116-552: Scawthorpe is a suburb of Doncaster in South Yorkshire , England on the A638 road . It is split between the city council wards of Roman Ridge and Bentley . Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire , it was in the civil parish of Bentley with Arksey . Scawthorpe expanded in the early 20th century following the opening of Bentley Colliery , when affordable houses were built by
232-567: A lowland valley in southern Yorkshire. To the west are low rolling hills eventually reaching the Pennines . To the east are the low-lying Isle of Axholme and Humberhead Levels . The south is relatively low-lying, with a large forested area including Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire . The Vale of York lies to the north. The floodplains of the River Don lie to Doncaster's north-east; this area
348-647: A mayor every four years. Additionally, the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster is one of twelve districts in the United Kingdom to have a directly elected mayor , currently Ros Jones , who was re-elected in 2021. The local authority applied several times, unsuccessfully, for city status . Its borough population of greater than 300,000 is larger than that of many cities' such as Hull , Southampton and Newcastle . On 28 October 2021, Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council announced its bid for Doncaster City for
464-501: A 12-foot (3.7 m) undershot wheel for rolling copper plates, and another of 18 feet (5.5 m) for rolling silver. The River Loxley joins the Don opposite the mill site, and the building was badly damaged by the great flood of 1864. The tenant claimed £1,932 in compensation, and received £1,720. A steam engine replaced the large water wheel in 1875, and the rest of the works was electrified in 1920. Sheffield Steel Rolling Co. continued to work
580-414: A 2011 population of 302,402, while a 2021 estimate was 308,000. The 2011 census figure makes Doncaster's population very slightly larger than that of Rotherham (pop 109,691). Doncaster emerged as an industrial centre in the late 18th to 20th centuries. Its communications, particularly its waterways, meant that it became extremely busy and experienced migration to its centre. Underneath Doncaster lies
696-538: A claim for £6,204 was made and received for damage caused by the 1864 flood. Next came Kelham Wheel, which was used as a cutlers wheel, a silk mill, and a cotton mill. Following fires in 1792 and 1810, the mill was rebuilt to use steam power, and became the Britannia Corn Mills after 1864. The buildings were demolished in 1975, but the weir remains in good order, and is one of the largest in Sheffield. Below this were
812-509: A corn mill and cutlers wheels. Steam power was used from 1860, although a redundant water wheel remained in situ until 1950. Sanderson's weir provided water for the Upper Hammer, on the south side of the river, which was converted into the Attercliffe slitting mill in 1746. By 1802 it was described as being in a decayed state, and the dam and goit were filled in by 1818. The weir also supplied
928-445: A corn mill from before 1383 until 1690. Two cutlers wheels were added in 1706, and the works had become a forge by 1789. Four wheels were recorded in 1895, and a set of tilt hammers from the site were rescued and moved to Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet . Hadfields Weir is the final weir on this stretch, which supplied Parker Wheel initially, and then a paper mill from the 1750s. At various times there were two flour mills, two forges and then
1044-465: A film, which can be seen at the Kelham Island Museum , was made of its activity. The weir has five bays, but is deteriorating. Wadsley weir supplied a series of works which were situated to the east of the river channel. Wadsley Bridge paper mill was operational by 1709, and a tilt was also working by 1806. The wheel was 16.5 feet (5.0 m) in diameter and 6.83 feet (2.08 m) wide when it
1160-480: A huge natural resource by way of deep seam coal. Doncaster's proximity to major urban centres and motorway/rail infrastructure gives it a number of major distribution centres, including the 420-acre Doncaster International Railport , which dispatches goods to Europe. It also has large warehousing and logistic capabilities for retailers such as Next , Tesco , IKEA , Amazon.com , Lidl and Faberge . A marked proportion of fresh and frozen goods for northern supermarkets
1276-561: A river system with a catchment of 714 square miles (1,850 km ), which held a population of around 1.4 million in 1997. Much of the region is underlain by Carboniferous age Coal Measures rocks , and pollution of the river system has arisen where the coal has been mined. The headwaters rise on the moorlands of the Pennines , where the rocks are largely Millstone Grit , while the lower reaches pass through areas of alluvial and glacial material, up to 66 feet (20 m) thick, which overlies Magnesian Limestone strata and rocks assigned to
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#17328948398091392-454: A rolling mill. The precise location of the works is difficult to trace, as the river has been straightened below the weir, but the weir itself can be seen from Meadowhall Shopping Centre . This section provides details of some of the many bridges crossing the River Don, in west-to-east (river source to river mouth) order. This area stretches from the source of the River Don down to and including Oughtibridge. There are many minor crossings of
1508-622: A seven-arch viaduct, built around 1855, which crosses the B6462 Thurgoland to Penistone road as well as the River Don. The railway that it conveys started off as a local colliery line of the South Yorkshire Railway Company and later became part of a trunk freight route which reached its traffic peak in the early 1950s. From 1983 the line has been used for local passenger services between Sheffield and Huddersfield via Barnsley. Built about 1734, this narrow stone bridge conveyed
