The Battle in Worksop in 1460

This year is the 550 th anniversary of the battle which took place in Worksop on 16 th December 1460. It was during the period called the War of the Roses. England was torn by a vicious and violent struggle between rival claimants to the throne. The source of this conflict lay in the deep bitterness of dynastic rivalry.

From the sons of Edward III had sprung two great families – the houses of York and Lancaster. Each family believed that it had a legitimate claim to the throne.

A Yorkists army was passing through Worksop on the way north to support Richard Duke of York. The Vanguard of the Yorkist Army was sent to get food and water and of course the great Monastery of Worksop Priory was their first call to get supplies, but they were cut off by a Lancastrian Force led by the Duke of Somerset, Edmund Beaufort. They met a heavy defeat and all were slaughtered. This was possibly instrumental in the Yorkists losing the Battle at Sandal near Wakefield on 30 th December 1460 – some 16 days later. The Lancastrian Army was commanded by the Duke of Somerset and controlled by the Kings wife, Margaret of Anjou. Henry VI's hated French Queen was present at the battle. The Yorkists were defeated by a larger Lancastrian Army and Richard Duke of York was killed and his 16 year old son Edmund, Duke of Rutland was caught and killed on Wakefield Bridge. On the orders of Queen Margaret of Anjou their heads were cut off and a paper crown placed on them and they were put on the walls at the gates of York at Micklegate Bar. In the Victoria and Albert Museum in London is a metal helmet from this battle and also in a glass case on the north aisle of our own Worksop Priory is a skull with a bodkin arrowhead embedded in it (the dictionary states ‘bodkin' – an instrument with a sharp point for piercing; a large needle). After contacting the Priory's Historical Society and Wakefield Historical Society it now seems the skull in our Priory could have come from this battle in Worksop.

In a snowstorm on Easter Sunday 1461, Richard's son, Edward Duke of York defeated King Henry VI at Towton. 3 months later he was crowned King when he was just 19 years of age.

Later King Edward IV had the heads of his father and brother removed from the wall of York and placed with their bodies which had been buried – probably at the Priory of St John the Evangelist at Pontefract.

King Edward IV took the bodies of his father and brother in a great procession and planned overnight stops to Doncaster, Blyth, Tuxford, Newark, Grantham, Sleaford and laid them to rest at the College at Fotheringhay in Northamptonshire. The whole proceeding was a great affair.

The coffins and effigies travelled in a four wheeled vehicle covered in black velvet, pulled by 7 horses, the leading horse rider bearing an unfurled banner of the Duke of York. Other banners carried showed The Trinity, Our Lady, St George, St Edmund, St Edward, The White Hart, The White Lion, The Falcon and the White Rose.

Noblemen in attendance were Duke Richard of Gloucester riding at the head, Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, Lord Stanley, Richard of Hastings and Lords Wells, Greystoke, D'Acre and Mountjoy, together with 12 officers of Arms and 400 men on foot carrying large torches even during the daytime. All wore black with black hoods except the Officers who wore their colours over the black habits.

Bishops and Abbots travelled ahead to make sure all arrangements and services were in good order. Although the Benedictine Monastery and Church at Blyth was not of great size, the Monks and Prior, William Massam of Durham would be very experienced in receiving guests. Blyth at that time stood on the major routes from South to North and was near to one of the five sites authorised by Richard I for jousting. This site stood on the flat land between Blyth and Styrrup.

At the Priory Church of St Mary and St Martin at Blyth on 23 rd July 2010, Vespers were said for Richard Duke of York. Arrangements for this event were made by English Heritage, Wakefield Historical Society – who also presented the Vicar of Blyth Church with a plaque to mark this great historical occasion – and members of Blyth Church. The service was taken by Rev Richard. Worksop Priory was well represented by the Clergy, organist, choir members and members of the congregation.

My grateful thanks to Mr Robert Ilett and Mrs Pam Cook for their help with this article. Frank Underwood

St Davids Cathedral

Some information about the Church Fr Philip will be working in during September – please pray for him and for Fr Jonathan Lean (the Dean of St Davids) who Fr Philip will be working with.

