Heritage buildings photographer

04/09/2026

Yet another fantastic building by a firm of builders that have left their thumbprints on the development of Doncaster. The detailed brick is typical of their buildings and this acts almost as publicity for their skills 👍

Our next (7 of 23) location has been identified as a Virtual Plaque site.

Harold Arnold Building.

Harold Arnold was a joiner who established himself in business in 1850 on Silver Street. He became a house builder but soon took on other work including various chapels in the area. In 1879 he erected this building on Printing Office Street. It was for use as workshops and offices for his firm. The building is interesting for its fine display of ornamental brickwork as well as the tiles.

The building was often threatened with demolition but the persistent objections of the Trust were successful.

By 1881 the firm employed 75 people but Harold Arnold died the following year. His son, William Sayles Arnold, took over the business. W S Arnold built himself a house on Printing Office Street in 1883 which was demolished a few years ago. . The firm’s yard was located between the house and the workshops. Arnold continued to live in his house until 1888 but eventually he built another much grander residence, Edenfield, in 1894. The house stands at the top of the Town Field now renamed Rutland House

04/09/2026

Doncaster’s Historic Areas: Town Field

WH Forman: I have recently mentioned Forman on a number of posts. Forman was a key figure in the development of Doncaster, making the most of his many millions.

If you want to know more then go to the exhibition at the Minster including his very ornate chapel. You need to book so please check out this link

The Minster is one of Doncaster's most architecturally important buildings, and the most richly decorated part of the church is the Forman Chapel sponsored by William Henry Forman, a local landowner.

04/09/2026

Doncaster’s Historic Places: Town Moor

Town Moor Avenue: Part 2

This bit of history could be read in the vein of a newspaper, or because we are in the 21st Century a page from the Daily Mail. The headline could well read “Arnold does it again!”

We need to back up in time and do as the Pet Shop Boys once ‘sang’ “Go West”. Doncaster started to expand east providing quality housing in contrast to those for workers around Hexthorpe for instance. Landowners such as AH Browne released their land for development which often came with strict requirements including how much the houses should sell for. Broxholme Lane, St Mary’s Road and others were laid out and sold to what appears to be a mafia of local builders and architects: WH Foreman, Arnold and son, Athron and Beck, Blundell, FW Masters.

In 1901 the land was sold to Arnold and sons to start development, this was not his first rodeo as they say. Arnold and sons went on to build on Windsor Road next and Athron and Beck did a terrace of properties on Thorne Road. In true rag paper style you could read:-

“Arnold does it again making use of one’s relationship with the late Browne. It seems to the common man that nothing can be built in Doncaster without it having the guiding hands of Foreman, Athron, or Masters. A local builder was approached for comment who wished to remain anonymous: “you can’t do nowt round here we arht them bin involved. Baht time Corporation got involved! There agin they are as corrupt as them”

Next time we look at the individual streets and some of the houses before we look at some of the big local names that lived there.

Ps the newspaper is a figment of my imagination before some people start to compare with then and now.

04/09/2026

Doncaster’s Historic Areas: Town Moor

Town Moor Avenue: My last post related to how Town Field was protected from development and agreement between the Corporation and AH Browne. Equally I mentioned how Browne developed his land, mainly around Nether Hall and west towards the town. A H Browne died in 1894 and agreement was reached with his heir for the formation of Town Moor Avenue and the preservation of the Field to the west of the road as open space.

In true Browne way, he did not build the area himself but laid out Town Moor Avenue, with spurs to other parcels of land. Nowadays Town Moor Avenue would be known as the ‘spine road’ linking Thorne Road with what was Grandstand Road. First came a block of housing on the junction with Thorne Road, following with the junction’s of Victorian Crescent and Imperial Crescent. By 1904 this is as far as the housing got except for Windsor Road which linked the streets together. But by 1929, it was almost as you see today, stretching to the new street called Sandringham Road. By 1949 it was completed.

Let’s look at the maps to see the speed of development. Next we will look at who brought this forward.

03/09/2026

Doncaster’s historic Places Town Fields

The case of the lost Windmill:- Now, did you know there was a windmill south of Thorne Road , just west of the junction with Town Moor Avenue? Oh no there wasn’t I hear people shout.

However, the 1849 map of Doncaster clearly shows such a thing. Not quite where the junction is, it’s more west towards Town Field Villas, but marked on the map is ‘Field Windmill’. The map is attached below.

