The Old Angel

The town of Doncaster was developed around the Roman fort of Danum, served by the highway which followed the line of today's Hallgate and High Street. The Roman road later became the coaching route known as the Great North Road. The Old Angel, on Frenchgate, was one of the town's best-known coaching inns. James I stayed there in 1603, followed, in 1778, by the Duke of York and the Prince of Wales. The Prince of Wales returned in 1795. In between the royal visits, the famous traveller Celia Fiennes stayed at the Old Angel, on one of her well-documented journeys around the country. The Old Angel was demolished in 1846, with the guildhall built on the site the following year.

These licensed premises were built in 1997, on the site of a parade of small shops. In the 1930s, the parade included a draper's store, a gents' outfitter and a fruiterer. The shops were originally private houses, with gardens at the rear. The town houses stood on the line of the old town ramparts and dit