Along High St past the Mansion House is Scot Lane, opposite. The rounded corner building on the left, which is now a restaurant, was originally the Doncaster Savings Bank.  It was built in 1843 with Denaby stone and designed by local architects Hurst and Moffatt.   The original corner building is three windows across. In 1895 it was acquired by the Yorksire Penny Bank who added two extensions—one on Scot Lane in 1906 and another on High St in 1924. The latter work matches the original building.

Now we go to the other side of Scot Lane. Look closely at the upper floors and you will see this is a rounded corner--it is an early example and at this time they were often quite simple.  The upper floors have a smooth render finish marked with imitation stonework joints. This is called stucco and was fashionable in Regency times.  It was built in 1811 as a jeweller with accommodation above. Remarkably it remained a jeweller for two centuries until H.L.Brown vacated the property. It is now a gin bar. The original owner and builder was Thomas Mandall who had 2 jobs--he was a plumber and the coroner!

The Corporation resolved that William Lindley was to draw a plan for building a house on the site, in a neat manner, and the committee was given power to build it. William Lindley, a pupil of John Carr of York, had already acted as architect for the building of the theatre in the Magdalens, the new Gaol in St Sepulchre Gate, and the re-edification of the Town Hall in the Magdalens. William Lindley’s brief had been to prepare a neat design and this is what he produced – not a grandiose or ostentatious design, nor one devoid of interest and mean, but one that was simple and well proportioned with a generously rounded corner. The building was later demolished in the first round of widening of Scot Lane. It became the home of the Dolls Hospital. In the second round of widening in the 1920s, the building once again became the Rounded Corner of the Westminster Buildings.

Our first rounded corner on the Trail is the TSB bank situated on the corner of Priory Place and High St. This impressive building was constructed in Portland stone to the designs of a London architect for the National Provincial Bank.  It was built by the local firm of Harold Arnold and Son. The Council paid the bank £400 to round the corner.

On the walk look for the sculptured panel over the main entrance and the lion heads which are high up on both sides of the building.

Blundells, comprises 2 houses and part of 43 Princes Street and was built in 1796. It has bow windows extending through three floors, an ornate doorway with urns and a balustrade above.

Notice the stonewalling below the ground floor windows, and the small shell-like moldings below the second-floor windows and the lead rainwater hoppers.

The building was the home of William Lindley, a noted architect in the town, before he moved to the Pillared Houses.

The old-fashioned White Hart Inn stood at the junction of High Street and St Sepulchre gate and projected into the highway. In 1818 the Corporation bought it and decided to auction it to be rebuilt

according to plans provided by William Hurst, the successor to William Lindley’s practice.

In 1820 the Subscription News Room and Library was built on the site with a corner of greater

breadth of curve than any that had preceded it.

The next rounded corner sweeps round from Sunny Bar to Market Rd. This was built in 1902 as shops with the landmark clock tower above all replacing the Plant Brewery which stood here previously.

The rounded corner facing the Market was designed by Henry Beck, an imaginative architect. It features curved shop windows and ornate wrought iron work on the first-floor balcony in an Art Nouveau style.

On the corner of Silver St and Sunny Bar is a remarkable terracotta building. This was built in 1902 and occupies the whole length of Sunny Bar. Its construction was due to widening the road. This enabled the new trams to get through but also improved general access to the markets. It has two rounded corners designed by different architects. . The section on the Silver St junction was designed by the Corporation and has the lion, part of the town’s coat of arms, on the façade.

​It was designed in 1882 by Wilson and Masters for a Conservative Club with shops underneath. The cellar was run by  James Milnthorpe who was a maltster, and hotel owner and was involved in various schemes. Later he bought the Salutation Inn on South Parade.

‘This became the Maridon Bookshop and is now a restaurant.

Ye Olde Crown was built in 1795, and stood in this approximate location until the original building was demolished and rebuilt in 1902. In that year Greyfriars Road was laid through from the Great North Road to the Market Place, to accommodate the construction of the electricity station to power the new tram system.

We now move on to the junction with Hall Gate where there are three rounded corner buildings. Firstly the Danum Hotel on the corner of Cleveland St. It was built in 1908 for the Planet Trading Company Ltd and designed by W H Wagstaff. It is built of Accrington brick with Empire stone dressings, a form of artificial stone. .Note the slated dome on the corner with its ornamental cresting. The original elegant gilded lettering on the facades is also of interest. It has been extended twice—once, in a similar style, to add the ballroom on High St in about 1913 and again in 1939 on Cleveland St. Also it has lost all its original windows. Nevertheless, the original character of the stylish rounded corner remains.

The Danum Hotel was constructed when Cleveland St was widened and this also applies to our next building on the left hand side corner of Silver St. It is from 1910—it says so on the façade.. An unusual feature is that high up in the building there is a glazed opening which gives light to the property next door. Designed by T H Johnson and built in Marmo. This is a type of artificial stone. It was meant to beself cleaning but that was never successful.

The third building is on the corner of Hall Gate and Silver St. Originally constructed in 1912-13 for the Prudential Assurance Co and designed by Paul Waterhouse. He was the son of Alfred Waterhouse a famous Victorian architect. It is mainly of brick with a fine stone rounded corner, which unfortunately has lost its original pillared entrance as a result of conversion to shops on the ground floor. An interesting building.

Joshua Beetham was born in Hooton Pagnell in 1725 and came into the liquor trade in 1760. the earliest reference to Beetham in St. George Gate was 1787, when he is the landlord of the George and Dragon. Joshua had 7 children and when he died in 1798 his business was passed to his 4th son, also called Joshua, the Beetham family ran the pub up until 1945 when the family business was sold.in 1986. Whitbread changed the name to the Gatehouse and sadly the 200-year association with Beetham ended.

A modern take on Rounded Corner Buildings, utilising glass instead of brick. The old Girls High school, that replaced the Victorian built Chequer House now protected inside the glass frontispiece.