TRUST TOPICS Doncaster Civic Trust Newsletter ©

Issue No. 65 February 2019

Contents

Page 2 Viking Street Names

Page 3 Members’ News: Events The Trust needs your help

Pages 4-8 John Butterfield, Doncaster Designer The Market Hall Page 8 Heritage Plaques: Criteria

Page 9-10 Education Initiatives: Past, Present & Future

Page 11 Planning Matters

Page 12 The Back Page: A Winter Stroll 2019 Heritage Walks

The Guildhall, Frenchgate Image: Postcard by E L Scrivens

John Butterfield 1800 -1875 Designer of some of the town’s most important buildings

Doncaster Civic Trust : Founded in 1946 website: www.doncastercivictrust.org.uk email: [email protected] telephone: 01302 538225 Registered Charity No. 508674

1 The Long and Winding Road, or What have the Vikings ever done for us?

When I was a child in a small mining village (many decades ago), a trip to the seaside was a real event. It happened perhaps once or twice a year, usually by coach, laid on by the Miners’ Welfare Club. And I remember that the journey was a long one - a couple of hours, maybe?

So, how is it that the reverse journey - from the seaside to the Doncaster area - seems to have been so easy for one of Doncaster’s most prolific visitors, the Vikings?

We do have a lovely river, which is still navigable today. But surely it must have been a pretty large waterway a thousand or so years ago, to entice so many Viking boats along it. And how do we know there was a lot of Viking traffic in this region? Well, as Shakespeare wrote: “What’s in a name?”

If you look at a map of central Doncaster, notice how many gates there apparently were into the town. Marshgate, Frenchgate, Low , High Fishergate, St George Gate, Baxtergate (or Baker Street), St Sepulchre Gate, Hall Gate, East Laith Gate, West Laith Gate. Have I missed any? Clearly a small town doesn’t need such a lot of gates, but these were not gates as we know the word today. In the modern day Scandinavian languages, the word “gata” simply means “street”. Look at a map of , that famous Viking settlement of Jorvik, and you will see , , Fishergate, and many more

Although we do have a lot of “gates” in Doncaster, the beginning of the street name is sometimes blatantly derived from Latin. This gives us an odd mix of Roman and Viking in one street name.

Leaving the town centre behind, if we look at our village names, we find many another link to Viking visitors. Here are three present day Swedish words to think about:

“by” = “village”, “torp” = “farmstead”, and “borg” = “stronghold”

Can you find these words in the Doncaster area? My own list starts with Balby, Denaby, Cadeby, and Barnby Dun. Then Armthorpe, Thorpe in Balne, Scawthorpe, Hexthorpe. Then a smattering of “borg” names, all very close to each other: Sprotbrough, Mexborough, Conisbrough, and Barnburgh. Although the “villages” and “farms” are well spread out, as you would expect, I wondered at first why there should be so many fortified buildings to give us a lot of “strongholds” in a small area. Now I think that perhaps it was a case of Sprot-next-the-castle and Mex-next-the- castle. The castle, of course, is Conisbrough. Present day Swedish would say “Konungensborg” or “The King’s Castle”. Incidentally, our present reigning monarch has a title which derives from the Vikings. We do not use their word for “the king’s wife” or a reigning female, which is “drottning”. Nor do we routinely use the Roman form “regina”. Instead we call Elizabeth II “Queen”, which derives from “kvinna”, the Swedish word for “woman”.

Back to the place names: it’s interesting to follow the trail on a map to other parts of the country. For instance, looking further afield, there is a Baxtergate, which means Baker Street (along with other “-gates”) in Whitby. Note the name, Whit by . And there is another Baxtergate in Loughborough, which also has various other “-gates”. And, yes, Loughborough is a long way inland. But it is called Lough borough.

Those Vikings really got around, didn’t they? Chris Andrews 2 Members’ News Winter Programme 2019

All events will take place at St Peter’s RC Church Hall, Chequer Road.

All on Thursdays at 7.30 pm and please now enter by the front door.

