Doncaster
From Freepedia
- This article is about the town of Doncaster in England. See also Doncaster, Victoria for the suburb of Melbourne, Australia.
| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Population: | 286,866 (2001 Census) |
| Ordnance Survey | |
| OS grid reference: | Maps for SE5702 |
| Administration | |
| District: | Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster |
| County: | South Yorkshire |
| Region: | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| Nation: | England |
| Other | |
| Ceremonial county: | South Yorkshire |
| Traditional county: | South Yorkshire |
| Post office and telephone | |
| Post town: | DONCASTER |
| Postcode: | DN |
| Dialling code: | 01302 |
| Politics | |
| UK Parliament: | Doncaster Central |
| European Parliament: | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| Image:England flag large.png | |
Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, (and in the former West Riding of Yorkshire), England which has been recognised nationally as an emerging regional city . It is popularly referred to by some of its residents as Donny.
Doncaster forms the hub of what is the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. During the 1950's much of the traditional industrial housing within the town was pulled down to make way for commercial development. The resident population of 'old' Doncaster is now quite low as much of what was Doncaster now forms a Central Business District with the majority of the population living in surrounding areas. The former mining villages surrounding Doncaster now act as commuter zones with major roads from these areas acting as arterial routes. This effect has added to the on-going expansion of the area.
Doncaster is one of very few major Roman Towns still in existence within the country not to have been given city status. Coupled to this, Doncaster is the fifteenth largest population centre outside of London and yet still only exists as a town despite having a population larger than many cities. The reason for this has been attributed to its close proximity within the region to major cities such as Sheffield. Doncaster is now playing 'catch up' and is asserting its weight and size on the regional stage. As a result, Doncaster has set out to affirm its national status as a city by re-inventing itself. Huge investment has poured into Doncaster with projects such as a new International Airport, Sports Stadium, University, Performance Venue, Racecourse Development, Lakeside, Shopping and Transport Interchange.
In 1194, Doncaster was awarded a Royal charter and 'Borough' status by King Richard I who was at the time fighting on the battlefields of France.
Contents |
History
Doncaster is located at 53°31′ N 1°8′ W - the site of a Roman fort which was built in the 1st century A.D. at the site of a crossing across the River Don. The Roman empirical command of Ninius called this fort "Caer Daun". Later the commands of Antoninus and Notitia called this fort Danum, from which the town derives the Don part of its name; caster was from the Roman word for "fort". Doncaster was home to the Roman Crispinian horse garrison. The cavalry took its name from Crispus, son of Constantine the Great. Crispus, son of the Emperor, lived at Danum (Doncaster) whilst his father lived 40 miles further north at Eboracum (York). Much of Doncaster's Roman past remains to be discovered. There are several areas of known intense archaelogical interest however many, in particular St Sepulchre Gate, remain hidden under buildings.
The town was rebuilt by the Normans after William I took the throne. The Normans also built a castle at nearby Conisbrough.
As the 12th century approached, Doncaster matured into a busy town and in 1194 King Richard I granted Doncaster national recognition with a Royal Charter. During the Middle Ages Doncaster evolved further and it was then later in 1204 that Doncaster suffered and recovered from a disastrous fire. At this time, buildings were built of wood and fire was a constant hazard.
Today, many Doncaster streets are named 'gate'. The word 'gate' is derived from the old Danish word 'gata' which meant street. During Mediaeval times, craftsmen or tradesmen with similar skills, tended to live in the same street. Baxter is an ancient word for baker thereby confirming that Baxtergate was indeed the baker's street. It is assumed that 'Frenchgate' may be named after French speaking Normans who settled on this street.
During the 14th century numbers of friars arrived in Doncaster who were known for their religious enthusiasm and preachings. In 1307 Franciscan friars arrived and they were called grey friars because of the colour of their costumes. Carmelites or white friars arrived in the middle of the 14th century.
During the 16th and 17th centuries the town of Doncaster continued to expand. This was despite several outbreaks of plague from 1562 until 1606. Each time the plague struckdown significant numbers of Doncaster's population.
From around the 16th century, Doncaster embraced the wealthy stagecoach trade. This led to horse breeding in Doncaster, which in turn led to the start of horse races there. There is evidence that horse races were held in Doncaster as far back as the early 17th century, but it is the St. Leger Stakes, first held in the 1770s, which makes the town's races famous. Today, Doncaster's St. Leger Stakes remains the Oldest Classic Horse Race in the world!
Doncaster is traditionally very wealthy. The borough itself was known for its rich land owners with vast estates and huge stately homes such as Brodsworth Hall, Cantley Manor, Nether Hall, Wheatley Hall and Cusworth Hall. This wealth is evidenced in the luxurious and historic gold guilted 18th Century Mansion House which resides on High Street. This land ownership developed what is an ancient Market place and huge 18th Century Corn Exchange building.
Doncaster was already a communications centre at this time. Doncaster sat on the Great North Road or A1, due to it's strategic geographical importance and essentially Roman inheritence. This was the primary route for all traffic from London to Edinburgh and Doncaster cashed in on it's location.
The late 18th Century to 20th Century saw Doncaster emerge as a Industrial Centre. Using its communication links and in particular waterways Doncaster became extremely busy and saw vast migration to its centre. Underneath Doncaster lies huge natural resource by way of deep seam Coal. It was Coal that prompted Doncaster's exponential population growth. The waterways, River Don and Don Navigation were used to transport coal from Doncaster to the Steel Production centres at Rotherham, Sheffield and Scunthorpe.
