Woodlands is a model village3 miles north of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. The village falls within the Adwick Ward of Doncaster MBC. The colliery village was designed and built in the early 20th century by the architect Percy Houfton as tied cottages for the miners of the neighbouring Brodsworth Colliery. In an era of model villages such as Saltaire, Port Sunlight and Bournville, Woodlands, with extensive open spaces, many different designs of houses, and overall living conditions superb for their time, possibly represents the height of the model village movement. The village is a conservation area.
Topography
Lying between the historic Great North Road and a Roman Road, the houses in the village are in short terraces, typically of four, and face each other across wide avenues. At the back they typically overlook a large square open space. The Roman Road is Ermine Street, the branch from Lincoln to York via Doncaster and Tadcaster. Locally, it is colloquially known as the Roman Rigg, more correctly as the Roman Ridge. Between the village and Highfields, the former country house of Woodlands has been adapted as a social club. Nearby is the Woodlands wildlife park, with Highfields Lake and Hanging Wood. In Highfields Wood is a stream, known as Robin Hood's stream, which springs near the Roman Rigg, and runs into Pick Burn. The stream may be so named as Robin Hood is reputed to have roamed in Barnsdale Forest, of which Highfields Wood was part. In "The Park" a green of 10 to 15 acres is surrounded by about 120 of the workers' houses. The houses back on to woodland or to green open space and, instead of facing each other across a narrow street, look across perhaps 200 yards of parkland to the houses opposite. The nearby country house Brodsworth Hall, built in the 1860s for Charles Augustus Thellusson, was acquired by English Heritage in the late 1980s and is operated as a house museum.
Community facilities
The largest community facility is one built in 1924 for the miners and the community which is the miners welfare which originally stood on 15 acres of land and now provides the sporting and recreational facilities in woodlands The village has five public houses, The Woodlands, Park Club, The Officials, Rhinos and The Highwayman. There is one restaurant, three fish and chip shops, two Chinese takeaways, a snooker hall, cafe, post office, fire station, library, four hairdressers, a tanning shop, and one computer shop.
play at the Welfare Ground in the village; Brodsworth Main Cricket Club and Brodsworth Bowing Club are also within the Welfare Grounds. Bowling Fishing Darts Snooker and Pool all happen at Woodlands Park Sports & Social Club. There is also a gym in the club upstairs called Eco Fitness that does all different outdoor sports.
Refurbishment
The local council, DMBC, is using Green Corridor Money to give the Squares a facelift and to give the houses a back garden. 4 Squares had been completed by October 2009. The Brodsworth Informer, a Bi-Monthly, 16 page news journal, is delivered free to almost 4,000 homes in the area. 2003 saw the revival of the old May Festival, started in 1910 when mine owner Sir Arthur Markham was persuaded to give the miners a day off with pay for the Festival. The village was featured on Thursday 30 August 2007 on the BBC Look North's A-Z of the region.
