Worksop Priory Of Our Lady And Saint Cuthbert.

Worksop Priory at Christmas.

Illustration: WORKSOP PRIORY

Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,

unless stated otherwise.

Worksop Priory (formally the Priory Church of Our Lady and Saint Cuthbert) is a Church of England Parish Church and former Priory in the town of Worksop, Nottinghamshire, part of the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham, and under the Episcopal care of The Bishop of Beverley.

The Church is Grade I Listed, by The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, as a building of outstanding architectural or historic interest.

The initial land grant and monies to establish the Augustinian Priory were made by William de Lovetot in 1103.

Saint Cuthbert’s Stained-Glass Window, Worksop Priory.

Illustration: WORKSOP PRIORY

In 1187, Philip, the Canon of Lincoln Cathedral, gave the Priory The Worksop Bestiary, an illuminated Manuscript that is now at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York.[1][2]

In the 14th-Century, the Tickhill Psalter was produced by the Prior, John de Tickhill.

The Priory was Dissolved on the orders of King Henry VIII on 15 November 1539. The property was granted to Francis Talbot, 5th Earl of Shrewsbury, on condition that the Earl should provide a glove for the Right-Hand of the Sovereign at the Coronation. This Tradition continues to this day.

Pilgrim Churches: Where It All Began - Worksop Priory.

Available on YouTube

HERE

Over time, most of the former Monastic buildings were plundered for their stone, but the Nave of the Church was saved for use as a Parish Church, and the Early-14th-Century Gatehouse was used as a school.

Extensive restoration and enlargements of the Church began in the Mid-19th-Century and continued throughout the 20th-Century.

The painted Organ Case was designed by Peter Collins, in co-operation with the architects, Laurence King and Partners, and constructed in mahogany in its main parts with pine-cored block wood panels. 

The Great West Window, Worksop Priory.

Illustration: WORKSOP PRIORY

The Case has a tonal as well as an architectural function, mixing the sound of the pipes and projecting it forwards as a blended whole. The specification was drawn up by David Butterworth and is almost identical to that of St Mary’s Church, Nottingham.

The pipes, of which there are 1,634, are of various materials ranging in tin content from 90% in the façade pipes to 20% for some flute stops. Copper and pine are used for other registers. With the exception of twenty-four small pipes in the pedal case, all the front pipes are speaking.

The reed pipes are by Giesecke of Germany; the flues by Stinkins of Holland and Peter Collins; the cymbelstern is by Laukhuff, also of Germany.

Worksop Priory.

Photo: 4 April 2007.

Source: geograph.org.uk

Author: Richard Croft

(Wikimedia Commons)

The console at the foot of the central display pipes is constructed of oak; the naturals are of hard “blackwood” and the accidentals are white resin topped. The manual compass is of fifty-six notes; the pedal compass of thirty notes.

The style of voicing and the general approach to its construction has origins in the 17th- and the 18th-Centuries, rather than the more familiar instrument to be found in England.

The balance of stops is in keeping with classical registration and the “Werk-Prinzip” of the Case is designed to project the sound into the Priory building.

The Nave Ceiling, Worksop Priory.

Illustration: WORKSOP PRIORY

For the mechanism of the key and pedal action, direct connection by trackers of thin wood are used to the control valves, giving the performer control over the attack and decay of each note. 

The stop action is electric. There are six pistons to each department and six toe levers for the pedal department. There are also eight general pistons.

The Organ was reconstructed in 1996 by Wood of Huddersfield. It was cleaned and regulated and the soundboards were reconstructed. The keys were renewed; Swell Octave 2ft replaced with new pipework by Stinkens; Cymbelstern added; entire stop action (slider solenoids excepted) was remade with Alan Taylor solid state; sequencer added.

The Web-Site of Worksop Priory can be found HERE