1624-422: A small part of the weir remains. The next weir supplied Old Park corn mill, which was built around 1673. In 1807 a lease was issued to a group of 32 tenants, which included a miller, grinders, cutlers, a button maker, a scissorsmith and an ivory turner. In the early 20th century, it was known as Old Park Forge, and so had presumably changed its use. Old Park paper, silver or rolling mill followed. In 1795 it had
1740-522: A tour of Yorkshire by King Charles III and Queen Camilla . 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 . The 2nd-century Antonine Itinerary and early-5th-century Notitia Dignitatum ( Register of Dignitaries ) called the fort Danum . The first section of road to the Doncaster fort had probably been built since
1856-506: Is a shopping centre and transport interchange. Opened in June 2006, it connects with the railway and bus stations. Lakeside Village, a retail outlet with some 45 retail shops and restaurants lies along the A6182 dual carriageway. The Waterdale area of the town centre is currently undergoing rejuvenation, with a new theatre (known as CAST), new civic offices and a new public square having been completed on
1972-590: Is about as far north as the 21.5 °C (70.7 °F) average July/August maximum temperature isotherm reaches – Indeed, the August 1990 record high of 35.5 °C (95.9 °F) is the most northerly temperature above 35 °C (95 °F) in the British Isles. The nearby town of Bawtry, slightly further south, still holds the UK's September monthly record high temperature of 35.6 °C (96.1 °F), set in 1906. Typically,
2088-515: Is also culverted, below Sheffield Railway Station , and the combined flows join the Don between Lady's Bridge and Blonk Street bridge. The section of the river from Lady's Bridge to Meadowhall and the junction of the river with the Sheffield Canal has been designated as the Five Weirs Walk, by the creation of a footpath which closely follows its course. It contains the final five weirs before
2204-402: 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
2320-402: Is controlled throughout the town by the local planning authority , Doncaster Council. It reduces urban sprawl , prevent areas in the conurbation from further convergence, protects outlying communities, encourages brownfield reuse, and protects nearby countryside by restricting development in the designated areas and imposing stricter conditions on permitted building. It surrounds the side of
2436-520: Is dispatched by road from Doncaster. On 5 March 2004, Doncaster was granted Fairtrade Town status. Over the last few years the Doncaster Lakeside , as home to the Doncaster Rovers ground, has undergone modernisation. Doncaster has a bowling alley and a cinema near Lakeside. The Dome, opened in 1989 by Princess Diana , contains a swimming pool, gym, ice rink and café. The Frenchgate Centre
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#17328948398092552-410: Is rated good or fail. The water quality of the Don was as follows in 2019. Like most rivers in the UK, the chemical status changed from good to fail in 2019, due to the presence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), perfluorooctane sulphonate (PFOS) and mercury compounds, none of which had previously been included in the assessment. These are the settlements on the River Don from the source to
2668-404: Is regularly flooded, notably in 2007 and 2019. Thorne and Hatfield Moors , east of Doncaster, is the largest area of low-lying peat bog in the United Kingdom. It is protected as a national nature reserve. Potteric Carr , including Potteric Carr Nature Reserve , lies to the south. Doncaster is within a green belt that extends into the surrounding counties. First defined in 1966, the policy
2784-710: Is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield . Noted for its racing and railway history, it is situated in the Don Valley on the western edge of the Humberhead Levels and east of the Pennines . It had a population of 87,455 at the 2021 census , whilst the wider metropolitan borough had a population of 308,100. Adjacent to Doncaster to its east is the Isle of Axholme in Lincolnshire , which contains
2900-588: Is thought to have lain on the site now taken by St George's Minster , beside the River Don . The Doncaster garrison units are named in a Register produced near the 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
3016-483: The Antonine Itinerary . The itinerary includes the same section of road between Lincoln and York and lists three stations between these two coloniae . Routes 7 and 8 ( Iter VII & VIII ) are entitled "the route from York to 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
3132-466: The Don River , one of the principal rivers of Toronto , Canada. The Don can be divided into sections by the different types of structures built to restrict its passage. The upper reaches, and those of several of its tributaries, are defined by dams built to provide a public water supply. The middle section contains many weirs, which were built to supply mills, foundries and factories with water power, while
3248-588: The Dutch civil engineer Cornelius Vermuyden diverted the Don northwards along Turnbridgedike. He constructed Dikesmarsh bank some distance to the east of the channel, so that the intervening land could be used as washlands . The main work was completed by 1628, but after flooding in 1629, a "Great Sluice" was constructed at the junction between the river and the Aire, with 17 openings which were 6 by 8 feet (1.8 by 2.4 m), probably by Hugo Spiering, who had assisted Vermuyden on
3364-464: The Environment Agency announced that they had recently re-stocked the Don with 1,000 barbel . A spokesman said that the fish in the river were now at a sustainable level with a breeding population and these would be the last fish added as part of a 10-year programme to help the Don recover from an industrial heritage that had depleted fish stocks. The Environment Agency measure water quality of
