[14667] Doncaster : The Earl

Earl of Doncaster Hotel, Bennetthorpe, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, 1938.

Unlisted.

 

Since 1816 licenced premises have existed on the site now occupied by The Earl. In that year the Doncaster Arms opened on this site. At some point in the 19th century, the Doncaster Arms changed its name to the Turf Hotel - a reference to the nearby Doncaster Racecourse, home of the St Leger, first run in 1776.

 

The development of the Railway industry saw the decline of coaching as popular transport and in turn the fortunes of the hotel, however with the development of the motor car and the Great North Road, this route again became strategic and Doncaster and the hotel resumed their positions of importance.

 

In 1908 the Turf was renamed The Earl of Doncaster Arms Hotel. In 1933 that hotel was demolished and plans were made to replace it with a new, modern building. The owners, the Barnsley Brewery, wanted the new building to reflect modern tastes and design. The new Hotel was built in the popular Art Deco style, famous throughout the 1930s and, to this day, it remains one of the finest examples of this style in Yorkshire It was completed in 1938.

 

The outbreak of war prevented The Earl from opening fully - during and for some some time after the war, the Ministry of Food used it as a sugar storage factory, with only two ground floor bars open to the public.

 

On 5th November 1954 The Earl finally opened fully. Upon opening the Doncaster Gazette reported the Earl to be, "Doncaster's most up-to-date residential hotel, equipped and tastefully decorated in luxurious west-end style". It boasted "A magnificent ballroom accommodating 250, 5 bars, an elegant restaurant serving 120, and 30 bedrooms furnished in contemporary style at its best".

 

The next three decades proved to be a period of uncertainty with various owners and even a name change - In 1969 it became known as the Doncaster Acorn until 1974 when it was restored to simply The Earl of Doncaster.

 

In the mid 1970s the building was renovated to accommodate more guests and to provide greater comfort. - the bars, restaurants and ballroom were all modernised, although the alterations did produce a confusion of styles and unfortunately much of the Art Deco design was lost.

 

In the early 1990s, again under new management, an extensive refurbishment was undertaken to restore The Earl to its former glory by returning to the splendid Art Deco design, decoration and features of 1938.

 

The Earl now stands established as one of Doncaster's finest hotels, offering supreme accommodation, conference & banqueting facilities.

Done