Editing Doncaster (section)

==History==
[[File:Alternative Ermine Street.JPG|right|thumb|[[Ermine Street]]'s alternative route: [[Eboracum]] ([[York]]) to Lagecium ([[Castleford]]), 21 [[Roman mile|miles]], to Danum (Doncaster), 16 miles, to Agelocum ([[Littleborough, Nottinghamshire|Littleborough]]), 21 miles, to [[Lindum Colonia|Lindum]] ([[Lincoln, England|Lincoln]]), 13 miles. A spur connected Danum with [[Calcaria]] (near [[Tadcaster]]).]]

===Roman===
Possibly inhabited earlier, Doncaster grew up on the site of a [[Roman fort]] of the 1st century CE, at a crossing of the [[River Don, South Yorkshire|River Don]]. The 2nd-century [[Antonine Itinerary]] and [[Roman withdrawal from Britain|early-5th-century]] ''[[Notitia Dignitatum]]'' (''Register of Dignitaries'') called the fort '''{{lang|la|Danum}}'''. The first section of road to the Doncaster fort had probably been built since the early 50s, while a route through the north [[Derbyshire]] hills was opened in the later 1st century, possibly by Governor [[Gnaeus Julius Agricola|Gn. Julius Agricola]] in the late 70s. Doncaster provided an alternative land route between [[Lindum Colonia|Lincoln]] and [[Eboracum|York]], while the main route [[Ermine Street]] involved parties breaking up to cross the [[Humber]] in boats. As this was not always practical, the Romans saw Doncaster as an important staging post. The [[Roman road]] appears on two routes recorded in the [[Antonine Itinerary]]. The itinerary includes the same section of road between Lincoln and York and lists three stations between these two [[Roman colonia|coloniae]]. Routes 7 and 8 (''{{lang|la|Iter}}&nbsp;VII & VIII'') are entitled "the route from York to [[Londinium|London]]".

Several areas of intense archaeological interest have been identified in the town, although many such as [[St Sepulchre Gate]] remain hidden under buildings. The Roman fort is thought to have lain on the site now taken by [[St George's Minster, Doncaster|St George's Minster]], beside the [[River Don, South Yorkshire|River Don]]. The Doncaster garrison units are named in a ''Register'' produced near the [[Roman withdrawal from Britain|end of Roman rule in Britain]]: it was the home of the Crispinian Horse, presumably named after the tribes living near [[Crispiana]] in [[Pannonia Superior]] (near present-day [[Zirc]] in western [[Hungary]]), but possibly after [[Crispus]], son of [[Constantine the Great]], who was headquartered there while his father was based in nearby [[Eboracum|York]]. The ''Register'' names the unit as under the command of the "[[Dux Britanniarum|Duke of the Britons]]".

In 1971 the [[Danum shield]], a rectangular Roman shield dating to the 1st or 2nd century CE, was recovered from the site of the Danum fort.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Buckland |first1=Paul |title=A First-Century Shield from Doncaster, Yorkshire |journal=Britannia |date=1978 |volume=9 |pages=247–269 |doi=10.2307/525941 |jstor=525941 |s2cid=162342730 |issn=0068-113X}}</ref>

An inscribed altar, dedicated to the [[Matres]] by Marcus Nantonius Orbiotalus, was found at St Sepulchre Gate in 1781.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/618 |title=RIB 618. Altar dedicated to the Mother Goddesses |publisher=Roman Inscriptions of Britain |access-date=17 February 2021 |archive-date=20 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820212632/http://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/618 |url-status=live}}</ref> This was donated to the [[Yorkshire Museum]] in 1856.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/handbooktoantiqu00welliala#page/34/mode/2up |title=Handbook of the Antiquities in the Grounds and Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society |date=1881 |author1=[[Charles Wellbeloved]] |publisher=[[Yorkshire Philosophical Society]] |pages=34–35}}</ref>
[[File:MedievalDoncaster.gif|right|thumb|Map showing the boundary of the fortified Medieval township of Doncaster with four Gates]]

