Where is Doncaster?

Doncaster is situated at the heart of Britain’s motorway network, a few minutes off the M18 with direct connections to the M1, A1 M, M62 and M180.

It also has the new Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield International Airport at Finningley which is just 5 miles from the town centre.

The town was founded by the Romans in AD 71 with the fort named Danum and Doncaster’s famous market has been here since Roman times.   The town was granted its first charter by Richard 1^st (Lionheart) in 1194.   During the Middle Ages it was the largest town in a well populated area with goods and livestock being brought to market for sale.  In 1532 Henry VIII granted the market charter which ensured its importance to the economy of the town to this date.

During the 1720’s the Don navigation was improved and the area was extensively canalised, water trade grew with craft having access to Hull opening up the trade and movement of goods internationally.  Racing began in Doncaster long before this, around 1600, and today the Doncaster Racecourse is still home to the St Leger, the oldest of the great English classics, which has been run since 1776.

A vital element in the town’s importance was its strategic position on the Great North Road as a coaching centre in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries until the opening of the Great Northern Railway from London extended to Doncaster.  Workers from all over the country came to work in its railway workshops which produced the Flying Scotsman and the Mallard – which in 1938 obtained the world record for steam power.   The railway also aided the development of the Coal Industry and with mines sunk in the surrounding villages in the early twentieth century a further flood of miners and their families came into the mining villages.

The 1980s saw the decline of the railway and mining industries in Doncaster but its key position as a major communications hub within the railway and motorway network is ensured by its geography and it is one of the very few places accessible to most of the populous towns and cities for same day rail travel with London less than 90 minutes away by rail.

In the last decade Doncaster has developed new business parks associated with motorway junctions and an integrated development, Lakeside, one mile from the M18, which includes the Doncaster Leisure Park and the new Keepmoat Stadium, which is a state of the art Community Stadium being the home for Doncaster Rovers, Doncaster Belles Ladies Football Club, and Doncaster Lakers Rugby League Club. This development also includes the Lakeside Outlet Shopping Complex and the nearby Railport, the intermodal traffic freight depot connecting with the Channel Tunnel.

Thriving new buildings and businesses point to a positive future including a £100 million transport interchange bringing rail and bus services together with a complete revamp and extensive additions to the town centre shopping area, a new home for further education within the town in Doncaster Education City, a waterfront housing and office development, and a new arts and live entertainment centre backed by Doncaster’s much loved diva – Lesley Garrett.

The town boasts one of only three Mansion Houses in the country and allegedly the largest parish church in England.   On the outskirts is Brodsworth Hall, one of England’s most beautiful Victorian country houses, Cusworth Hall, housing the Museum of South Yorkshire Life, and Conisbrough Castle, with the oldest circular keep in England.