Highfields is a former

coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

village, located south of the

model village A model village is a type of mostly self-contained community, built from the late 18th century onwards by landowners and business magnates to house their workers. Although the villages are located close to the workplace, they are generally phys ...

Woodlands Woodlands may back refer to: * Woodland, a low-density forest Geography Australia * Woodlands, New South Wales * Woodlands, Ashgrove, Queensland, a heritage-listed house associated with John Henry Pepper * Woodlands, Marburg, Queensland, a her ...

, in

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

Historically History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

part of the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

, it is part of the

City of Doncaster The City of Doncaster is a metropolitan borough with city status in South Yorkshire, England. It is named after its principal settlement, Doncaster, and includes the surrounding suburbs of Doncaster as well as numerous towns and villages. The di ...

. The village is located in the Adwick ward of Doncaster MBC. Although it does not currently have an air of prosperity, Highfields was built so that most houses either overlooked farmland or woodland, the ornamental

Highfields Lake Highfields Lake is an ornamental lake in the Woodlands wildlife park at Highfields, north of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. It is filled by the Pick Burn, which then flows on to join the River Don as Bentley Mill Stream. The lake was ...

, or the greens in the centre of the village. Like its neighbour,

, Highfields lies between the historic Great North Road and the

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

. The

is a branch of

Ermine Street Ermine Street is a major Roman road in England that ran from London (''Londinium'') to Lincoln (''Lindum Colonia'') and York (''Eboracum''). The Old English name was ''Earninga Strǣt'' (1012), named after a tribe called the ''Earningas'', ...

, branching off near

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

and rejoining near

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

. Although a separate branch, it is also known as

. Locally, this stretch of the road is known as the

Roman Ridge Roman Ridge is a bridleway that was part of the Roman road of Ermine Street, between Scawsby and Redhouse to the north of Doncaster, England. This footpath departs from the A638 road at The Sun junction with the A635 (or Barnsley Road). Its ...

, although it is more colloquially known as the Roman Rigg.

David Pegg David Pegg (20 September 1935 – 6 February 1958) was an English footballer and one of the eight Manchester United players who died in the Munich air disaster on 6 February 1958. Career He signed for United on leaving school in 1950 an ...

, one of the eight

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

footballers who died as a result of the Munich air disaster of February 1958, was born at Highfields in 1935 and lived locally until he began his career with Manchester United in the early 1950s. Half a mile south-east are the surviving earthworks, much overgrown, of Hangthwaite Castle, a medieval

motte-and-bailey A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...

castle.

References

External links

Villages in Doncaster Adwick le Street {{SouthYorkshire-geo-stub