Memorial Edition A Yorkshire Town: The Making of Doncaster History, Buildings & People by Derek and Enid Holland Copyright Copyright © Sarah Holland All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the copyright holder. First published 2012. i Dedication The origins of this book are rooted in the work of my late parents, Derek and Enid. Together they explored and researched the history of Doncaster. Their discoveries most often appeared in the classroom, as they shared their knowledge with children and adults alike. They had the vision to conceive and write a book that embraced the story of Doncaster's past - the making of a Yorkshire town. Unfortunately they both died before the book could be published and therefore did not see their dream become reality. This ebook is about making that dream happen in the memory of two Doncastrians. Technology has played a great role in achieving this, but so has the hard work of Louise Robinson and myself in transforming the text in to a digital form. However, the text itself is based wholly on the finished manuscript they left, and as such inevitably cannot account for more recent developments in the town. ii I hope this book inspires you, as did the work of Enid and Derek inspired so many in their lifetimes. My own interest in history was fostered by their enthusiasm and the many enjoyable journeys into the past we shared as a family. Sarah Holland August 2012 iii About the authors Derek Holland Derek was a passionate historian who specialised in buildings, landscapes and social history. He was educated at schools in Doncaster and at the University of Nottingham. Upon qualification he began a career in adult education, both as tutor and as an organising tutor for the Workers’ Educational Association in South Yorkshire. He never tired of sharing his wealth of knowledge with other people, and inspiring them to explore the heritage on their doorstep and further afield. In addition he encouraged several groups to research and publish local history projects. Enid Holland Enid was an enthusiastic teacher who kindled a love of learning in those she taught. She was educated in schools in Wharncliffe Side and Penistone, and at Derby Diocesan Teachers’ Training College. She qualified as a teacher with a Certificate of Education from the University of Nottingham. She went on to teach at Primary Schools in Stocksbridge, Nottingham and Tickhill. Enid was also the Secretary of the Doncaster Branch of the W.E.A. iv A selection of other Published Books and Articles by Derek Holland Warmsworth in the 18th Century: Population Change, Agriculture, and Quarrying in a Rural South Yorkshire Community (Doncaster, 1965) "An Edlington Account Book of the Early 18th Century", in South Yorkshire Historian, 2 (1973) Bawtry and the Idle River Trade (2nd edn.; Doncaster, 1976) "Made in Doncaster: Jackson's Cheswold Motor Car", in South Yorkshire Historian, 3 (1976) Changing Landscapes in South Yorkshire (Doncaster, 1980) "Local Communities in South Yorkshire: The Framework of Society, 1750-1850", in South Yorkshire Historian, 4 (1980) “Jigsaws of Building History: Three Parish Churches in the Lower Don Valley”, in B. Elliott (ed), Aspects of Doncaster: Discovering Local History 2 (Barnsley, 1999) “Bawtry: History in the Townscape”, in Aspects of Doncaster: Discovering Local History 2 (Barnsley, 1999) Some of these publications, and others by the author (including works edited), are available to read in the Doncaster Local Studies Library and Doncaster Archives. It is hoped that further works by the authors of this book will be digitised in the future. If you are interested in receiving information about these then enquiries can be made to [email protected] Memorial Edition A Yorkshire Town: The Making of Doncaster History & People by Derek and Enid Holland vi Preface Modern Doncaster grew from an agricultural market town and coaching centre on the Great North Road to a railway centre and industrial town. Its development over the last two hundred and fifty years occupies much of the present book. We have sometimes strayed very near to today in our exploration of the past. As Henri Pirenne once told Marc Bloch, “If I were an anti- quarian, I would have eyes only for old stuff, but I am a histo- rian.” (Marc Bloch, The Historian’s Craft). However, the town’s origins and early development, from Roman times onwards, have not been neglected. As Professor A E Smailes observed in The Geography of Towns: “Towns do not exist in vacuums, cut off from the contiguous areas along clear-cut municipal boundary lines,....Town and country are indivisible.” The crea- tion of the metropolitan borough in 