3480-470: The Ewden Beck joins, after flowing through Broomhead and More Hall reservoirs . By the time it reaches Oughtibridge , the river is below the 300-foot (91 m) contour. Below Oughtibridge, the course of the river is marked by a series of weirs, which were used to impound water, so that it could be used to power mills, hammers and grinding wheels. The gradient of the river bed is less than that of most of
3596-525: The First English Civil War , King Charles I marched by Bridgnorth , Lichfield and 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, King Charles II ) to express gratitude for the allegiance. Doncaster was connected to
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3712-541: The Latin castra (military camp; fort). It was mentioned in the 1003 will of Wulfric Spott . Shortly after the Norman Conquest , Nigel Fossard refortified the town and built Conisbrough Castle . By the time of Domesday Book , Hexthorpe in the wapentake of Strafforth was said to have a church and two mills . The historian David Hey says these facilities represent the settlement at Doncaster. He also suggests that
3828-486: The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 , which standardised how most boroughs operated across the country. The borough boundaries were enlarged several times, notably in 1914 when it absorbed Balby with Hexthorpe and Wheatley. By 1927 the borough was considered large enough to run its own county-level services, and so it was made a county borough , independent from West Riding County Council . The county borough
3944-515: The National Coal Board . Development has slowed since the 1970s, however recent residential developments include The Sycamores, Kingdom Close and Mayfields in the north-west, and Scotsman Drive in the south. Scawthorpe is situated primarily to the east of the A638 road , straddling it in its northern extremity where it meets the B6422 to Little Canada . Scawthorpe is surrounded by, clockwise from
4060-576: The Pilgrimage of Grace ended in Doncaster. This rebellion led by the lawyer 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
4176-498: The Sherwood Sandstone Group . The impacts of human habitation, particularly the inadequate treatment of sewage effluent, and the growth of mining in the upper reaches and the processing of metals in the Sheffield area have resulted in serious pollution of the river, and the depletion of fish stocks, to the extent that large parts of the Don contained no fish until the mid-1980s. Concerted efforts have been made to improve
4292-592: The Trent , but was re-engineered by Cornelius Vermuyden as the Dutch River in the 1620s, and now joins the River Ouse at Goole . Don Valley is a UK parliamentary constituency near the Doncaster stretch of the river. The probable origin of the name was Brittonic Dānā , from a root dān- , meaning "water" or "river". The name Dôn (or Danu ), a Celtic mother goddess, has the same origin. The river gave its name to
4408-562: 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. Doncaster has traditionally been prosperous within the wapentake of Stafford and Tickhill . The borough was known for rich landowners and huge stately homes such as Brodsworth Hall , Cantley Hall , Cusworth Hall , Hickleton Hall , Nether Hall and Wheatley Hall (demolished 1934). This wealth appears in
4524-621: The 1960s. Perhaps the most striking building to survive is St George's Minster , built in the 19th century and promoted from a parish church in 2004. Doncaster was already a communication centre by this time. It straddled the Great North Road or A1 , gaining strategic importance, as this was the main route for traffic between London and Edinburgh . Doncaster is represented in the House of Commons by three Members of Parliament (MPs). Sally Jameson represents Doncaster Central , Ed Miliband ,
4640-453: The 19th-century Doncaster Corn Exchange building (1873). The Corn Exchange was much rebuilt in 1994 after a major fire. During the 14th century, numerous friars arrived in Doncaster who were known for their religious enthusiasm and preaching. In 1307 the Franciscan friars ( Greyfriars ) arrived, as did Carmelites (Whitefriars) in the mid-14th century. Other major medieval features included
4756-724: The 700-tonne Eurobarge standard by deepening the channels and enlarging the locks as far as Rotherham. The expected rise in freight traffic did not occur, however. The cuts and navigable river sections, with the Stainforth and Keadby and the New Junction canals constitute the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation . Locks on the Bramwith to Rotherham section can accommodate boats which are 230 by 20 feet (70.1 by 6.1 m), but above that, boats are restricted to 56 by 15 feet (17.1 by 4.6 m) by
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4872-543: The Dearne and the Rother has not improved as much as on the Don, and pollution of the lower reaches is compounded by the fact that the pollutants, which include dioxins , are locked up in the river bed sediments. Despite the steady improvement in water quality, restocking of the river with fish, attempted on several occasions between 1981 and 1994, was largely ineffective, caused by intermittent discharges of pollutants. In November 2011,
4988-509: The Don Valley, in the lee of the Pennines, and inland from the North Sea, mean daytime summer temperatures are no lower than parts of South East England, despite the more northerly location. The nearest weather station is RAF Finningley, now known as Doncaster Sheffield Airport , about 5.5 mi (8.9 km) to the south-east of Doncaster city centre and at a similar elevation. The Doncaster area
5104-625: The Don at Stainforth to the Trent at Keadby, most traffic for the Trent used that in preference to the Dutch River and the route around Trent Falls, where the Trent joins the Humber. Construction of a railway from Doncaster to Goole in 1869 reduced traffic on the river, but the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation Company was formed in 1889, to buy back the River Don Navigation, the Sheffield Canal and