2019

14 February Ian Stevenson on “Place Names”

14 March Valerie and Michael Oxley and Julia Colver on “Life at Firbeck Hall in the Eighteenth Century”

11 April Ruth Garratt on “The Canal and River Trust”

The Trust needs your help: We need a new Magazine Editor and Executive Committee Members

Over the past few years the Trust has expanded its activities to include Heritage Walks, an extensive Education Programme and revived tree planting activities. At the same time we have continued with our usual planning role and a programme of speakers. We have also commissioned a video about our work. Membership levels are much higher than 5 years ago. So we are very busy.

But we are having problems. Several people are doing too many jobs. We need more volunteers to help us. As a start to resolving the difficulties we would like someone to take over the editing of Trust Topics. Many societies have abandoned magazines such as ours which are sent to every member, but we know that Trust Topics is very popular and we wish to continue with it.

We will show you what to do but you will need some computer skills and, of course, a computer, an email address and an internet connection. The role currently includes sending out the magazine too but we are looking at contracting out that element.

So, if you are interested, please contact the Secretary, Archie Sinclair on 538225 or the Membership Secretary, Peter Coote on 532202, or e-mail us at the address below. We hope to hear from you.

Another problem is that the numbers on our Executive Committee are falling. We have had 2 resignations recently and no volunteers have come forward to take their places. The Committee now has 16 members. It meets every 2 months. If you might be interested please let us know. We can send an example of a copy of the minutes to give you some idea of the topics we cover. Volunteering for the Executive is interesting and not onerous.

We are very keen to bring in new faces to the Executive, where they can learn how the Trust operates. One day they may feel ready to take on a bigger role as one of the Trust’s officers.

Trust Topics is edited by: Archie Sinclair, 43 Ellers Avenue, Bessacarr, Doncaster DN4 7DY email: [email protected] telephone: 01302 538225 3 Doncaster Architects No 10: John Butterfield, the Corporation Steward

John Butterfield did not claim to be an architect but he did have a major impact on early Victorian Doncaster by designing the town’s most important public buildings.

He was born in Horsforth near Leeds on 18th August 1800. His father, also called John, was a carpenter. By 1819 the family had moved to Doncaster but we know nothing more for nearly 20 years. By 1838 John Butterfield the younger seems to have been self-employed because he was asked by Doncaster Corporation in September of that year to value timber at Rossington for £60. In January 1839 he was described as a ‘respected valuer of trees’. Only a few weeks later Butterfield became an employee of the Corporation when he was appointed to ‘manage the estates and woods and to superintend the different works and workmen of the Corporation’. Shortly afterwards he was also appointed bailiff. Later he was referred to as the Steward as well as the Surveyor. In this article we will look only at his architectural work.

First Work In 1840 the Corporation instructed that two cottages should be built at the brickyard at Sandall, one at each entrance, under John Butterfield’s direction. It seems possible that he designed the cottages as his first work. (The site is now Sandall Park.)

The Markets and the Guildhall In 1837 the Corporation decided that the market needed to be modernised. Improvements had been made piecemeal; trade was falling with the decline of the coaching trade and with no main line railway. Despite their concern it was not until 1840 that they had all the market and surrounding streets surveyed with a view to formulating an improvement plan. Various options were considered over the next few years. Then, in 1843, a decision was made to replace the open-air Corn Market. Local architects Hurst and Moffatt submitted plans for a new covered Corn Market but these were rejected. Instead, John Butterfield was asked to design it. The building was open on three sides with iron pillars supporting a glass and slate roof and was described as looking like a railway station. In 1845 the Corporation paid him £20 for a ‘very able and efficient plan’ and congratulated themselves that they had saved the cost of an architect. (The building was located near what was later the Irish Market.)

The new Market House or Market Hall as built in 1849

4 Plans now moved forward for the re-development of the rest of the market. The Corporation decided to erect a market hall for meat, poultry, butter, fish and vegetables. Apart from the clearance of most of the old market buildings it also involved the demolition of the Town Hall which had been in the Market Place for 300 years. Butterfield was instructed to prepare plans for the new market building and a new Town Hall. He visited markets in at least five other places including Newcastle, Liverpool and Birkenhead to ‘ensure the best possible construction’.