When people refer to a "field windmill" in England, they are usually talking about one of three things depending on the context: a historic agricultural windmill built out in open farmland, a modern industrial wind turbine generating electricity, or an open-country drainage windpump used for water management.
Historically, England did not have a specific machine technically classified as a "field windmill"; rather, it is a descriptive term for how these structures interact with the English landscape.

The three primary ways this term is used across England include:

1. Historic Corn and Flour Mills (The "Mill Field")
Historically, traditional windmills used for grinding corn and grain into flour were intentionally built on high, exposed ground in the middle of open fields to maximize wind exposure.

2. Modern Wind Turbines ("Wind Farms")
In casual conversation today, a "field windmill" is often a non-technical term for a modern wind turbine. We can certainly discount this type.

3. Drainage Mills (The Fens and Broads)
In certain flat, low-lying regions of England—most notably the Norfolk Broads and the Cambridgeshire Fens—you will find historical "field windmills" that were never meant for grain
* The Purpose: Known as drainage mills or windpumps, these structures were built right in the middle of marshy grazing pastures. It could be argued I suppose that it could have drained water from this low level field system. However, there are no records of flooding in this area so I do t think so.

We go for type 1. Equally you will note the enclosure around the mill which is unusual and with access on to Thorne Road makes you believe it was grinding. Whatever we think it is no more, it was demolished in 1871. Possibly due to larger windmills at Thorne and Sykehouse amongst others.

03/09/2026

Doncaster’s historic place: Town Fields

Mid 19th Century Town Fields: on a previous post I described the start of Town Fields and the fall out over the Enclosure Act. Up steps a Major A H Browne. But who is he?

Who is he? He is firmly ensconced in the building of Doncaster. He was a major landowner following the death of his Uncle, WH Foreman, who gave his land and Nether Hall in his will. So I suppose we need to step back, with the question “who is WH Foreman?” He made his millions, literally, at his iron works in Wales. He was not only a landowner, developer and philanthropist but was involved in many great buildings such as The Minster, Doncaster Grammar School but felt development in Doncaster needed to be better than the housing to the west for workers. More about Foreman later in another post.

Returning to Browne he decided to make use of his land for residential but he dealt with it in a completely different way. Normally land owners would sell land in bulk, much like today, but Browne sold parcels of land and laid out the access roads. This gave him control of how the development looked and designed.

He started to compile his land ‘bank’ of Town Field, by buying the strips of the field when they came available as any developer would. The fly in the ointment was the Council who were adamant that the field should remain undeveloped; commence battle!

Alderman JF Clark held discussions with A H Browne to see if an agreement could be reached to preserve the major part of the field as open space. No agreement was reached because of
legal difficulties. JF Clarke was not a man to be messed with! A newspaper article in 1911 referred to:

“Alderman J F Clark as the most powerful personality in Doncaster. He was the leader of the ruling caste – a party composed of radicalism, non-conformity and teetotalism. He had the gift of public speech but his style was heavy and formal. He rarely smiled. He seemed to have no outdoor recreations but could sometimes be seen on his tricycle going to work. He was a strong man, an able man, the leader, guide and ruler of the bigger part of the Council. He was president of both the Liberal Association and the local Gospel Temperance Union.”

Browne may well have had enough with Doncaster as in 1890 he went to purchase and restore Callaly Castle near Alnwick. A H Browne died in 1894 and agreement was reached with his heir for the formation of Town Moor Avenue and the preservation of the Field to the west of the road as open space. There is a Plaque at the top of Town Moor Avenue recording its opening in 1895 and A H Browne’s contribution. So, in character the land to the east was sold in plots and the west kept open; that is Town Field.

More of this, including further ‘characters’, Town Moor Avenue and its side streets will appear in future posts.

As a personal aside, Calllaly Castle comes loosely into my professional life. Very loosely! In 1987 the Castle was subdivided into apartments by the Architect Kit Martin. Martin was an advisor to the now King Charles who helped the Princes Trust to bring life into old buildings. I worked with Kit Martin to bring about the restoration and reuse of Pioneer House in Dewsbury

With thanks to the Civic Trust for some of the research

03/09/2026

Doncaster’s historic place: Town Fields

Where did it all start? How did Town Fields become a field of the town? Why is it not a huge housing site? Well it almost did!

Town Field or Doncaster Field was formerly known as Long Newton and Short Newton, and was formerly agricultural land.