5220-477: The Don bridges upstream of Lady's Bridge (see "Bridges over River Don" section below) and killed 270 people. The Don was also one of the rivers that flooded during the 2007 United Kingdom floods . Following high levels of rainfall, some 80 million cubic metres of rain fell on South Yorkshire on 25 June 2007. The river burst its banks in the late afternoon, flooding areas of Sheffield from Hillsborough to Meadowhall , and two people died after being swept away by
5336-419: The Don in this area, so only a selection of bridges is covered in this section. The road bridge at the small hamlet of Dunford Bridge carries the unclassified Windle Edge Road across the River Don. The source of the Don is about 2.5 miles (4 km) to the west and the retaining dam of Winscar Reservoir is 1,300 feet (400 m) to the west. The road bridge is 160 feet (50 m) below the surface level of
5452-476: The Don's tributaries, which required the weirs to be spaced further apart, to prevent water from one mill backing up and preventing the next mill upstream from operating. The river falls by 160 feet (49 m) between Oughtibridge and Brightside, a distance of 8 miles (13 km), and by 1600, there were sufficient weirs that no new ones were built subsequently, although there were cases where additional mills were built, which used water from an existing weir. Most of
5568-676: The Great , who was headquartered there while his father was based in nearby York . The Register names the unit as under the command of the " 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. An inscribed altar, dedicated to the Matres by Marcus Nantonius Orbiotalus, was found at St Sepulchre Gate in 1781. This
5684-650: 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,
5800-451: The Levett monopoly. 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
5916-531: The Nether Hammer on the north side of the river, which was first recorded in the 1580s. The forge was sold in 1869, one part to the Midland Railway, and the other to Sandersons, who had six water wheels in 1895, but the works was running on steam power by 1907. In addition to the weir, the head goit is still visible, passing under the railway twice, to disappear into a culverted drain. Brightside weir supplied
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#17328948398096032-758: The Queen's Platinum Jubilee . This has been supported by the Doncaster Labour Group and the Doncaster Conservative Association. All three MPs for Doncaster expressed support for city status, with Don Valley 's Nick Fletcher speaking for it in Parliament. Alongside seven other areas, Doncaster was announced to have succeeded in its bid to gain city status on 20 May 2022 as part of the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II . The city status applies to
6148-519: The River Dearne. This has led to a great improvement in ammonia levels and BOD, further aided by the construction of biological treatment facilities for the processing of industrial effluent in the Doncaster area, while the decline in the steel industry in Sheffield has reduced the discharge of metals into the river. Mining presents a different problem, as the mines have been abandoned, but the pollution continues. Near Penistone , ochre discharged into
6264-517: The River Don. It is used by passenger services on the route from Sheffield to Huddersfield ("The Penistone Line "). It was built in 1850 by Sir John Fowler for the Huddersfield & Sheffield Junction Railway (later the Great Central Railway ). The viaduct suffered a partial collapse in 1916. The viaduct crosses the B6462 Thurgoland to Penistone road as well as the River Don. This is
6380-429: The River Don. The station referred to is the "Oughty Bridge Station" (east of the road bridge) on the former Great Central Railway Company's Sheffield to Manchester route. It opened in 1845 and closed to passengers in 1959. Like most of the upper Don, the river at Oughtibridge appears fairly benign, with it having a small flow and being easily fordable below the weir to the south of the bridge. However, as discussed in
6496-618: The Sheffield to Manchester Railway which opened in 1845. Trains ceased on this section of the line in May 1983. This footbridge is on the Barnsley Boundary Walk, upstream of Tin Mill Dam. It provides a drier alternative to the adjacent set of stepping stones when the river level is high. The bridge has an above-deck truss design and is constructed largely of tubular steel. It was manufactured by Tubewrights Ltd of Newport (Monmouthshire). This
6612-610: The Stainforth and Keadby Canal from railway ownership, to keep them competitive. They acquired the waterways in 1895, but failed to raise sufficient capital for the major improvements they had planned. However, they succeeded in constructing the New Junction Canal from Stainforth to the Aire and Calder Navigation (Knottingley and Goole Canal) west of Goole, which was jointly funded by the Aire and Calder, and opened in 1905. The Dutch River reverted almost entirely to its original drainage function, and Stainforth lock, which connected it to
6728-426: The Stainforth and Keadby Canal, was closed in 1939. Navigation to Sheffield was made possible by the construction of weirs, locks and canal cuttings to avoid circuitous and unnavigable sections of the Don downstream of Tinsley, and then by a canal from Tinsley to Sheffield. The first serious attempts at improvements were authorised by an Act of Parliament obtained in 1726 by Sheffield's Company of Cutlers to make
6844-470: The Town Corn Mill and wheel, which was water powered until 1877, and was the subject of an archaeological investigation in 1999, which uncovered the remains of the wheel pits. Wicker Tilts and wheel was really two works, a grinding wheel known to have been working in 1581, and a tilt forge built in the 1740s. A second tilt was added near Lady's Bridge by 1752. The grinding wheel, which supplied 36 troughs,