===Medieval===
Doncaster is generally identified with '''Cair Daun'''<ref>[[Nennius]] ({{abbr|attrib.|Traditional attribution}}). [[Theodor Mommsen]] ({{abbr|ed.|Editor}}). [[s:la:Historia Brittonum#VI. CIVITATES BRITANNIAE|''Historia Brittonum'', VI.]] Composed after AD 830. {{in lang|la}} Hosted at [[s:la:Main Page|Latin Wikisource]].</ref> listed as one of 28 British [[civitas|cities]] in the 9th-century ''[[Historia Brittonum|History of the Britons]]'' traditionally ascribed to [[Nennius]].<ref>David Nash Ford, [http://www.britannia.com/history/ebk/articles/nenniuscities.html The 28 Cities of Britain] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415120312/http://www.britannia.com/history/ebk/articles/nenniuscities.html |date=15 April 2016}}" at Britannia. 2000.</ref>{{refn|[[Bishop Ussher]], cited in [[John Henry Newman|Newman]]'s life of [[Germanus of Auxerre|Saint German]]<ref>{{cite book |first=John Henry |last=Newman |author-link=John Henry Newman |title=Lives of the English Saints: St. German, Bishop of Auxerre |publisher=James Toovey |location=London |year=1844 |page=92 |url=https://archive.org/stream/livesenglishsai01unkngoog#page/n102 |access-date=30 August 2018 |via=archive.org}}</ref>}}<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/yorkshireanhist00waingoog |title=Yorkshire: An historical and topographical introduction |author=John Wainwright |page=[https://archive.org/details/yorkshireanhist00waingoog/page/n63 1] |publisher=J. Blackwell |year=1829 |access-date=1 September 2011}}</ref> It was certainly an [[Anglo-Saxon]] [[burh]], and in that period received its present name: "Don-" ({{langx|ang|Donne}}) from the settlement and river and "-caster" (''{{lang|ang|-ceaster}}'') from an [[Old English]] version of the [[Latin]] ''[[castra]]'' (military camp; fort). It was mentioned in the 1003 [[Will (law)|will]] of [[Wulfric Spott]]. Shortly after the [[Norman conquest of England|Norman Conquest]], [[Nigel Fossard]] refortified the town and built [[Conisbrough Castle]]. By the time of [[Domesday Book]], [[Hexthorpe]] in the [[Hundred (county division)|wapentake]] of [[Strafforth and Tickhill|Strafforth]] was said to have a church and two [[Mill (grinding)|mills]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://opendomesday.org/place/SE5703/doncaster/ |title=Open Domesday online: Hexthorpe (at Doncaster) |access-date=9 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110113703/http://opendomesday.org/place/SE5703/doncaster/ |archive-date=10 November 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> The historian David Hey says these facilities represent the settlement at Doncaster. He also suggests that the street name Frenchgate indicates that Fossard invited fellow Normans to trade in the town.<ref name="hey">{{cite book |last=Hey |first=David |title=Medieval South Yorkshire |year=2003 |publisher=Landmark Pub. |location=Ashbourne |isbn=1-84306-080-9 |oclc=54874386}}</ref> Doncaster was ceded to [[Scotland]] in the [[Treaty of Durham (1136)|Treaty of Durham]] and never formally returned to England.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scottish-independence/11104004/Why-an-historical-anomaly-means-Bonny-Donny-could-leave-the-UK-too.html |title=Why an historical anomaly means 'Bonny Donny' could leave the UK too |date=17 September 2014 |access-date=5 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171028025532/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scottish-independence/11104004/Why-an-historical-anomaly-means-Bonny-Donny-could-leave-the-UK-too.html |archive-date=28 October 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/scottish-independence/will-bonny-donny-also-break-away-ed-milibands-constituency-doncaster-may-actually-be-owned-by-9741151.html |title=Doncaster 'may actually be owned by Scotland' |website=[[Independent.co.uk]] |date=18 September 2014 |access-date=20 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923050827/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/scottish-independence/will-bonny-donny-also-break-away-ed-milibands-constituency-doncaster-may-actually-be-owned-by-9741151.html |archive-date=23 September 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

With the 13th century, Doncaster matured into a busy town. In 1194 [[Richard I of England|King Richard I]] granted it national recognition with a [[town charter]]. It suffered a disastrous fire in 1204, from which it slowly recovered. At the time, buildings were built of wood, and open fireplaces used for cooking and heating.