Across England, during the Georgian period, many open fields were enclosed by private acts of Parliament and divided into small fields. In 1814 a notice appeared in the Doncaster Gazette stating that the proprietors intended to promote a parliamentary bill for dividing, allotting and enclosing Doncaster Field. Doncaster Corporation decided they would not co-operate with the other landowners of Doncaster Field and instructed the Town Clerk to take all proper measures to oppose in Parliament the progress of any such bill. This is shown on the 1849 map below

The origin of Town Field as a large open space can be seen to germinate from this decision. Nothing changed for many a year, until Doncaster town centre started to expand eastwards due to the need for housing and more, shall we say, gentrification of the type of houses. Up steps Major A H Browne, a major landowner in the area who saw into the future.

02/09/2026

Doncaster Historic Places: Town Moor/Town Fields

Former Fire Station, now Whitbys

The original fire station was built on Lonsdale Avenue (altered with the changes to form Leger Way) in 1936. Built of Red brick with stone dressings (some cement), the station served Doncaster for nearly 70 years before closure in 2004.

The station obviously supported Doncaster during the Second World War and the following is an excerpt from a written record by Margaret Herbert:

“My dad was George Cecil Skinner, a jeweller in Frenchgate, but he was also a part time auxiliary fireman and when war was declared, he was commandeered into the full time fire service. Within a short time, he was made station officer at Leicester Avenue fire station. The chief fire officer at that time was a Mr. Leadbeater who was not a well man and was absent more than he was on duty. My dad had to take over the running of the station. One of his deputies was a Joe Lingard who lived in Hyde Park.
My dad was responsible for arranging for various groups of the auxiliary fire men to be stationed in different parts of the town when the raids were on so that if any part of the town got cut off, there was coverage in all various areas e.g. Balby, Hyde Park, Thorne Road.

Then there was the day of the plant fire (December 1940). This was absolutely horrendous; the whole sky was alight. The fire started in the paint shop and spread quickly through the main body shop. This made a prime target for bombing, particularly as it had already been targeted with bombs. The idea was to stop the main line and the North Bridge, which was of course the main link from north to south at that time. Fire engines were brought from all over Doncaster and outlying districts, and my dad manned the fire station on his own - in fact he did not come home or have any sleep for 3 days, he tackled a fire on his own with a small pump on the back of a trailer in Cemetery Road fish and chip shop. He dealt with the fire and put it out, but on the way back, he ran over a cat. He was extremely upset about the cat and talked more about that than the fire.

On another raid, a land mine fell on Station Road and demolished the whole of the bottom half of the road opposite the Grand Theatre. My first concern when my dad came home was to ask him what had happened to the Grand. The only damage was to the glass canopy over the main entrance where all the glass was shattered when a statue above fell through it. A lady living in the Beehive Hotel in Factory Lane, left her bed to go to the shelter and later that night when she returned, all her pillow was covered in glass and shrapnel - lucky lady!”

With the construction of the new fire station in 2004, the original fire station became the popular fish and chip restaurant Whitbys.

02/09/2026

Doncaster’s Historic Areas: Town Moor

Trees: Apparently Town Moor is a conservation area with a park and buildings in it. But what this statement fails to say, is that the area significantly benefits from the tree cover. Town Moor Avenue was designed to be a tree lined boulevard, trees either side, with carefully designed tree planting in the open space.

The green space has to be carefully designed as it was to always to be open; once the Corporation took over. Too much planting can perhaps change this premise. I think it’s is just about right, with perimeter planting and lining the pathways.

I will go into the history of the park in subsequent posts.

02/09/2026

Doncaster’s historic places: Town Moor

Doncaster Deaf School, Leger Way

The school is not as old as people think but the Yorkshire Residential School for the Deaf has been in this area since the 1820’s. The first buildings were unfortunately lost in the 1950s.

The main building on Leger Way is quite classical in design which gives a false impression of its age. The wing to the right as you face it was commenced in 1934, when the first foundation stone was laid. It was used as the Girls School and all the detailing here is of stone. The rest of the building, the left wing, and the middle was commenced in 1939 and
finished in 1940. The centre is very pronounced with its two storey portico, and the frontage is further broken up with projections and pavilions. Its original steel windows have been replaced but care was taken with its front elevation that the replacements in aluminium were of a similar design.
Also part of the complex is one of the oldest building in the conservation area, the nearby Hockenhull Building (although this is a more recent name) Built in1901 to the designs of J.G. Walker, architect. It is a single storey building in red brick with Dutch influenced detailing to its gables.