6960-403: The building of the railway. The mill housed grinding wheels in 1862, but was used for milling corn in 1934. The dam remains full, overflowing through a culvert which passes beneath the railway. Owlerton Rolling Mill was next, located on the west bank, but was destroyed by fire around 1883. It had been reconstructed by 1907, when steam power assisted the water wheels, and was demolished in 1936. Only
7076-407: The central part of the parish, including the town. Such townships were also made civil parishes in 1866. Doncaster was also an ancient borough , with its earliest known charter dating from 1194. The borough just covered the Doncaster township, although it exerted some authority over a surrounding rural area known as the soke. The borough was reformed to become a municipal borough in 1836 under
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#17328948398097192-640: The conference in Doncaster, UKIP were "now parking our tanks on the Labour Party's lawn", referring to Labour leader Ed Miliband 's Doncaster North constituency. Shortly afterwards in the seat, at the 2015 general election , UKIP won 8,928 votes to Labour's 20,708. In the 2016 membership referendum , 69 per cent of Doncaster voted to leave the European Union. Doncaster forms part of the South Yorkshire Combined Authority , which elects
7308-641: The early 2000s, led primarily by the Catchment Science Centre, based at the University of Sheffield . A comprehensive summary of the river catchment was completed in 2008, describing the key social, economic and environmental characteristics of this historically important urban river and its main tributaries. The River Don, together with its main tributaries, the River Rother and the River Dearne , form
7424-475: The early 50s, while a route through the north Derbyshire hills was opened in the later 1st century, possibly by Governor Gn. Julius Agricola in the late 70s. Doncaster provided an alternative land route between Lincoln and 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
7540-416: The eastern portal of the Woodhead Tunnel , through the Hamlet of Dunford Bridge, and continues, first east and then south-east, on its way to Sheffield. Near Penistone, the river is joined by Scout Dike, which flows from the Ingbirchworth, Royd Moor and Scout Dike reservoirs. The Little Don River or River Porter, on which there are three more reservoirs, joins the Don near Deepcar, while at Wharncliffe Side,
7656-635: The former Labour Party leader , represents Doncaster North , and Lee Pitcher represents the Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme . From 2023 , the Don Valley constituency will be renamed Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme , and will cover part of North Lincolnshire . A new Rawmarsh and Conisbrough constituency will be created covering the south-western suburbs of Doncaster and parts of Rotherham. Doncaster Central and Doncaster North will see minor boundary changes. In September 2014, UKIP held an annual party conference at Doncaster Racecourse . UKIP party leader Nigel Farage claimed that by holding
7772-510: 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. Access to the town was restricted and some officeholders secured charters to collect tolls. In 1605, King James I granted to William Levett of Doncaster, brother of York merchant Percival Levett ,
7888-428: The green belt is to encourage recreation and leisure interests, with rural landscape features, greenfield areas and facilities including the River Don and valley west of Hexthorpe; Hexthorpe Park; Cusworth Hall , museum and country park; Potteric Carr and Huxter Well Marsh; and the Trans Pennine Trail . Doncaster has a maritime climate lacking extreme temperatures, like much of the British Isles. Its low elevation in
8004-431: The head goit. The weir by Station Lane, Oughtibridge served the Upper Middlewood forge, described as a tilt in the sources, as it had a tilt hammer which was raised up and allowed to drop to shape the metal. The weir is in good order, although much of the original structure has been replaced by concrete steps. Next came Middlewood Works, which was a rolling mill and slitting mill, splitting bars of iron into thin strips for
8120-411: The late 19th century for the Dewsbury and Heckmondwike Waterworks Board. Lower Windleden was the first to be completed in 1872, with Upper Windleden following in 1890. Winscar, Snailsden and Harden were all completed in 1899, although Winscar was called Dunford Bridge at the time. A new dam was built at Winscar between 1972 and 1975, and replaced the earlier earth dam. To fit it in, without destroying
8236-512: The lower section contains weirs and locks, designed to maintain water levels for navigation. The Don's major tributaries are the Loxley , the Rivelin , the Sheaf , the Rother and the Dearne . Along the Sheffield–Rotherham stretch of the river are five weirs that punctuate a local walking and cycling route, the Five Weirs Walk . A further walk, the Upper Don Walk , is being developed that will make it possible to walk or cycle from Sheffield city centre up to Oughtibridge . Below Doncaster ,
8352-576: The luxurious, historic gilded 18th-century Mansion House in High Street . This land ownership developed over what is an ancient market place and large buildings were erected in the 19th century, including the Market Hall and 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
8468-511: The main channel of the lower Don originally meandered in a north-easterly direction across the marshland of Hatfield Chase to enter the Trent just above its junction with the Ouse. A second channel flowed to the north, along a Roman channel called Turnbridgedike. The eastern channel formed the boundary between Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. In the Hatfield Level drainage project which started in 1626,
8584-409: The main project. The washlands had insufficient capacity, and in 1632 work started on a new channel, which would run for 5 miles (8.0 km) from Newbridge, near Thorne, eastwards to enter the Ouse at the site of Goole, 9 miles (14 km) upstream of the Trent. Water levels here were between 5 and 10 feet (1.5 and 3.0 m) lower than at Turnbridge. This new channel was called the "Dutch River", and
