County Borough of Doncaster: Racecourse Records

Horse racing in Doncaster certainly pre-dates 1600, and by the later eighteenth century the meetings, and the attendant socialising were, in Yorkshire, second only to those at York. The course was set out on Doncaster common, part of the land obtained by the corporation when it acquired the manor of Doncaster from the Crown in 1505. In 1776, a new grandstand was commissioned, a new course, incorporating part of Cantley Common agreed upon and a two-mile event for three-year olds, subsequently named the St Leger, was run for the first time. The course remains the property of the local authority. The minutes of the corporation and its race committee, and the plans amongst the records of the Borough Architect and the Borough Surveyor, provide information about municipal activities in relation to the racecourse. The Estate Surveyor, the Borough Treasurer and the Parks Department were jointly responsible for the management of the course until April 1947, when the Race Department took over the organisation of race meetings. There is an extensive accumulation of photographs of the course, meetings and races. Race memoranda books 1898-1940; attendance 1831-1940; statistical record books 1946-1967; racing calendars 1843-1874; finance 1865-1966; news cuttings books 1899-1967; photographs 1921-1954, 1971-1972; other records 1864-1972

Unless otherwise stated, everything over 30 years old is available for inspection