The new market was described as being of rusticated ashlar stone, with each doorway being decorated with 4 pilasters and windows having circular heads. Inside, the stalls were arranged back to back to deter pick-pockets. The building, which opened in 1849, is still in use as our food market today, although it has lost some ornamentation including the figure of Ceres, a Roman goddess, which stood over an entrance until 1951.

The New Town Hall In 1847 the Town Hall was built in Frenchgate. It soon became known as the Guildhall, although the town’s guilds were no longer in existence. It was a fine neo-classical building with a portico in antis supported by four massive Corinthian columns and it was Butterfield’s masterpiece.

For providing this building and the Market Hall he was given an increase in salary and a gratuity of 100 guineas. Gradually the Guildhall became more of a centre for law and order rather than a Town Hall.

The Guildhall, Frenchgate, Doncaster, 1847 (Courtesy of Heritage Doncaster)

This Grade 2 building was demolished in 1968 despite objections from the Victorian Society and this Trust who suggested the portico be retained. The Marks and Spencer’s store now stands on the site.

Personal Life In 1841 John Butterfield lived in Spring Gardens but he moved to the Horse Fair in the early 1850s and stayed there for the rest of his life. He lived with his mother until her death in 1855. He never married.

Other Buildings

In 1853 the Corporation re-built the Neatherd’s House on Bawtry Road. They wanted it to be ornamental as it stood on the main road where everyone would see it. Butterfield designed it.

Later it became the club house for the Town Moor Golf Club. The building was demolished when the Dome was constructed.

Neatherd’s House, Bawtry Road, Doncaster 1853 (E Braim)

5 John Butterfield designed an impressive double (and stone) fronted house in Regent Square in 1860.

This was for Charles Hatfield, who is remembered today as the author of ‘Historical Notices of Doncaster’.

The house was originally called Hall Cross Villa. This later became Rockcliffe. Today it is still a private house and one of the finest in the Square.

Rockcliffe, Regent Square, Doncaster, 1860

Stocks’s Charity had once owned almshouses on Factory Lane but these had been demolished by the Great Northern Railway in 1850 and the charity was in abeyance.

In 1860, Alderman John Hatfield, the Mayor, was keen to revive it. He worked with the Council and the Vicar to build some new almshouses at Holmes Market. The railway paid for four houses and the Mayor for two more. The latter were for 'the use of decayed servants of the corporation or their widows'. Butterfield designed the neo-Elizabethan almshouses. They were demolished for road widening in the 1960s. Almshouses, Holmes Market, Doncaster 1860

A Return to the Market

By the 1860s the railways had increased trade at the Market dramatically. Corn, cattle and wool were coming from the east of town to supply the large towns to the west. For the Corporation, in 1862, John Butterfield designed the Wool Market with its cast iron columns and slate roof with glass rooflights. Inside it had sheep pens. It opened in 1868 and was extended in 1870.

It still stands today and its refurbishment is almost complete. Wool Market, Doncaster, 1868-70 6 However Butterfield’s plans to modernise his Corn Market by extending it and enclosing it mainly in glass in 1861 did not go ahead.

As trade grew the Corporation discussed expanding the general market. In 1865 they proposed to build a south wing to the Market Hall to match the one on the north on a plan submitted by Butterfield earlier. In 1866 William Watkins of Lincoln won an architectural competition to design a new Corn Exchange, a new wing to the Market House, a vegetable market and a slaughterhouse. The new wing to the Market Hall, probably built in 1869, matched the original northern wing.

The carvings on the Corn Exchange include depictions of the Guildhall (top left) and Mansion House (top right). (Reproduced with the permission of Bob Speel) The impressive Corn Exchange was built to replace Butterfield’s now outdated Corn Market. It was started in 1870 and fitted in between the wings of the Market Hall. There are some detailed carvings on the façade of the Corn Exchange which includes a depiction of Butterfield’s Guildhall.