8700-441: The manufacture of nails. Four water wheels were recorded in the 1820s, and water power was still being uses in 1900. The site was cleared after 1985, but the stone weir, with its nine bays, remains. Beeley Wood or Nova Scotia Tilts was a sizeable operation, with eight water wheels operating in the 1830s, four wheels driving two forges, another two driving the bellows for the forges, and the final two driving two tilt hammers. The works
8816-441: The mill buildings have long since gone, but the weirs remain. All of the weirs on this section of the Don followed a similar pattern, with a weir built at an angle across the river, and a goit or channel leading from the lower edge to a reservoir or dam running parallel to the river. After the works, a tail goit returned water to the river. Water supply to the dam was controlled by shuttles which could be raised to allow water to enter
8932-703: The mouth. The largest city on the river is Sheffield. Settlements with a population of over 10,000 according to the 2001 census are shown in bold . The river's source, tributaries and mouth are in italics . Winscar Reservoir Confluence with Little Don River River Ouse The River Don rises in the Peak District, on Great Grains Moss, a millstone grit moorland area between 1,480 and 1,570 feet (450 and 480 m) above sea level. A series of small streams, including Great Grains and Black Grough join up, and within 1.2 miles (1.9 km) enter Winscar Reservoir. Reaps Dyke rises within 500 yards (460 m) of
9048-631: The navigable section is reached. Walk Mill weir supplied the Upper and Nether Walk mills and wheels. The Nether Walk mill is thought to have been the site of a fulling mill mentioned in 1332, and was still operating as a fulling mill in 1760, when there were also two cutlers wheels at the lower site and one at the upper. The use of water wheels ceased in 1853, and both sites were recorded as the Albion Iron and Steel Works in 1864. Burton Weir supplied Royds mill and wheels, which also operated on two sites, and included
9164-403: The navigation, but although some locks were lengthened around 1910, Long Sandall lock was not, and it was not until 1959 that it was extended to 215 by 22 feet (65.5 by 6.7 m) and trains of 17 compartment boats could work through to Doncaster. The navigation was the subject of one of the last major attempts in the UK to attract commercial freight to the waterways. In 1983, it was upgraded to
9280-433: The north, the suburbs of Bentley, Cusworth , Scawsby , Sunnyfields and Highfields . A short distance to the north in the area of Castle Hills lie the former sites of Hangthwaite Castle and Radcliffe Moat. Don Valley Academy on Jossey Lane is the local secondary school, with a catchment area incorporating Scawthorpe, Bentley, Arksey , Toll Bar and surrounding areas. Sunnyfields and Castle Hills Primary Schools cover
9396-574: The packhorse trail from Leeds to Cheshire. It now forms part of the Trans Pennine Trail . It is listed Grade II by English Heritage. This substantial viaduct conveys the long-distance Trans Pennine Trail across the River Don and its valley which is narrow at this point. The name of the viaduct varies. Barnsley Council sign-boards call this Romticle Viaduct, local newspapers call it Rumtickle Viaduct and 1940s LNER plans call it Romptickle Viaduct. Built in 1844 from local stone, it formed part of
9512-410: The rail network in 1848 and a plant and carriage works for Great Northern Railway was constructed in the town in 1853. The Doncaster Carr rail depot was opened in 1876. 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. Doncaster and surrounding settlements became part of
9628-528: The rest of the UK. The Doncaster skyline is overlooked by the minster in the middle of the city. The Frenchgate Shopping Centre is in a similar position in the skyline, along with the Doncaster College Hub building. After the old Doncaster College and surrounding buildings were demolished, the new Doncaster Civic Office designed by Cartwright Pickard was built for Doncaster Council at a cost of £20 million and completed in 2012. Doncaster lies in
9744-494: The right to levy tolls at Friar's and St Mary's bridges. 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
9860-568: The river from Barnby Dun to Fishlake Ferry, to avoid the shallows at Stainforth and Bramwith. The river was navigable to Rotherham in 1740, and to Tinsley by 1751. Stainforth was connected to the River Trent by the opening on the Stainforth and Keadby Canal in 1802 and to the Aire and Calder Navigation by the New Junction Canal , opened in 1905. There were plans to use compartment boats to carry coal on
9976-406: The river from old ganister mine workings, giving it an orange colour for about six miles, eventually remedied, while at Beeley Wood , the ochre comes from a pile of waste metal on the river bank. A nearby paper mill has also been a significant polluter of the river. Some of the problem has been mitigated by the construction of lagoons, into which mine discharges have been diverted. Water quality on
10092-630: The river navigable from Holmstile in Doncaster to Tinsley , on the edge of Sheffield, and another obtained by the Corporation of Doncaster in 1727 to improve the river below Holmstile, as far as Wilsick House in Barnby Dun. An Act of 1733 created "The Company of the Proprietors of the Navigation of the River Don", and authorised further cuts above Rotherham, while a further Bill of 1740 sought powers to improve
10208-476: The river systems in England. Each is given an overall ecological status, which may be one of five levels: high, good, moderate, poor and bad. There are several components that are used to determine this, including biological status, which looks at the quantity and varieties of invertebrates , angiosperms and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations,