The monastic community was founded by Saint David , Abbot of Menevia, who died in AD589 . Between AD645 and 1097, the community was attacked many times by raiders, including the Vikings , however it was of such note as both a religious and intellectual centre that King Alfred summoned help from the monastic community at St Davids in rebuilding the intellectual life of the Kingdom of Wessex . Many of the Bishops were murdered by raiders and hoarders, including Bishop Moregenau in AD999 , and notably Bishop Abraham in 1080. The stone, which marked his grave, known as ‘The Abraham Stone', is intricately carved with symbols of the early Celtic Church, and now is on permanent display within the Cathedral Exhibition at Porth-y-Twr . In 1081, William the Conqueror visited St David's to pray, and thus recognised it as a holy and respected place. In 1089, the shrine of David was vandalised, and stripped of its precious metals. In 1090, the Welsh scholar Rhigyfarch wrote his Latin “Life of David”, highlighting David's sanctity, thus beginning the almost cult-like status he achieved.In 1115, with the area under Norman control, King Henry I of England appointed Bishop Bernard as Bishop of St Davids . He began to improve life within the community, and commenced construction of a new Cathedral. In 1123, Pope Calixtus II granted Bishop Bernard's request to bestow a Papal “Privilege” upon St Davids, making it a centre of pilgrimage for the Western World, the Pope decreeing “Two pilgrimages to St Davids is equal to one to Rome, and three pilgrimages to one to Jerusalem!”. The new Cathedral was quickly constructed. Bishop Bernard consecrated the new Cathedral in 1131. Henry II of England 's visit in 1171 saw the following of David increase – and the need for a larger Cathedral. The present Cathedral was begun in 1181, and completed not long after. Problems beset the new building and the community in its infancy; the collapse of the new tower in 1220, and earthquake damage in 1247/48. Under Bishop Gower the Cathedral was modified further, with the rood screen and the Bishop's Palace, intended as permanent reminders of his episcopacy. (The Palace is now a picturesque ruin, and rood-screens are considered an inappropriate division between the clergy and laity, and where they remain, they do so merely as items of historical architectural value.)The episcopacy of Edward Vaughan saw the building of the Holy Trinity Chapel, with its fan vaulting which some say inspired the roof of King's College, Cambridge . This period also saw great developments for the nave , whose roof and Irish Oak ceiling were constructed between 1530-40. Bishop Barlow , unlike his predecessor as Bishop, wished to suppress the following of David, and stripped St David's shrine of its jewels and confiscated the relics of St David and St Justinian in order to counteract "superstition" in 1538. In 1540, the body of Edmund Tudor , Earl of Richmond and father of Henry VII, was brought to be entombed in front of the High Altar from the dissolved Greyfriars' Priory in Carmarthen .

Cathedral life

There are at least three services said or sung per day, each week, with sung services on five out of seven days.The cathedral choir at St Davids were the first Cathedral choir in the United Kingdom to use girls and men as the main choir, rather than boys and men. Many inaccurately attribute this to Salisbury Cathedral , however they introduced boys and girls on an equal basis, whereas St Davids used girls as their ‘main' cathedral choristers. There is also a boys' choir whose weekly evensong is a major event within the cathedral week. They sing with the Vicars Choral regularly. The St Davids Cathedral Festival runs through the Whitsun school holiday each year, and showcases some of the world's best performers. The week sees performers, both professional and young, play in front of thousands. The Cathedral Choir serve as a highlight each year, being a very popular concert, as well as the Festival Chorus and Orchestra who perform a major work on the final night of the Festival. Whilst Fr Philip is in St Davids he will preach at the Festival of the Friends of St Davids.

The Worksop Gatehouse & Community Trust.

Set up in 2008 this group of people, a majority of whom are Church members, seeks to restore the Gatehouse, school, and grounds to be fully accessible and useable by all.

Thanks to funding from the Coalfield Regeneration Trust, District and County Councils, and PCC, the refurbishment of the old school is well under way. When re-opened The Priorswell Centre, as it's to be known, will have office space, a meeting room and the hall (two thirds of the original space has been maintained), new loos and kitchen.

By renting out part of the Centre as office space the Trust will be able to subsidise the renting of the hall to church and community groups. Nine to five office workers will also make for a more “lived in” and secure building. Hopefully too it will become a place where people want to have parties, funeral teas and maybe even wedding receptions again.

When the Priorswell Centre opens the Trust wants to put on a display of past photo's and memories of it's history. So if you attended the school or had a celebration there, please be looking out photos or committing memories to paper.

For years the Cloister wall has been in need of some tlc. As a national monument in its own right, a survey has recently been conducted which has ascertained that it is more likely to be part of the old Prior's house or cellarium, than cloister. Expect to see in the near future restoration work being carried out. The first part of this has already happened as the local Community Pay Back team have cleared the foliage that was trapping in moisture and damaging the wall.

Up at the Gatehouse an English Heritage grant is paying for a condition survey to be carried out which is the next stage in the process of work.

In the grounds discussions are being held with the councils, and Notts Wildlife Trust to develop the area to the East of the church as a nature reserve, with greater access- paths etc.