the small but characterful Worksop Museum inside the Mansion House on Memorial Avenue, and Mr Straw's House, a National Trust property preserved as a remarkable time capsule of 1920s and 30s domestic life.

From Worksop, walkers and cyclists can easily reach Clumber Park's lake and lime tree avenue, Creswell Crags with its Ice Age caves, and miles of towpath along the Chesterfield Canal. Direct trains link the town to Sheffield, Retford and Lincoln, making it a practical base for exploring this corner of the East Midlands.