10324-565: The short Rotherham lock. On the night of 26 October 1536, a sudden rise in the level of the River Don prevented the forces of the Pilgrimage of Grace from crossing the river at Doncaster, forcing them to enter into negotiations with Henry VIII's forces. The Great Sheffield Flood , which occurred on 11 March 1864 following the collapse of the Dale Dike Dam on a tributary of the River Loxley, destroyed 800 houses, destroyed or damaged most of
10440-648: The site of the Waterdale car park. The old council house and civic theatre have been demolished and new housing is being built in the town itself, opposite Doncaster Racecourse, and in out-of-town suburbs. During the 19th and 20th centuries, confectioners based in Doncaster included Parkinson's the Butterscotch inventors, Nuttalls Mintoes and Murray Mints. In August 2011, Parkinson's put its 190-year-old trademark up for sale on eBay. The waterways, River Don and Don Navigation were used to transport coal from Doncaster to
10556-486: The site until 1980. Sandbed wheel was built in 1723, and by 1794, there were three water wheels supplying 52 grinding troughs. A steam engine was supplementing the wheels by 1886, but the wheels remained in use until at least 1907. The weir and the shuttles controlling the flow in the head goit remain. Below this, Morton wheels are known to have existed in 1581. The works became the Philadelphia Works around 1807, and
10672-453: The source, and flows in a semicircle to the north, through Snailsden reservoir and Harden reservoir, to flow into another arm of Winscar reservoir. Just 100 yards (91 m) from the source, Withens Brook rises, but flows westwards, to supply the reservoirs of Longdendale and the people of Manchester . To the south of Winscar reservoir, other streams supply Upper Windleden and Lower Windleden reservoirs. All of these reservoirs were built in
10788-451: The southern and northern halves of Scawthorpe respectively. There is a pedestrianised shopping precinct on Crossland Way. Doncaster Doncaster ( / ˈ d ɒ ŋ k ə s t ər , - k æ s -/ DONK -ə-stər, DONK -ast-ər ) is a city in South Yorkshire , England. Named after the River Don , it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough , and
10904-551: The steel production centres at Rotherham , Scunthorpe and Sheffield . River Don, South Yorkshire The River Don (also called River Dun in some stretches) is a river in South Yorkshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire , England. It rises in the Pennines , west of Dunford Bridge , and flows for 69 miles (111 km) eastwards, through the Don Valley, via Penistone , Sheffield , Rotherham , Mexborough , Conisbrough , Doncaster and Stainforth . It originally joined
11020-460: The street name Frenchgate indicates that Fossard invited fellow Normans to trade in the town. Doncaster was ceded to Scotland in the Treaty of Durham and never formally returned to England. With the 13th century, Doncaster matured into a busy town. In 1194 King Richard I granted it national recognition with a town charter . It suffered a disastrous fire in 1204, from which it slowly recovered. At
11136-546: The time, buildings were built of wood, and open fireplaces used for cooking and heating. 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. Some 750 years on, the market continues to operate, with busy traders located under cover, at
11252-589: The towns of Haxey , Epworth and Crowle , and directly south is Harworth Bircotes in Nottinghamshire . Also, within the city's vicinity are Barnsley , Wakefield , Pontefract , Selby , Goole , Scunthorpe , Gainsborough , Retford , Worksop and Rotherham , to which Doncaster is linked by road and rail. As part of the Platinum Jubilee Civic Honours , Doncaster received city status by Letters Patent . A ceremony to confer city status took place at Mansion House on 9 November 2022 as part of
11368-474: The urban area west of the East Coast Line, preventing suburbs such as Sprotbrough , New Edlington , Old Edlington , Scawsby and New Rossington merging. As a result, open rural land can be very close to the town centre at some points (for example the wide undeveloped valley of the River Don is adjacent to the town centre), while at other points the urban sprawl rolls on for up to five miles. Another aim of
11484-407: The village of Dunford Bridge, the dam is built of rock fill, which allows the faces to be much steeper than those of an earth dam, and the inner face is covered with two layers of asphaltic concrete, the first such use of this material on a dam in Britain. The dam is 174 feet (53 m) high and contains around 1,180,000 cubic yards (900,000 m ) of rock fill. Another innovation in its construction
11600-447: The warmest day of the year reaches 29.1 °C (84.4 °F) and 12 or 13 days report a daytime maximum of 25.1 °C (77.2 °F) or above. The lowest known temperature is −13.5 °C (7.7 °F), set during December 1981. Online records only go back to 1960, and lower temperatures may have been recorded earlier. During the 1971–2000 period, an average of 51.9 nights of the year recorded an air frost. Typically 106.9 days of
11716-461: The water in the reservoir. One of many footpath crossings of the Don in the upper part of its course. This path links the A628 (near St Saviour's Church) with Leapings Lane. There is a ford by the side of the footbridge and this can be easily crossed by road vehicles for most of the year. This is a curving 29-arch viaduct which is 980 feet (300 m) long and 98 feet (30 m) high where it crosses
11832-439: The water quality, by reducing the concentration of metals, the ammonia content, and the biological oxygen demand (BOD), which is a measure of the amount of oxygen that is needed by organisms to break down organic matter in the water. Sewage treatment works on the Don, notably those at Cheesebottom, on the west bank of the river at Thurgoland and Blackburn Meadows at Tinsley , have been upgraded, as has that at Darton on
