Description: The Priory was founded on March 3rd 1103. An initial grant of monies and lands was made which founded the great Priory by the De Lovetot Lords of the Manor. The Canons of St Augustine were to establish Worksop Priory for the worship of God and the service of the local community and was dedicated to St. Mary & St. Cuthbert. At one time the Priory had extensive outbuildings for the Canons. On the north side of the great church were the cloisters and living accommodation, all built in fine stone. The River Ryton served to bring water first to the Priory Mill on the Canch, then to the kitchens, (where the church hall now stands). It then flushed away the kitchen and domestic waste before being dammed to provide fish ponds on what is now Bracebridge. There were farm buildings, barns and stores, splendid rooms for the Prior, a place for writing and a library. The gatehouse, a tudor addition to the Priory, is considered to be 'one of the most interesting buildings in the county,' which features pre-reformation statuary, a wide late perpendicular tracery window and an unusual projecting wayside shrine to house an image of the Virgin. This view is an engraving by Samuel Buck. The Dictionary of National Biography quotes Samuel Buck as an 'engraver and topographical draughtsman, (who) drew and engraved 428 views of the ruins of all the noted abbeys, castles, &c., together with four views of seats and eighty-three large general views of the chief cities and towns of England and Wales.' Samuel Buck was born in Richmond, Yorkshire, in 1696, and had a younger brother Nathaniel. Details of the brothers' training are not recorded but Samuel is known to have been professionally acquainted with the Yorkshire antiquaries Ralph Thorsebury and John Warburton. He was only 15 when his first work was published so it can be assumed that he acquired his drawing and engraving skills very early and very quickly. The northern connection manifested itself in these first works with views produced of edifices in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. At this stage in his career one presumes that the engraved views were produced and sold as single items or in small collections. In 1724 Samuel moved to London and this coincided with the publication of a fuller collection of his views, from drawings made between 1711 and that date. 1726 saw a second collection showing ruins of Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire, while those of Cheshire, Derbyshire and Lancashire were to follow in 1727, this time produced in collaboration with brother Nathaniel who had now joined him in the capital. Based at 'The Golden Buck in Warwick Street near Golden Square, St. James's', the pair then produced annual collections between 1728 and 1738, inclusively. Their work pattern was one of their issuing forth in late spring from Warwick Street to the shires and provinces where their subjects were sited. The summers would be spent drawing, while winters were spent producing the plates and engravings. Such a disciplined programme of operation was accompanied by an erstwhile attention to meeting annual deadlines. With the brothers now operating from No.1., Garden Court, Middle Temple, this reliability continued from 1739 to 1742 but these later collections included, more and more, panoramic views of cities. From 1743 onwards production in the genre became more piecemeal and it finally ceased with Nathaniel's death in 1754. (information from www.castlewales.com)