Saturday, 5 July 2008
The exterior of the Mansion House must have impressed its earliest visitors even more than it does to-day. High Street is now a succession of three-storey houses and shops, many of the later-eighteenth century, Victorian banks and other commercial premises.
When the Mansion House was first built, the surrounding buildings would probably have been the modest, two storey properties which can be seen in early engravings, making the Mansion House loom even larger than it seems to do to-day. This engraving, reproduced from Edward Miller’s History of Doncaster (published in 1804) shows the Mansion House in its setting in the High Street. The low buildings on the right would be typical of the street at the time the Mansion House was built. There are still two very old shops on the opposite side of the road towards Baxtergate whose small size gives an idea of the scale of the historic town.
The exterior of the Mansion House does not now entirely have the appearance that Paine intended for it. The original design was topped by a giant triangular pediment, spanning the entire facade. This was replaced in 1801 by the present parapet to a design by William Lindley. The parapet has three windows, but all of them are blind; behind them is the original roof designed by Paine to fit with his pediment.
The new parapet was topped by a golden lion holding a standard. This was one of the heraldic badges used by King Edward IV, who granted the borough its charter of incorporation in 1467. The charter of 1467 is decorated with a number of these heraldic badges. One of them, a seated lion holding a standard, is shown here. The charter, along with nine other royal charters granted to the borough between 1194 and 1688, is to be found at Doncaster Archives.
