Town Ground, Worksop

The Town Ground is a cricket ground in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. The ground is located in the town centre between the Chesterfield Canal and the River Ryton. It played host to first-class and List A cricket matches for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club between 1921 and 1998.

1. History

The land on which the Town Ground was built was previously agricultural land. It was given to the town's cricket club in 1900 by a local brewer, William Allen. Construction of the ground required the land to be levelled by some 5 ft 0 in (1.52 m), which some locals believed to be an error as the ground now lies below the water level of the nearby River Ryton. Construction was completed by 1901 and included a pavilion, with the new cricket ground replacing one which had been sited south of the River Ryton. The ground was due to be opened in 1901 with a match between Worksop and Nottinghamshire Club and Ground, but the match was abandoned due to rain. The ground was adjoined on its eastern side by the stadium of Worksop Town F.C. Nottinghamshire first played at the ground in a first-class match against Derbyshire in the 1921 County Championship. Nottinghamshire played there twelve times prior to the Second World War. After a gap of twenty years, Nottinghamshire returned to the ground in 1959 and often played matches there in July to coincide with the annual holidays at the local coalfields. Worksop is located just a few miles from the South Yorkshire border, with Yorkshire being the visitors on thirteen occasions. Their affinity with the ground led to success for Yorkshire players such as Geoffrey Boycott who scored over 900 runs on the ground and averaged well over 100, and Fred Trueman who once took figures of 8 for 84 in 1962. Nottinghamshire played first-class cricket at the ground until 1998, having played 48 first-class matches there in the County Championship, Nottinghamshire also played three List A one-day matches at the Town Ground in the John Player League between 1970 and 1980, with Sussex's Mike Buss making the only List A century at the ground with a score of 121 in 1971. Facilities at the ground have been improved over time, with the original pavilion being replaced by a new pavilion in 1972 containing both squash and cricket facilities and was further extended by the cricket club in 1987. The adjoining football club left in 1988, having been evicted. The land occupied by the football club was subsequently sold off for commercial development. The ground was hit by flooding in June 2007. The largest crowd to watch a county cricket match at the Town Ground is the 7,000 who attended the game against Yorkshire in 1966, though attendances for county matches typically averaged between 4,000–4,500.

1. Records


1. = First-class =

Highest team total: 540 all out by Nottinghamshire v Worcestershire, 1934 Nottinghamshire scored their runs in a single day. Lowest team total: 54 all out by Derbyshire v Nottinghamshire, 1980 Highest individual innings: 235 by Steve James for Glamorgan v Nottinghamshire, 1996 Best bowling in an innings: 8-84 by Fred Trueman for Yorkshire v Nottinghamshire, 1962 Best bowling in a match: 12-130 by Fred Barratt for Nottinghamshire v Worcestershire, 1935

1. = List A =

Highest team total: 273 for 4 (39 overs) by Sussex v Nottinghamshire, 1971 Lowest team total: 125 for 8 (23 overs) by Nottinghamshire v Derbyshire, 1970 Highest individual innings: 121 by Michael Buss for Sussex v Nottinghamshire, 1971 Best bowling in an innings: 4-39 by David Halfyard for Nottinghamshire v Derbyshire, 1970

1. References

Nearby Places View Menu

Worksop

Worksop ( WURK-sop) is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. Located close to Nottinghamshire's borders with South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, it is on the River Ryton and not far from the northern edge of Sherwood Forest. The population of the town was recorded at 44,733 in the 2021 Census. To the south of Worksop is the area of the Dukeries.

Landmark Neighbourhood

350 m

Sandhill Lake

Sandhill Lake is a small lake and park, west of the centre of Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England. It is passed by the Chesterfield Canal and the National Cycle Route 6. The lake is 7.6 hectares in area and the path around it has a circumference of 1.21 miles (1.95 km). The River Ryton passes just to the southwest of the canal. The lake, formerly known as Godfrey's Pond, is popular with local anglers, and the area is also used for other leisure activities.

Fishing Hiking

St John's Church, Worksop

St. John's Church, Worksop is the parish church of Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England.

Church Landmark

Battle of Worksop

The Battle of Worksop was a skirmish during the Wars of the Roses, near the town of Worksop, Nottinghamshire on 16 December 1460, part of the campaign which led to the Battle of Wakefield on 30 December. There is very scant evidence of what happened during this event and the only contemporary account comes from William of Worcester in his book Annales rerum Anglicarum, in which he stated (Translation from Latin): In December Parliament adjourned. And the Duke of York, with the Earl of Salisbury and many thousand armed men, were going from London to York, in December 1460, when a portion of his men, the van, as is supposed, or perhaps the scouts... were cut off by the people of the Duke of Somerset at Worsop" [Worksop]. Somerset had marched from Corfe Castle, Dorset and was heading north towards the rest of the Lancastrian army which had been based in Hull before moving onto Pontefract. It is not known how many men Beaufort had at Worksop as he had split up his cavalry and footmen at Exeter move more quickly to the north. It is supposed that York's men had diverted off the Great North Road to get to Sandal Castle, though it is not clear why they went via Worksop. The area was under Lancastrian control, with the closest area securely held by the Yorkists being at Doncaster There was widespread flooding at the time which would have made travelling difficult and food hard to find. A market was held in Worksop every Thursday and scouting parties may have been sent there to look for supplies. The most plausible reason however would have been to check on the Lancastrian forces situated around the town or for retribution towards Worksop Manor, where the Earl of Shrewsbury and his younger brother Christopher Talbot had been killed at the Battle of Northampton on 10 July that year. (Christopher Talbot was murdered in 1443 at Caus Castle) Revenge was certainly in order as the Earl of Shrewsbury had been given Richard of York's land in Wakefield in 1459. Also Richard of York had a personal vendetta against the Beauforts, ever since the 2nd Duke of Somerset's disastrous handling of the final campaigns of the Hundred Years' War. There is no physical evidence of the battle except perhaps a section of skull in Worksop Priory with a bodkin arrowhead lodged firmly in it. This is visible to members of the public and located in the north aisle of the church towards the west end.

Historic Site Landmark