St Mary's Church is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

Worksop Worksop ( ) is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located south of Doncaster, south-east of Sheffield and north of Nottingham. Located close to Nottinghamshire's borders with South Yorkshire and Derbys ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

, England. It was built from 1838 to 1840 by Weightman and Hadfield in the

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

. It is located on Park Street to the south of the town centre. It was paid for by

Bernard Howard, 12th Duke of Norfolk Bernard Edward Howard, 12th Duke of Norfolk (21 November 1765 – 16 March 1842), was a British peer. Early life Howard was the son of Henry Howard (1713–1787) by his wife Juliana Molyneux, daughter of Sir William Molyneux, 6th Baronet (die ...

after the sale of

Worksop Manor Worksop Manor is an 18th-century country house in Bassetlaw, Nottinghamshire. It stands in one of the four contiguous estates in the Dukeries area of Nottinghamshire. Traditionally, the Lord of the Manor of Worksop may assist a British mona ...

and was once visited by

Archduke Franz Ferdinand Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I. Fran ...

. It is a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

.Church of St Mary

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

, retrieved 5 May 2022

History

Foundation

After the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, in the early eighteenth century, local Catholics in Worksop had to go a chapel in

to celebrate

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

. In 1743, it was recorded that the total number of Catholics in Worksop was 23. In 1748, a priest was resident there at Worksop Manor. Around 1780, Charles Howard, 10th Duke of Norfolk paid for a Catholic chapel and a presbytery in Sandhill Dyke. The building survives today as Park Farm.

Worksop - St Mary
''Taking Stock'', retrieved 5 May 2022

Construction

In 1838,

sold Worksop Manor to

Henry Pelham-Clinton, 6th Duke of Newcastle Henry Pelham Alexander Pelham-Clinton, 6th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne (25 January 1834 – 22 February 1879) was an English nobleman, styled Lord Clinton until 1851 and Earl of Lincoln until he inherited the dukedom in 1864. Pelham-Clinton wa ...

for £375,000. That year he paid for the construction of the current church and presbytery. On 29 October 1838, the foundation stone was laid by Michael Ellison, the duke's agent and uncle of

Matthew Ellison Hadfield Matthew Ellison Hadfield (8 September 1812 – 9 March 1885) was an English architect of the Victorian Gothic revival. He is chiefly known for his work on Roman Catholic churches, including the cathedral churches of Salford and Sheffield. Trai ...

, one the church's architect, the other being

John Grey Weightman John Grey Weightman (29 March 1809 – 9 December 1872) was an English architect based in Sheffield. Career He was born on 29 March 1809 in Bawtry, West Riding of Yorkshire, the son of Robert Weightman and Mary Gray. He trained in the offices ...

. On 26 February 1840, the church was opened by Bishop Thomas Walsh, the

Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District The Vicariate Apostolic of the Midland District (later of the Central District) was an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales. It was led by a vicar apostolic) who was a titular bishop. The Apostolic Vicar ...

. The church was designed in the

Developments

In 1870,

Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 15th Duke of Norfolk Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 15th Duke of Norfolk, (27 December 184711 February 1917), styled Lord Maltravers until 1856 and Earl of Arundel and Surrey between 1856 and 1860, was a British Unionist politician and philanthropist. He served as Postmas ...

paid for the church to be improved and added a new

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is us ...

confessional A confessional is a box, cabinet, booth, or stall where the priest from some Christian denominations sits to hear the confessions of a penitent's sins. It is the traditional venue for the sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church and the Luther ...

and heating system. The architect of the improvements was again Matthew Ellison Hadfield. In late 1913, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife

Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg (; ; 1 March 1868 – 28 June 1914) was the wife of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Their assassination in Sarajevo sparked a series of events that led, four weeks later ...

were invited to stay at nearby

Welbeck Abbey Welbeck Abbey is an English country house near the village of Welbeck in the Bassetlaw District of Nottinghamshire. It was the site of a monastery belonging to the Premonstratensian order, and after the Dissolution of the Monasteries a residen ...

for a week by

William Cavendish-Bentinck, 6th Duke of Portland William Arthur Charles Cavendish-Bentinck, 6th Duke of Portland, (28 December 1857 – 26 April 1943) was a British landowner, courtier, and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician. He notably served as Master of the Horse between ...

and attended Mass in the church. On 24 March 1926, the church was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

. In 2012, the

National Lottery Heritage Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

gave £110,000 to the church for repairs.

Parish

In 2007, the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

was merged with nearby St Joseph's Church in Worksop. It is now the parish of St Jude and includes St Mary's Church, St Joseph's Church and St Helen's Church in

Oldcotes Oldcotes is a village in Nottinghamshire, England. It is in the civil parish of Styrrup with Oldcotes (where the population is shown). The village is centred on the crossroads of the A60 road, A60 and A634 roads, five miles south east of Maltby, ...

. St Mary's Church has one Sunday

at 11:00am. St Joseph's Church has one Sunday Mass at 6:00pm on Saturday and St Helen's Church in Oldcotes has one Sunday Mass at 9:00am.

Exterior

File:St Mary's Church front, Worksop by Alan Murray Rust geograph 4691379.jpg, Front of church File:St Mary's Church Hall, Worksop by Alan Murray Rust geograph 4691398.jpg, Church hall

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's Church, Worksop Worksop Grade II listed churches in Nottinghamshire Grade II listed Roman Catholic churches in England Gothic Revival architecture in Nottinghamshire Gothic Revival church buildings in England 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom 1840 establishments in England Roman Catholic churches completed in 1840 Roman Catholic Diocese of Hallam Roman Catholic churches in Nottinghamshire