Coal became the heart of Doncaster as a primary resource however this was not Doncaster's only talent. The Coal brought Secondary and Tertiary industries to Doncaster. Thus Doncaster became famous for chemical production and contained a huge polymer treatment works on Wheatley Hall Road. Many of the Hydro-Carbon products were derived from the naturally resourced Coal. Doncaster also became famous for its glass. Doncaster still contains glass plants which produce high-quality specialist glass. The furnaces of these plants traditionally were powered by Coal. Doncaster also became famous for steel products such as high-tensile steel rope. From these industries the story went on and on. Doncaster became a Car Production centre for Ford Motor Cars, Tractors, Light bulbs, Tools and equipment...all because of Coal.
Continuing the Industrial Revolution, the railway came to Doncaster, and the Great Northern Railway Locomotive and Carriage Building Works was established there. The reasons for this were due to Doncaster's communication links, the necessity to transport coal quickly and efficiently and Doncaster's expertise in specialist Metal products. An extensive housing programme was undertaken to cater for the increase in the population. The Chairman of the Great Northern, anxious about their spiritual welfare, persuaded the directors to contribute towards the building of St. James' Church, which became known as the "Plant Church". The railway also built St. James' School. The Doncaster Plant became famous for building LNER 4-6-2 locomotives Mallard and the Flying Scotsman, as well as many thousands more locomotives. Today, the town retains a key station on the East Coast line running from London to Scotland.
During World War I and World War II, the rail industry gave way to munitions building. In the early part of the 20th Century Doncaster became one of the largest coal mining areas in the country, with the industry employing more people in the area than anything else. However, along with many other areas, a large number of mining jobs were lost in the late 1980s, and several pits closed. Today, coal mining has been all but eliminated from the area, with only a handful of collieries surviving. The demise of Coal saw a cascade effect which saw the removal of many other Tertiary industries however several companies diversified and can still be seen today
More recently, the town has sought to reinvent itself, primarily as a commercial and leisure centre. Its horse races remain very famous, and the town also has a men's football club, Doncaster Rovers F.C., and one of the most successful women's football clubs in the country, Doncaster Belles L.F.C.. There is also a new international airport, Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield, which opened on April 28, 2005, on the former Royal Air Force station of RAF Finningley, in Doncaster.
In 1995 the Millennium Commission made an award to Earth Centre, Doncaster which became one of its Landmark Millennium projects. A former coal mine and pit tip was chosen to become a visitor attraction based upon the ideals of sustainability. Earth Centre closed its doors to visitors in 2004, having never achieved projected visitor figures.
On March 5, 2004, Doncaster was granted Fairtrade Town status. It has been a Sister City with Wilmington, North Carolina, USA since 1989.
Aviation
In 1909, after the world's first air display in Rheims, Doncaster racecourse was chosen as the venue for the second. All the world's leading aviators were present. Samuel F. Cody, no relation to William F. (Buffalo Bill), in an attempt to win a prize offered by The Daily Mail for the first British pilot in a British aeroplane to fly a circular mile signed British naturalisation papers in front of the crowd with the band playing both the Star Spangled Banner and the National anthem. Unfortunately, he crashed his British Army Aeroplane No.1 whilst taxiing.
During the first World War fighters based, first from the racecourse then a temporary airstrip near Finningley (later RAF Finningley and now Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield International Airport) and finally, in 1916, from a newly built airfield alongside the race course, were deployed to defend the east coast against Zeppelins. On a number of occasions fighters took off to search for the intruders hut none were ever seen. The RFC station trained pilots for the war in France. Within months of the war ending the entire station was put up for sale and two of its three Belfast hangars, the same type of hangar now forms the basis for The Royal Air Force museum at Hendon, were sold to a Sheffield motor manufacturing company for storage and assembly at Finningley. The third of the hangars stayed in place, mainly housing buses, until the seventies when someone thought that this historic building should be knocked down and replaced by a modern monstrosity.
In 1920 the Government asked local authorities to assist in the formation of a chain of airfields so this country would not lack behind other nations in the provision of civil air services. Doncaster took heed and with expert advice from Alan Cobham on May 26. 1934 open a grandly called 'aviation centre'. Development of the airfield continued and on July 1, 1936 an international service was open to Amsterdam On November 1, 1938, after long discussions with the Air Ministry, 616 (South Yorkshire) fighter squadron of the Auxiliary Air Force was formed. Shortly after the outbreak of war in 1939 the squadron went to its battle station and played an honourable part in the Battle of Britain. After the departure of 616 squadron its place was taken by the formation of 271 (Transport) Squadron composed mainly of requisitioned civilian aircraft and obsolescent twin engined bombers. In 1944 after being re-equipped with Dakotas the squadron moved south to take part in operation 'Overlord' and later in the airborne invasion at Arnhem where Flight Lieutenant David Lord was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross. After the war the airfield reverted to civilian flying and finally closed in 1992.
Aviation in Doncaster 1909-1992 by Geoffrey Oakes, (c/o Geoffrey Oakes, 42 Cranwell Road, Cantley, Doncaster, DN4 6EP)
Famous People
- George Boole
- Thomas Crapper
- Kevin Keegan - International footballer / coach
- Jeremy Clarkson - Journalist / Television Presenter
- Leslie Garrett - World renowned opera Singer
- Diana Rigg - Actress most well known for the ITV series "The Avengers"
- Liam Botham - Rugby player and son of well known cricketer Ian Botham
- Douglas Bader - fighter pilot who continued to fly after losing his legs
- Jonti Picking - Commonly known as Weebl, author of the Webcartoon Weebl & Bob.
External links
Categories: NPOV disputes | Towns in South Yorkshire | Railway towns in England | Fairtrade settlements
