Wheatley Hills is an urban suburb of Doncaster located a mile outside of the town centre in South Yorkshire, England. Wheatley means wheat fields in old English, located at the eastern end of the central ridge that runs through most of the town. The surrounding region was often flooded in the times before the River Don was rerouted and extra drainage channels dug, and lies on the old floodplain of the Don, which peaked at today's Thorne Road. Originally the suburb was part of the Wheatley ward of Doncaster but due to the expansion of housing during the post war era and boundary changes, the area became a separate area in its own right.
History
The 1930s saw the first houses built in what would become Wheatley Hills. Originally known as the Hills Lane Estate, it centred on The Grove with the eastern edge being marked by Boundary Avenue. Wheatley Hills reached its present size during the 1950s with the development of the Ennerdale Estate to the south of the original Hills Lane Estate, and the Greenleafe Estate east of Boundary Avenue.
Sport
team, Wheatley Hills RUFC are named in conjunction with the suburb. They are based at Brunnel Road in the York Road Industrial Estate just outside Doncaster Town Centre. Notably the training ground is not actually in the Wheatley Hills area. The club was originally formed as Wheatley Secondary Modern Old Boys in the 1960s but very soon became an 'open club' still playing its home games at the school and using the nearby Wheatley Hotel as its headquarters. In the 1970s the club moved to the Pilkington Glassworks Recreation Ground and Social Club before acquiring its present site. Wheatley Hills Tennis Club lies on Greenhouse Road. Established in 1954, the club offers professional coaching to players of all ages. The Wheatley Golf club lies nearby on Armthorpe Road. The course itself ranges in length, alongside Leger Way adjacent to the west of Wheatley Hills.
Transport
In 1902, Wheatley Hills was served by the Doncaster Tramway from the town to the terminus on Thorne Road. A trolleybus service in the 1950s became available further into the suburb when the tram service became defunct in the late 1920s to mid-1930s. Today, Wheatley Hills is well served by public transport links to Doncaster Town Centre. Leading bus company First South Yorkshire operate Service 65 to Wheatley Hills, running regularly every 30 minutes during peak time journeys, via Intake.