The Mansion House

In January 1863 Butterfield was asked to prepare a plan for a ‘passage from the Supper Room to the Drawing Room’ at the Mansion House. Until then there had been only one route out of the Supper or Banqueting Room to the Ballroom and staircase. Butterfield was to provide an alternative. The plans were approved in August but they were far more than just a passage.

In fact a ‘Balcony Room’ was created overlooking the grand staircase. This was achieved by the removal of James Paine’s original Venetian window with a replacement inserted further back in a newly created rear wall. The room is in a convincing Georgian style and integrates remarkably well with the rest of the Mansion House. (The window was replaced by the superb Peace Window in 1986).

The “Balcony Room” at Doncaster Mansion House, 1863 (Colin Barnes & Friends of Doncaster Mansion House)

The back of the building is also of some interest. Although it has since been partly altered, the structure was originally fully open on the ground floor, supported by four iron pillars, built in the manner of the Corn Market of 20 years earlier.

John Butterfield probably retired from many of his duties in late 1863. Thomas Anelay, who had been appointed as his deputy the year before, became Corporation Surveyor in December. Anelay may have been involved in the design of the Mansion House extension. Butterfield was now the Land Agent.

7 Another Project---The Cottages at Long Sandall

In May 1868 the Corporation stated ‘that four new cottages according to plans by Mr Butterfield and Mr Anelay be built at Sandall’. However only John Butterfield’s name appears on the builder’s contract dated 1st June 1869. They are his last known buildings still standing. They are quite distinctive with bargeboards and elaborate chimney stacks. In 1876 historian Charles Hatfield referred to the cottages ‘as the ones put up by the late Steward who did things to a superlative degree’. They fell derelict in the late 20th century but were sold by the Council about 25 years ago and have since been restored. Two pairs of cottages at Long Sandall, 1869

Obituary

John Butterfield died in 1875. His obituary said ‘Mr Butterfield was a man of no common order, and, had the opportunities of improving his education in youth been greater, there can be no doubt that he might have achieved high eminence in several professions to which he only gave a passing notice’.

There may well be other work by Butterfield that I have not discovered. Also space precludes a discussion on the alterations he made to Belle Vue House (1856); 1, Priory Place (1859) and the Grandstand (1861).

John Butterfield may not be well known but the importance of his surviving buildings is recognised today as all are listed or in a conservation area. Peter Coote

This article has drawn on unpublished notes by the late Eric Braim. I would like to thank Jill Saxby, John Holmes and Alan Dickman for their help with much more additional information. Thank you also to Owen Evans for providing the Mansion House photo.

Heritage Plaques : The Criteria and More Women

We occasionally get requests or suggestions for additional heritage plaques. When they were first put up, we had an understanding about the criteria we used. In 2017, I set these out, to help us to assess any future requests. They were:

Plaques should be attached to historic buildings, still standing

Buildings should be in Doncaster Town Centre, within walking distance of the existing plaques

Plaques should be easily read from the footway or street

Wording on plaques could include the building’s: name, use, date, architect, important occupants and significant events

Another issue has now been raised. Few plaques, nationally, as well as here, commemorate the lives and achievements of women. Is there an opportunity to address this imbalance? And can you suggest any candidates and buildings that might fit the criteria? Archie Sinclair 8 Education InitiaInitiativestives : Past, Present and Future

The 2018 primary schools architecture competition in November was the fifth time we have held this annual event and it made us think about how effective the Trust’s efforts have been over the years. If it is a question of numbers then it looks quite impressive. We calculate that the competition has reached over 750 children from 15 schools. The competition has also engaged around 350 Masters architecture and urban design students and thus made a major contribution to their education. We have had plenty of positive feedback from kids and teachers who say that the competition is fun and educationally relevant. And our friends at the University see the competition as an important component of architectural training in their syllabus. We are also delighted to report that Doncaster Council through its education team at Heritage Doncaster is committed to working with us to deliver future competition days. They bring a lot of energy and expertise to our project.