[[File:St Mary Magdalene Doncaster.jpg|thumb|Norman church of St Mary Magdalene, at demolition in 1846]]
In 1248, a charter was granted for [[Doncaster Market]] to be held in the area surrounding the Church of St Mary Magdalene, which was built in Norman times. In the 16th century, the church was adapted for use as the [[town hall]]. It was finally demolished in 1846.<ref name="hey" /> Some 750 years on, the market continues to operate, with busy traders located under cover, at the 19th-century [[Doncaster Corn Exchange]] building (1873).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://public-art.shu.ac.uk/pmsa/doncaster/00000046.htm |title=Doncaster Metropolitan Borough |publisher=Sheffield Hallam University |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070104200816/http://public-art.shu.ac.uk/pmsa/doncaster/00000046.htm |archive-date=4 January 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Corn Exchange was much rebuilt in 1994 after a major fire.<ref>{{cite web |title=Doncaster Market Place: Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Proposals |url=https://dmbcwebstolive01.blob.core.windows.net/media/Default/Planning/Documents/Built%20Environment/Conservation/Doncaster%20Market%20Place/Doncaster%20Market%20Place%20Conservation%20Area%20(page%201%20-%2049).pdf |website=Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council |access-date=8 December 2021 |archive-date=8 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211208231523/https://dmbcwebstolive01.blob.core.windows.net/media/Default/Planning/Documents/Built%20Environment/Conservation/Doncaster%20Market%20Place/Doncaster%20Market%20Place%20Conservation%20Area%20(page%201%20-%2049).pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>
During the 14th century, numerous friars arrived in Doncaster who were known for their religious enthusiasm and preaching. In 1307 the [[Franciscan]] friars ([[Greyfriar]]s) arrived, as did [[Carmelites]] (Whitefriars) in the mid-14th century. Other major medieval features included the Hospital of St Nicholas and the [[leper colony]] of the Hospital of St James, a [[moot hall]], a [[grammar school]] and a five-arched stone town bridge with a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Bridge. By 1334, Doncaster was the wealthiest town in southern Yorkshire and the sixth in Yorkshire as a whole, even boasting its own banker. By 1379, it was recovering from the [[Black Death]], which had reduced its population to 1,500. In October 1536, the [[Pilgrimage of Grace]] ended in Doncaster. This rebellion led by the lawyer [[Robert Aske (political leader)|Robert Aske]] commanded 40,000 Yorkshire people against Henry VIII, in protest at the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]]. Many of Doncaster's streets are named with the suffix "-gate", after the [[old Danish]] word ''gata'', meaning street. In medieval times, craftsmen or tradesmen with similar skills tended to live in the same street. Baxter is an ancient word for baker: Baxtergate was the bakers' street. Historians believe that Frenchgate may be named after French-speaking [[Normans]] who settled there.

The medieval township is known to have been protected by earthen ramparts and ditches, with four substantial gates as entrances to the town. These were located at Hall Gate, St Mary's Bridge (old), St Sepulchre Gate and Sunny Bar. Today the gates at Sunny Bar are commemorated by huge "Boar Gates"; similarly, the entrance to St Sepulchre Gate is commemorated by white marble "Roman Gates". The boundary of the town mainly extended from the Don along a route known now Market Road, Silver Street, Cleveland Street and Printing Office Street.

===Modern===
[[File:Doncaster-population.svg|thumb|Population of Doncaster District taken from census data<ref>{{cite web |title=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, Doncaster District through time Population Statistics Total Population, A Vision of Britain through Time. |url=https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10202607/cube/TOT_POP |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005103220/http://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10202607/cube/TOT_POP |archive-date=5 October 2017}}</ref>]]
Access to the town was restricted and some officeholders secured charters to collect tolls. In 1605, [[James I of England|King James I]] granted to William [[Levett]] of Doncaster, brother of [[York]] merchant [[Percival Levett]], the right to levy tolls at Friar's and St Mary's bridges.<ref name="maine">{{cite web |url=http://archive.org/details/bub_gb_yETLcuNxk18C |title=Collections of the Maine Historical Society |date=20 May 1890 |publisher=The Society |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Having served as mayors and aldermen of Doncaster, the Levetts probably believed they could control a monopoly. In 1618 the family began enforcing it, but by 1628 the populace revolted. Capt. [[Christopher Levett]], Percival's son, petitioned Parliament to enforce the tolls, but Parliament disagreed, calling them "a grievance to the subjects, both in creation and execution," and axing the Levett monopoly.<ref name="maine" /> Doncaster's Levet Road is named after the family, as are nearby hamlets of [[Hooton Levitt]] and the largely abandoned [[Levitt Hagg]], where much of the town's early limestone was quarried.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, Doncaster continued to expand, but it suffered several outbreaks of plague between 1562 and 1606. Each struck down significant numbers of victims.

