Doncaster Local Plan: Archaeological Scoping Assessment Allocation Reference: 601 Area (Ha): 41.41 Allocation Type: Housing/Employment NGR (centre): SE 5926 0563 Site Name: Former McCormick Tractors Intl, Wheatley Settlement: Doncaster Urban Area Allocation Recommendations Archaeological significance of site Unknown Historic landscape significance Negligible Suitability of site for allocation Uncertain archaeological constraint Summary Within site Within buffer zone Scheduled Monument - - Listed Building - - SMR record/event 1 record 2 records Cropmark/Lidar evidence Yes Yes Cartographic features of interest Yes Yes Estimated sub-surface disturbance Partial n/a www.archeritage.co.uk Page 1 of 4 Doncaster Local Plan: Archaeological Scoping Assessment Allocation Reference: 601 Area (Ha): 41.41 Allocation Type: Housing/Employment NGR (centre): SE 5926 0563 Site Name: Former McCormick Tractors Intl, Wheatley Settlement: Doncaster Urban Area Site assessment Known assets/character: The SMR records one monument within the site and one findspot within the buffer zone. The monument is Wheatley Hall Park, an ornamental landscape park associated with Wheatley Hall, which was built in 1683 and demolished in 1938. The park covered 103 acres by 1854, and included pleasure grounds to the north of the hall and the main landscape park to the south and southeast. The sites of the hall, the hall farm and the pleasure grounds (‘The Grove’) all lie within the site. The findspot was of a Roman coin, though its location is poorly provenanced and it may not have come from within the buffer. No Scheduled Monuments or listed buildings are recorded within the site or buffer. The Magnesian Limestone in South and West Yorkshire Aerial Photographic Mapping Project recorded a small area of ridge and furrow remains at the southeast edge of the site and further earthwork ridge and furrow to the east within the buffer. These were recorded from a photograph dating to 1950, and the areas have since been developed. Historic Environment Characterisation records the present character of the eastern part of the site as an area of mixed industrial use, including the main plant of a tractor works (now demolished), as well as smaller works and yards. Most of this area was developed in the mid-20th century and there is no legibility of the former character of regular fields enclosed by Parliamentary Award in 1771. The western side of the site is also industrial works, including more of the tractor works, on the site of the former Wheatley Park, briefly used as golf course in the early 20th century. Within the centre of this area is a further polygon, of the same present character but marking the site of the former Wheatley Hall, built in 1683, probably on the site of an earlier manor house. Wheatley Farm, to the east of the hall, was also within this polygon, and was shown on the 1854 map. One farm building survived at the time of the HEC project, but may have since been demolished. Other character zones within the buffer include drained wetland at Bentley Ings to the north of the Don, a retail park and social housing estates to the southeast, a sewage works to the east, and a sports ground to the southwest. The majority of the site is currently vacant land cleared of works buildings, with an area of rough grass and scrub to the northeast and some surviving works buildings or warehouses in the southwest part of the site. The northern boundary is formed by the River Don, and the southern boundary by Wheatley Hall Road. Cartographic/historic land use assessment: The 1854 map shows the western part of the site containing Wheatley Hall at its western end, with Wheatley Farm to the east. The hall was surrounded by pleasure grounds called 'The Grove'. The eastern part of the site was several fields, with Don Bank Plantation in the northeast tip. The old course of the River Don ran through the northern side of the site, on a more meandering course than the Don New Cut to the north. An area labelled 'Wheatley Ford' to the northeast of the farm, may be an old river crossing place. The 1892 map showed a boat house at the point where the old and new courses of the river intersected, north of the farm. By 1907, some of the field boundaries within the eastern side of the site had been removed to create larger units. The 1930 map showed the boat house site as a sheepwash. The hall was still standing at that date, but had been demolished by 1939, when construction of Wheatley Hall Road had begun along the southern boundary of the site. The Grove and Wheatley Farm were still shown within the western part of the site, and the eastern part was still fields. By 1956, the eastern part of the site was occupied by three large works buildings, labelled Automobile Factory, whilst the western side contained numerous smaller buildings at the northern side and probable works buildings to the south, including five parallel narrow, linear buildings. A works railway ran along the southern edge of the site. The 1968 map showed the numerous small structures in the western side as set amongst trees within a grid- pattern track layout to the north, up to the edge of the Old River Don course. The layout suggests these may have been part of a barracks or similar military site established during the Second World War, but they are never labelled. The 1982-93 map showed the main factory buildings in the eastern half of the site, with a spoil heap or www.archeritage.co.uk Page 2 of 4 Doncaster Local Plan: Archaeological Scoping Assessment refuse dump to the northeast of the buildings. The smaller factory buildings to the south of the western part of the site were still shown, though the smaller buildings to the north had been demolished and new works buildings shown in their location. Loops of the old course of the River Don were still visible as watercourses, possibly ponds, at the northeast and northwest sides of the site. Within the buffer, the 1854 map showed Wheatley Park to the southwest of the site, and regular fields to the south and east. The River Don New Cut and a parallel channel called The Flood Drain ran to the immediate north of the site, with the Great Northern and Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire railway running roughly parallel to the north. In 1894 and 1906, an area of fields at the east of the buffer was labelled 'Sewage Farm', with no structures shown within it. The 1956 map showed the remnant of the Grove to the west of the site, and a sports ground east of it. Electrical Engineering and Clothing factories were shown to the south of Wheatley Hall Road and a large sewage works at the eastern edge of the buffer. By 1968, the Grove was no longer shown and the area was labelled 'Sports Field'. Allotment gardens were shown to the immediate east of the site at that date. Further development took place to the south of Wheatley Hall Road, including works and housing, by 1982. Survival: Some of the surviving works buildings on the site (in 2015) appear to date from the 1950s, and may be of some historic interest. The HEC record for the site states that one of the buildings of Wheatley Hall Farm survived within this area, but it has not been possible to establish this from the map and aerial evidence. The construction of the factories is likely to have had a substantial impact on buried remains, though the depth of disturbance across the site is unknown. There is the potential for the survival of buried remains associated with Wheatley Hall and Wheatley Farm within the western part of the site. The potential for earlier remains is unknown; the site contains the old course of the River Don, and is in an area that was liable to flooding in the historic period, and may not have been a suitable area for habitation. The location suggests that there is the potential for deep alluvial sequences, which could contain palaeoenvironmental and organic remains, as well as the potential for the preservation of palaeochannels, and remains of human activity associated with the exploitation of the riverine environment. A ford was recorded within the site on the 1854 map, and this may have been a long-established crossing point. Further investigations: Further archaeological investigations are likely to be required if the site is allocated for development. This should include an assessment of the historic significance of any standing buildings remaining on the site. Significance: Unknown. Aerial Photographs & Lidar Summary: The 2002 aerial photograph shows the site occupied by works buildings in a similar layout to the 1992 map, the buildings at the southwest side being the five parallel linear buildings first shown in 1956. The northeast tip of the site was shown as rough grass, with part of the area used for storage of materials. Loops of the old course of the River Don are shown at the northeast and northwest sides of the site. By 2009 some of the works buildings at the northern and eastern sides of the site had been demolished, and the 2015 image showed all of the central and eastern half cleared, with some of the 1950s buildings towards the southwest side still standing. Lidar data shows the course of the old River Don at the northeast and northwest corners of the site. The land at the northeast corner is shown as uneven and slightly raised, and may have been landscaped after the refuse dump was removed.