Trust Chairman John Holmes with the prize-winners from St Alban’s Catholic Primary School, Denaby Main

Last year’s event once again was hosted by the Council, the Trust and Friends of the Mansion House. Teams from 6 schools competed for the Eric Braim Prize, won by a team of year 5 children from St Alban's Catholic Primary School, Denaby Main. The judges were very impressed by the thoughtful and creative architecture produced by the children on the theme of designing a new art gallery and museum.

Keep an eye on our website for the launch of a film of the Design Challenge day produced by Trust member and Doncaster film-maker, Mark Waterhouse.

Bursary

2018 also saw the launch of Round 6 of our Bursary Scheme. Since 2012, the Trust has supported 8 local students studying architecture, town planning, landscape architecture and building conservation. They have found the bursary very helpful, as Maria testifies: ‘I received a bursary from Doncaster Civic Trust to help support me in the second year of my studies for an MSc in Building Conservation and Adaptation at University of Central Lancashire. I was travelling to Preston once a week and working part-time around my studies. Being a mature student, returning to studying was quite a big and daunting decision with large financial implications.

9 I used the grant for the purchase of books and train tickets to university and a number of CPD courses offered by Historic England and other bodies; events that I would not otherwise have been able to attend.

Of particular interest was a workshop run by Nigel Copsey (Earth, Stone and Lime) on hot-mixed lime mortars and the research coming from the University of Bath and a Membership Training event by the IHBC. Since then I have joined the buildings lime forum and am hoping to engage with conservation on a national level. I found both really helped supplement my studies and introduced me to other people in the sector.

I would like to take this opportunity to wholeheartedly thank Doncaster Civic Trust for their support and it is commendable that they have such a grant for the people of Doncaster.’

And we do get something in return. Three of our bursary students have made useful contributions to the Education Committee’s work and one, Rachel Berry, has become a permanent member of the Committee.

Meet Kayla Boland

During 2018 we have been working with York University to set up another Mansion House studentship. Our last student, George Norton, was a pleasure to work with and a very creative and hard-working person who produced some very useful educational material for the Mansion House.

In early December and through the wonders of Skype we interviewed Kayla Boland from Seattle. The panel, made up of representatives from the Trust and Friends of the Mansion House, were happy to appoint Kayla to produce further education and information material for the Mansion House. During her time with us she will be working closely with Dr Brian Barber who many will know as the author of ‘A History of Doncaster’ and former Chief Archivist for the Borough. Members will have plenty of opportunity to meet Kayla on Mansion House open days and find out how her work will benefit the Trust’s educational ambitions.

Kayla Boland. University of York

The Doncaster Council Link

Also during 2018 we have been talking to the Heritage Doncaster education team who are interested in working with the Trust to deliver our education initiatives in local schools. This could be a great opportunity for us to work with education specialists to revive interest in our Doncaster Toolkit produced by Sheffield School of Architecture in 2014. Our plans so far are to set up a pilot project with a small number of schools to test the effectiveness of the new relationship. If this is found to be successful, we will be thinking about rolling-out a longer-term initiative to work in local schools. Through the architecture competition event we have made useful contacts with schools which feel they will benefit from the Trust’s education initiatives.

If you have any questions or thoughts on the Trust’s education programme please contact Jeff Prior at [email protected] Jeff Prior

10 Planning Matters

Every month the Trust peruses planning applications affecting listed buildings, conservation areas and important development schemes. We object to some of these or suggest improvements. At the end of the year we review our successes to see where we have made a difference. This year we were pleased to see that we had a 75% success rate.

Since the last Trust Topics we have met four times looking at a variety of applications affecting our historic environment. Here are a few of them:

1. Three for Listed Buildings: (a) Harworth House, Bawtry Members familiar with Bawtry will know of this house situated on Harworth Place. It has been empty for very many years. We welcomed a proposal to renovate this important historic building but felt the application was lacking in sufficient detail on the proposals for doors, windows and materials including a new extension. This was an important application for a large listed house.