1974 confirmed this unity. Our last chapter deals with the area around Doncaster, so that the ancient town and its surrounding countryside are linked to- gether. There is an emphasis throughout the book on buildings and landscapes. This stems from personal interest and from our belief in the need to link history with the visual heritage. We are truly grateful to our daughters Rachel and Sarah for their help and support. Rachel typed the original draft of a diffi- cult handwritten text. Sarah word processed the final text and compiled the bibliography. Such help - at times when they were busy with their own work and projects - was invaluable. We thank other local historians who shared ideas and views with us vii over the years; we hope we have not trodden on exotic blooms in other people’s gardens. We also thank the librarians and ar- chivists, who have made materials available for study over many years. Last, but far from least, we thank the many mem- bers of the WEA courses, who have long contributed to discus- sion of local history. No local historian is likely to be infallible. As Professor R H Tawney long ago wrote in The Agrarian Problem in the Six- teenth Century: “The student who works over considerable masses of material will be fortunate if he does not introduce some errors of his own.” If we have, indeed, done so, after our careful endeavours, we ask our reader’s indulgence in the spirit of R H Tawney. D.H. - E.M.H.!! ! ! ! ! ! ! Spring 2000 viii Before the Railways From Roman Forts to Friaries - the foundations 1 of a modern town. Site, Origins and Early Development seems to have been succeeded by chaos, with hovels and rub- bish pits constructed in some of the Roman streets. (2) Scholars have long believed the name of this fort and settle- The site of Doncaster lies just east of the north-south magne- ment to be DANVM, but some now think that this name (re- sian limestone ridge, with marshland and peat moorland to the corded only three times) could equally apply to a fort near Jar- east and north-east and sandy heathland to the south and row, in County Durham, on another river Don. (3) The An- south-east. The settlement grew to the south of the point tonine Itinerary (early 3rd century) points to DANO (DANVM) be- where a major north-south routeway crossed the eastward- ing Doncaster, because of mileages given, whereas the NOTI- flowing river Don. Routeway and river were in use for long- TIA DIGNITATVM (c. 395-408 A.D.) reference to DANO points distance travel and transport from Roman times onwards and to the site near Jarrow. It is recorded only in late Roman probably even earlier. They have formed a continuous thread sources and may be a corruption of the place-name ending running through Doncaster’s history, linking its development -DVNVM and thus an abbreviation of the Roman name. Many from century to century. A large number of chance finds have Roman place-names ended in -DVNVM, indicating fortified sites been made during the 19th and 20th centuries, in and around usually. The river Don was traditionally often referred to as the Doncaster, indicating activity in the prehistoric eras from Palaeo- Dun. DANO was the Latin abbreviation for DANVM and meant lithic to the Iron Age. (1) simply ‘water’. The original name could well have been CAM- A fort was built here by the Romans in the second half of the PODVNVM, which is recorded by Bede. (4) The Venerable first century, certainly by the early ‘70s, as a part of their push Bede would thus be the last literate person of the Dark Ages twi- northwards and westwards from bases in the East Midlands light to know and record the name of this Roman settlement, into Brigantian territory. It was one of a series of forts, with oth- the settlement itself having declined some 300 years before he ers at Rossington Bridge (south of Doncaster) and Templebor- wrote his History of the English Church and People. ough (west of Rotherham). In the greater peace and prosperity The balance of probability is that a small settlement continued of the second and third centuries, a large civil settlement (vicus) here and grew in subsequent centuries. Bede’s CAM- grew up alongside the fort at Doncaster. As with so many oth- PODVNVM was the site of a royal villa and a church. (5) The ers, the end came with the departure of the Roman army; order Anglo-Saxons recognised enough of the ruined Roman fort to 10 call it Castra Daun or Donacester. By the 10th century the mentioned: Derby, Leicester, Stamford, Nottingham, and Lin- place was of some military importance again and was sur- coln. Some think, on circumstantial evidence, that Manchester rounded by a massive double-ditch.