Editing Doncaster (section)

===Modern===
[[File:Doncaster-population.svg|thumb|Population of Doncaster District taken from census data<ref>{{cite web |title=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, Doncaster District through time Population Statistics Total Population, A Vision of Britain through Time. |url=https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10202607/cube/TOT_POP |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005103220/http://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10202607/cube/TOT_POP |archive-date=5 October 2017}}</ref>]]
Access to the town was restricted and some officeholders secured charters to collect tolls. In 1605, [[James I of England|King James I]] granted to William [[Levett]] of Doncaster, brother of [[York]] merchant [[Percival Levett]], the right to levy tolls at Friar's and St Mary's bridges.<ref name="maine">{{cite web |url=http://archive.org/details/bub_gb_yETLcuNxk18C |title=Collections of the Maine Historical Society |date=20 May 1890 |publisher=The Society |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Having served as mayors and aldermen of Doncaster, the Levetts probably believed they could control a monopoly. In 1618 the family began enforcing it, but by 1628 the populace revolted. Capt. [[Christopher Levett]], Percival's son, petitioned Parliament to enforce the tolls, but Parliament disagreed, calling them "a grievance to the subjects, both in creation and execution," and axing the Levett monopoly.<ref name="maine" /> Doncaster's Levet Road is named after the family, as are nearby hamlets of [[Hooton Levitt]] and the largely abandoned [[Levitt Hagg]], where much of the town's early limestone was quarried.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, Doncaster continued to expand, but it suffered several outbreaks of plague between 1562 and 1606. Each struck down significant numbers of victims.

During the [[First English Civil War]], [[Charles I of England|King Charles I]] marched by [[Bridgnorth]], [[Lichfield]] and [[Ashbourne, Derbyshire|Ashbourne]] to Doncaster, where on 18 August 1645 he was met by numbers of [[Yorkshire]] gentlemen who had rallied to his cause. On 2 May 1664, Doncaster was rewarded with the title of Free Borough as a way for the King (Charles I's son, [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]]) to express gratitude for the allegiance.

Doncaster was connected to the rail network in 1848 and a plant and carriage works for [[Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)|Great Northern Railway]] was constructed in the town in 1853.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=2562}}The [[Doncaster Carr rail depot]] was opened in 1876.<ref>[[Doncaster Carr rail depot#dc1927|Doncaster Carr Sheds]], LNER Magazine 1927, p.387</ref>

The area to the east of Doncaster started developing settlements where coal miners lived from the 1850s onwards, exploiting coal near [[Barnsley]]. One such settlement is Deneby.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last=Waller |first=Symeon Mark |url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009ZITNBU/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 |title=The Big Book of Doncaster History |date=30 October 2012 |publisher=Doncaster History Publishing |editor-last=Publishing |editor-first=Doncaster History |page=1697 |access-date=16 January 2022 |archive-date=7 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407143613/https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009ZITNBU/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Doncaster and surrounding settlements became part of the [[West Riding of Yorkshire]] in 1899. Under the [[Local Government Act 1972]] it was drawn into a new [[metropolitan borough]] in 1974 and became part of the new county of South Yorkshire.

[[File:Cusworth Hall front.jpg|thumb|Cusworth Hall front]]
Doncaster has traditionally been prosperous within the wapentake of [[Strafforth and Tickhill|Stafford and Tickhill]].<ref>[http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10417442/relationships] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110113351/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10417442/relationships|date=10 November 2016}} Vision of Britain: Doncaster</ref><ref>[http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10075749] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110110654/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10075749|date=10 November 2016}} Vision of Britain: Stafford and Tickhill Wapentake.</ref> The borough was known for rich landowners and huge stately homes such as [[Brodsworth Hall]], [[Cantley Hall]], [[Cusworth Hall]], [[Hickleton Hall]], [[Nether Hall, Doncaster|Nether Hall]] and Wheatley Hall (demolished 1934). This wealth appears in the luxurious, historic gilded 18th-century [[Mansion House, Doncaster|Mansion House]] in [[High Street (Doncaster)|High Street]]. This land ownership developed over what is an ancient market place and large buildings were erected in the 19th century, including the [[Doncaster Market|Market Hall]] and [[Doncaster Corn Exchange|Corn Exchange]]. The old Doncaster Guildhall in Frenchgate was designed by John Butterfield with a [[tetrastyle]] [[portico]] and completed in 1847: it was demolished in the redevelopment of the 1960s.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/news/retro-gallery-9-loved-and-lost-doncaster-landmarks-64954 |title=Retro Gallery: 9 loved and lost Doncaster landmarks |date=6 April 2016 |newspaper=Sheffield Telegraph |access-date=8 February 2021 |archive-date=14 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214044718/https://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/news/retro-gallery-9-loved-and-lost-doncaster-landmarks-64954 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:St Georges Doncaster 3.jpg|thumb|[[St George's Minster, Doncaster|St George's Minster]] is a grade I listed building and was designed by Sir [[George Gilbert Scott]] in the 1850s.<ref>{{NHLE |num=1151447 |desc=Minster Church of St George |access-date=15 July 2020}}</ref>]]
Perhaps the most striking building to survive is [[St George's Minster, Doncaster|St George's Minster]], built in the 19th century and promoted from a [[parish church]] in 2004.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.doncasterminster.org/doncaster-minster-history-and-heritage/doncaster-minster-history-and-heritage.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321151404/http://www.doncasterminster.org/doncaster-minster-history-and-heritage/doncaster-minster-history-and-heritage.asp |url-status=dead |title=Doncaster Minster website |archive-date=21 March 2012}}</ref> Doncaster was already a communication centre by this time. It straddled the [[A1 road (Great Britain)|Great North Road or A1]], gaining strategic importance, as this was the main route for traffic between London and [[Edinburgh]].