(b) Old Vicarage, Thorne This house too had been empty for a long time. We were very keen to see it brought back into use. There had been a previous application to turn the house into apartments with an extension in the garden which had been granted but never implemented. This new application increased the number of apartments partly by building a larger extension. We objected to this because the proposed extension was of an inappropriate design and was too large. It would have a serious impact on the main house. It needed a re-design. Alternatively the extension approved in 2018 could be implemented.

(c)The Goose, Hall Gate This listed building was one still in use. The application was to refurbish this town centre pub, re- naming it the Slug and Lettuce. Although we were disappointed with the change of name, the Goose is not a historic name anyway. We had no objections to the re-furbishment of the interior as it had little historic fabric remaining. We were more concerned with the proposals for the exterior. We thought that the proposed awnings over the front ground floor windows detracted from the building’s architectural character, and would obscure the view of the attractive voussoirs above the windows when seen from the footway. Some of the signage was inappropriate too on both the Hall Gate and Wood Street frontages. The Planning Authority agreed with most of our views and the awnings proposal was dropped.

2. Apartments in the Park We had previously commented on an application to build apartments in the grounds of Elmfield Park on the site of two derelict buildings. We did not object to the principle but we were disappointed with the proposals with no landscaping and poor access. We were advised by the Council of proposed amendments to this scheme in January. Unfortunately the scheme was even worse than before. Although there was now a landscape plan, the apartments were now of a poorer design, the access issue was unresolved and there were no details of the perimeter fencing. We said that the relationship between the park and its new building needed to be resolved.

3. The Oval, Bessacarr The Oval is an interesting road with lots of character. We reviewed an outline application in October which proposed a pair of semi-detached houses to be built between two of the existing properties. We felt this was over-development and detrimental to the character of the Oval. Fortunately the application was refused. Planning and Conservation Sub Committee 11 The Back Page : Recent & Planned Walks

A Winter Stroll : Christmas, Dickens and Doncaster

On 17th November 2018 I joined around 20 other people for the first of three festive tours of the town. Our guides were Andy and Steve, the latter being dressed as Charles Dickens. We started at the Mansion House where we listened to Andy relate how Christmas celebrations evolved up to the Victorian period. Steve then told us about the life of Dickens as a writer and why he is associated with Christmas. At various stops on the tour we were told more about Dickens and particularly his connection with Doncaster as well as stories of the town around this time of year. Steve Kimber became Dickens at the Mansion House I noticed that our guides were not put off by noise or a heckler who shouted ‘Bah! Humbug!’

The tour was most enjoyable with all the narratives interwoven with each other. It was a nice atmosphere too, as the Christmas lights were being switched on that day. Peter Coote

Heritage Walks Programme 2019

Doncaster Heritage Festival

Each year Doncaster celebrates its rich cultural history with a fortnight of special events throughout the borough. For 2019 the Festival will be held from Saturday 4th May 2019 to Sunday 19th May 2019. Full details can be found at www.heritagedoncaster.org.uk/festival

Doncaster Civic Trust’s contribution to the 2019 Heritage Festival is a programme of 3 guided walks each lasting about 3 hours. The cost is £5 per head and bookings can be made by telephoning the Tourist Information Centre on 01302 734309 or by emailing [email protected]

The walks will be led by Steve Kimber and Andy Ward who have already taken over 1,620 guests on various Doncaster Heritage Walks over the last eight years.

The Three Walks for Spring 2019 are:

Sunday 5th May at 10.30 am : “From Romans to Racing” Meet at the south door, Doncaster Minster DN1 1RD

Sunday 12th May at 2 pm : Bawtry – a 12th Century Port Meet at Cooplands, 1 Scot Lane, Bawtry DN10 6JT

Sunday 19th May at 2 pm : Tickhill and its Castle Meet at the Methodist Church, Northgate, Tickhill DN11 9HZ

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