Before the Reformation the manor belonged to the Priory of St. Oswald, at Nostell, in Yorkshire, and was likely served by a branch establishment of the priory in Sookholme. While no record of that remains, there is a field near Longster Lane leading to Shirebrook containing a number of yew trees planted in the form of a square—the kind that would be planted near an Anglican place of religion in the past. In the reign of Edward III during the 14th century, the prior of St. Oswald claimed all sorts of privileges in the manor of Sookholme, but it could not be proven that he or his predecessors ever had those specific rights.