11948-466: The water. Parts of Rotherham and Doncaster were flooded for the second time in 10 days. Two days later, the army were called in to assist at Barnby Dun after the river flooded large areas near Thorpe Marsh Power Station . The Don also burst its banks in November 2019, flooding villages along its course, notably Fishlake . The River Don catchment was the subject of extensive research investigations in
12064-427: The whole metropolitan borough rather than just the built up area of Doncaster. Doncaster formally received the letters patent and became a city when a ceremony took place on 9 November 2022 as part of a royal visit. Doncaster was an ancient parish , which was subdivided into six townships : Balby with Hexthorpe , Langthwaite with Tilts , Long Sandall , Loversall , Wheatley and a Doncaster township covering
12180-459: The year report 1 mm or more of rainfall. Total annual precipitation is slightly below 560 mm (22 in), which is comparable to the driest parts of the UK, due to Doncaster's location in the rain shadow of the Pennines. In the 2011 census the town of Doncaster (identified as the "built-up area subdivision") had a population of 109,805, while the wider " Built-up area " had a population of 158,141. The Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster had
12296-503: Was a company that specialised in the fabrication of tubular steel structures. It had other factories in London, Liverpool and Glasgow and was in business from 1899 until 1981. In 1961, the company employed 1,200 people. This pre-fabricated design of footbridge was popular in the years immediately after World War II and examples can be found all over Britain. Station Lane bridge carries the unclassified road from Oughtibridge to Grenoside over
12412-430: Was abolished in 1974 and replaced by the larger Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster , which also took in the abolished urban districts of Adwick le Street , Bentley with Arksey , Conisbrough , Mexborough , Tickhill , the rural districts of Doncaster and Thorne , and (from Nottinghamshire) the parish of Finningley and part of the parish of Harworth (the latter being added to the parish of Bawtry ). The borough
12528-477: Was described as a forge, and a high pressure steam engine was operational in 1855, to supplement the 15-foot (4.6 m) water wheel. The dams were out of use by 1892, and parts of the site are now occupied by Hillsborough Football Stadium . Near the tail goit of the Wadsley works, the Don was joined by a small tributary, on which was located Rawsons Mill or Bark Mill . The mill building was separated from its dam by
12644-499: Was donated to the Yorkshire Museum in 1856. Doncaster is generally identified with Cair Daun listed as one of 28 British cities in the 9th-century History of the Britons traditionally ascribed to Nennius . It was certainly an Anglo-Saxon burh , and in that period received its present name: "Don-" ( Old English : Donne ) from the settlement and river and "-caster" ( -ceaster ) from an Old English version of
12760-428: Was finished in 1635, at a cost of £33,000. It ended in a sluice at Goole, and was never intended to be navigable, as boats could access the Aire at Turnbridge. The sluice was later swept away in a flood and never replaced. The Dutch River was difficult to navigate, made more hazardous by shoals, three awkward bridges, and low water levels at neap tides. With the opening of the Stainforth and Keadby Canal in 1802, from
12876-524: Was later connected to the tail goit. Wadsley Furnace was also located in this area. It was built for the Earl of Shrewsbury by 1583, but the blast furnace is thought to have been defunct by the 1670s. The final works in this section was Wadsley Forge or Wardsend Steel Works, which was operational from 1581 to the late 19th century, although the precise function varied. In 1819, there were two wheels supplying power to 69 troughs, where blades were ground. By 1849, it
12992-408: Was raised to city status in 2022. Doncaster is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire and the largest metropolitan district in England by area . It expanded dramatically in population with the development of coal mining. Closure of coal mines in the 1970s and early 1980s caused economic difficulties; the town then developed its service industry , drawing on the good communication links with
13108-409: Was recorded as derelict by 1895. In February 2016 the Environment Agency removed the middle two-thirds of Beeley Wood Lower Weir as part of a scheme to allow the free migration of fish and let the river return to a more natural form. The next works was Hawksley or Clay Wheels which employed 54 men in 1794, and was still using water power in 1895. The site was used to make scythes until after 1941, when
13224-456: Was replaced by a wire mill in the 1870s, and was still using water power in 1895, by which time the tilts were using steam power. The weir was close to Lady's Bridge, and the head goit flowed through one of the arches of the bridge. It is thought that there are several goits in culverts near Blonk Street, but their exact extent is unknown. The culverted Porter Brook joins the River Sheaf , which
13340-416: Was surveyed in 1855, by which time the works had become Niagara Works. It was recorded as a forge which was still using water power in 1907. The weir remains, together with the shuttles which controlled the flow into the head goit, although the channel itself has been built over. Wadsley Bridge corn mill, which became a forge around 1800, originally took its water supply from the head goit of the paper mill, but
13456-554: Was the use of a hydraulic jump pool at the foot of the overflow chute, which dissipates the energy of the cascading water. The reservoir supplies drinking water to the Calder Valley, some 12 miles (19 km) to the north, and is also the base for Pennine Sailing Club, who offer basic training in sailing skills, on courses certified by the Royal Yachting Association . The Don flows from the foot of Winscar Dam, close to
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