During the [[First English Civil War]], [[Charles I of England|King Charles I]] marched by [[Bridgnorth]], [[Lichfield]] and [[Ashbourne, Derbyshire|Ashbourne]] to Doncaster, where on 18 August 1645 he was met by numbers of [[Yorkshire]] gentlemen who had rallied to his cause. On 2 May 1664, Doncaster was rewarded with the title of Free Borough as a way for the King (Charles I's son, [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]]) to express gratitude for the allegiance.

Doncaster was connected to the rail network in 1848 and a plant and carriage works for [[Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)|Great Northern Railway]] was constructed in the town in 1853.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=2562}}The [[Doncaster Carr rail depot]] was opened in 1876.<ref>[[Doncaster Carr rail depot#dc1927|Doncaster Carr Sheds]], LNER Magazine 1927, p.387</ref>

The area to the east of Doncaster started developing settlements where coal miners lived from the 1850s onwards, exploiting coal near [[Barnsley]]. One such settlement is Deneby.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last=Waller |first=Symeon Mark |url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009ZITNBU/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 |title=The Big Book of Doncaster History |date=30 October 2012 |publisher=Doncaster History Publishing |editor-last=Publishing |editor-first=Doncaster History |page=1697 |access-date=16 January 2022 |archive-date=7 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407143613/https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009ZITNBU/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Doncaster and surrounding settlements became part of the [[West Riding of Yorkshire]] in 1899. Under the [[Local Government Act 1972]] it was drawn into a new [[metropolitan borough]] in 1974 and became part of the new county of South Yorkshire.

[[File:Cusworth Hall front.jpg|thumb|Cusworth Hall front]]
Doncaster has traditionally been prosperous within the wapentake of [[Strafforth and Tickhill|Stafford and Tickhill]].<ref>[http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10417442/relationships] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110113351/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10417442/relationships|date=10 November 2016}} Vision of Britain: Doncaster</ref><ref>[http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10075749] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110110654/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10075749|date=10 November 2016}} Vision of Britain: Stafford and Tickhill Wapentake.</ref> The borough was known for rich landowners and huge stately homes such as [[Brodsworth Hall]], [[Cantley Hall]], [[Cusworth Hall]], [[Hickleton Hall]], [[Nether Hall, Doncaster|Nether Hall]] and Wheatley Hall (demolished 1934). This wealth appears in the luxurious, historic gilded 18th-century [[Mansion House, Doncaster|Mansion House]] in [[High Street (Doncaster)|High Street]]. This land ownership developed over what is an ancient market place and large buildings were erected in the 19th century, including the [[Doncaster Market|Market Hall]] and [[Doncaster Corn Exchange|Corn Exchange]]. The old Doncaster Guildhall in Frenchgate was designed by John Butterfield with a [[tetrastyle]] [[portico]] and completed in 1847: it was demolished in the redevelopment of the 1960s.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/news/retro-gallery-9-loved-and-lost-doncaster-landmarks-64954 |title=Retro Gallery: 9 loved and lost Doncaster landmarks |date=6 April 2016 |newspaper=Sheffield Telegraph |access-date=8 February 2021 |archive-date=14 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214044718/https://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/news/retro-gallery-9-loved-and-lost-doncaster-landmarks-64954 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:St Georges Doncaster 3.jpg|thumb|[[St George's Minster, Doncaster|St George's Minster]] is a grade I listed building and was designed by Sir [[George Gilbert Scott]] in the 1850s.<ref>{{NHLE |num=1151447 |desc=Minster Church of St George |access-date=15 July 2020}}</ref>]]
Perhaps the most striking building to survive is [[St George's Minster, Doncaster|St George's Minster]], built in the 19th century and promoted from a [[parish church]] in 2004.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.doncasterminster.org/doncaster-minster-history-and-heritage/doncaster-minster-history-and-heritage.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321151404/http://www.doncasterminster.org/doncaster-minster-history-and-heritage/doncaster-minster-history-and-heritage.asp |url-status=dead |title=Doncaster Minster website |archive-date=21 March 2012}}</ref> Doncaster was already a communication centre by this time. It straddled the [[A1 road (Great Britain)|Great North Road or A1]], gaining strategic importance, as this was the main route for traffic between London and [[Edinburgh]].