HALL CROSS

Upon reaching the HALL CROSS, you can see on the left across the road, Albion Place featuring three-storeyed Regency terrace houses. And on the right. you can see the ornate gateway, which leads the way into Elmfield House.

This Cross was built here in 1793 to replace one at the top of Hall Gate. It was sited on the hill, after the main road was lowered by approximately 4ft, to ease stagecoach traffic into the town, however, the Hill was not touched, since it was already protected by an Act of Parliament.

The Hall Cross, as it is now called, bears a Latin inscription, which you can read here with its translation.

Otto de Tilli is the same person whose name appears as a witness to several grants about the middle of the twelfth century, and who was Seneschal to the Earl of Conisborough.

Choose Your Media to Continue on the Trail

Continue down Hall Cross Hill and head towards the Cenotaph, built in 1923 to commemorate the War dead of World War One, and on to the Earl of Doncaster.

Halfway down the hill, you will come across the gateway, dated from the late 19th Century, but built in a 17th century style.

The Gateway leads to Elmfield House, once owned by the Childers Family, an Early 19th Century building, possibly by local architect William Lindley, with some later alterations.

On 31 December 1920, Doncaster Corporation acquired Elmfield Park and two years later the Estates Surveyor prepared plans for the Bennetthorpe entrance and a site for the war memorial where it would provide a focal point for the principal north-south route through the park.

The war memorial in the form of an obelisk was designed by Ernest Prestwich of Leigh, and was possibly constructed by J & H Patteson of Manchester. The park was opened and the War Memorial unveiled on 12th March 1923 by Colonel C C Moxon. Contemporary newspaper reports highlighted the need for continued public subscription to pay for the monument at this time.

Look to the right and you will see the gates that mark the entrance to Elmfield Park. Alongside the park is Roman Road, said to be the original route of Ermine Street into Doncaster.

Before finding out more about this building, there are two sets of listed buildings, that can be seen from the Earl of Doncaster.

The buildings at 44 and 46 and also 52 and 54 Bennetthorpe date back to the early 19th Century.

Click on the NEXT button at the foot of the page, to view more information about this building.