Fishlake

South Yorkshire

Fishlake is a village in the Doncaster metropolitan district of South Yorkshire.

Fishlake is just over three-miles by road west of Thorne, about 8 miles north-east of Doncaster and around 15 miles south of Selby. The village is some 27 miles north-east of Sheffield.

The flooded landscape from the River Don to the distant Fishlake church in November 2019The village is situated alongside flood embankments of the River Don with some parts of the village barely one metre above sea level.

Over the centuries the village has had a history of severe floods. The village was one of the worst hit areas when in November 2019 the swollen river after heavy rain breached the flood defences and left homes flooded for more than a week.
More about the River Don floods of November 2019.

The village is close to the point where the course of the River Don was diverted in the 17th century. Before then the River Don flowed eastwards into the River Trent, but in the 1620s the river was diverted into an old dike as part of a scheme devised by Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden to drain marshland. This took the river northwards from Fishlake into the River Aire and, a few years later, after the cutting of a new channel known as Dutch River, more directly into the River Ouse at what is now the port of Goole.

At the time of the Domesday Book census of 1086, Fishlake was already a village of considerable size, with 24 households.

The Grade I listed St Cuthbert Church includes parts dating from the late 12th century, including its arched south door. Most of the church, however, is the result of 14th and 15th century rebuilding.

The Hare and Hounds, FishlakeFishlake Village HallUntil recently Fishlake had two pubs, The Hare and Hounds, at the corner of Church Street and Church Lane, and The Old Anchor Inn, in Main Street. However, the owners of the latter pub wound up their business early in 2019.

A post office is another facility lost in the village, while an old butcher's shop is now a cafe-bistro. The Village Hall, in Pinfold Lane, continues to provide a hub for the local community.

Fishlake History Society has an interesting online record covering the history of the village in detail.
See the

Fishlake History Society website.

Village features

The village is on the River Don

Fishlake has a pub.

The village has a cafe.

Fishlake has a village hall.

Place of worship: Anglican.

Travel

Bus travel

The village has buses to neighbouring towns and villages.

Places to visit

Cusworth Hall

Cusworth Lane, Doncaster

Situated two miles north of Doncaster, off the A638 Doncaster to Wakefield Road, this grade I listed building, built in the early 1740s, can be explored together with its impressive parkland with lakes. Features of the house and gardens have been restored to various periods of its life and include ceiling paintings in an Italianate chapel, an Edwardian rose garden and 'below-stairs' features such as its great kitchen, bake house and laundry. The Hall is managed by Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council with the support of The Friends of Cusworth Park.

More information at these Doncaster Council - Cusworth Hall web pages.

South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum

Dakota Way, Airbourne Road, Doncaster

The museum has a collection of aircraft from the first air show to be held in Britain, held at Doncaster Racecourse in 1909, together with more modern preserved light aircraft and jets. It is located about a mile to the south east of the town centre. For opening times see the museum's website.

Details at South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum website.

Conisbrough Castle

Conisbrough, South Yorkshire
The castle is situated in the small town of Conisbrough, about five miles south-west of Doncaster and seven miles north-east of Rotherham. Its tall circular cylindrical keep has had its walls and roofs restored to create a feeling of how the castle would have been in the late 12th century when it was built. In 1201, the castle had a royal visit, when King John stayed there. The castle became famous through fiction as the inspiration for Sir Walter Scott's 'Ivanhoe'. The historic site is managed by English Heritage.

Find out more at the

English Heritage - Conisbrough Castle web pages.
Find on map:

Conisbrough Castle

Brodsworth Hall and Gardens

Brodsworth
The Victorian country house at Brodsworth, about 5 miles north-west of Doncaster, was built in 1860, surrounded by beautiful gardens. It remained largely unchanged through its lifetime and is now being conserved by English Heritage. Yorkshire bands perform at the hall most Sundays during the summer. A car park for the hall can be accessed from Church Lane, between the villages of Marr and Brodsworth.
More information at the

English Heritage - Brodsworth Hall website.

Yorkshire Wildlife Park

Hurst Lane, Auckley, Doncaster

The Yorkshire Wildlife Park, about 4 miles south-east of Doncaster, was created at a former farm and riding school in 2009. Over the years it has grown and it is now the outdoor home of 400 animals of 70 different species, including polar bears, lions, tigers and leopards and a whole range of other animals native to Africa, South America and other parts of the world. A few of the species can be visited within their enclosures. A recent addition has been the addition of animatronic versions of long-extinct dinosaur species. Just outside the park gates, The Hive offers craft and gift shops, dining and a hotel.

Further details at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park website.

Find on map: Yorkshire Wildlife Park

The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft

Belton Road, Sandtoft, North Lincolnshire

Although just outside the Yorkshire border at the former RAF Sandtoft airfield in North Lincolnshire, the museum is only a 12-mile drive from Doncaster. It lays claim to having the world's largest collection of preserved trolleybuses and includes many examples of trolleybuses used in Yorkshire, including those from the fleets of Bradford, Huddersfield, Rotherham, and Doncaster, which have been beautifully restored by volunteers. The museum, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2019, has a calendar of themed open days on weekends and bank holidays between April and November. The museum also organises trolleybus driver experience days. Details are on the museum's website.

More information at The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft website.

Emergency services

South Yorkshire Police

South Yorkshire Police website.

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue website.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust website.

Local government

Metropolitan district council

Doncaster Council

Doncaster is one of four metropolitan district authorities within the county of South Yorkshire.

It covers Doncaster and many other towns and villages within a radius of between 7 to 10 miles from centrally-placed Doncaster.

Unusually within Yorkshire, the district council is run by an executive-powered elected mayor, who is supported by a cabinet. The mayor chooses the cabinet from elected councillors.

The elected mayor system means that Doncaster Council has two elections to organise, one for the elected mayor and one for councillors. The mayor and all councillors are selected in elections every four years, the most recent election being in 2021.

The election of 55 councillors is done across 21 wards with two or three councillors elected in each ward. Eight councillors currently serve under the chairmanship of the mayor on the cabinet.

May 2025 mayoral election:

Ros Jones

Political composition of the councillors after the May 2025 election:

37126
55 members

Link to Doncaster council website.

County strategic authority

South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority
Covers combined services including public transport, housing, infrastructure and regeneration and adult education in South Yorkshire, including the metropolitan districts of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield. The authority has been mayor-led since 2018. The South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner is added to the list of mayoral responsibilities after the May 2024 election.

Elected mayor: ❚ Oliver Coppard Labour & Cooperative

South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority website.

Police and Crime Commissioner

This role becomes the responsibility of the elected South Yorkshire mayor after the May 2024 election.

South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner website.

Fire Authority

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
The fire authority is made up of elected members of each of the four metropolitan district councils of South Yorkshire - Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield.

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority web pages.

Parliamentary constituency

Doncaster North
Elected MP: ❚ Ed Miliband Labour

National government region

Yorkshire and the Humber

Ceremonial county

South Yorkshire

Historic

-1984 In the West Riding of Yorkshire.

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