Doncaster Racecourse Club House vellum Indenture, dated 10th February 1829, purchased for ?2,000 from Mr Edmund Tyrrell Artis of Doncaster by William

Doncaster Racecourse Club House vellum Indenture, dated 10th February 1829, purchased for ?2,000 from Mr Edmund Tyrrell Artis of Doncaster by William Chadwick Esq of Arksey, the three vellum page document from the reign of King George IV is the mortgage of all that freehold messuage or dwelling house used as the Doncaster Race Club House situated on the west side of the Hall Gate in Doncaster, the document with escutcheoned revenue stamps and wax seal, 66 by 79cm. Doncaster racecourse is one of the oldest established racecourse in Britain dating back to the 16th century and is home to two of the World's oldest horse races, The Doncaster Cup first run over Cantley Common in 1766 and The St Leger Stakes run at Doncaster since 1776, the oldest Classic Horse Race. In 1809 Mr Henry Maw decided to build a private stand on his land just to the north of the racecourse on Town Moor. It was finished in 1811 but being sited just on the far side of the present road behind the stands was inevitably a hard sell as a place to watch the racing although well timed in that racing at Doncaster was getting increasingly popular. As a consequence the old 18th century grandstand was much too small. The scheme was a failure and was not helped by Maw deciding not to turn Belle Vue House by the present roundabout into a hotel - instead he moved in using it as his residence. It later became a hotel in any case after his widow died. Maw soon sold the stand or anyway the land behind it to be turned into a school for young ladies and it later became one for boys run by a Mr Rogerson. Around 1829 it changed hands again becoming the home for deaf & dumb children. It is not entirely clear but it probably passed to them in two stages finishing with a ?3,000 payment in 1831. Much extended in Victorian times the school was still certainly based on the Maw stand until knocked down in 1958. It is also possible that the ?3,000 payment of 1831 was the only one from the deaf & dumb for which they got both the Maw stand and the extensions behind it put up by one or other of the schools. It is clear from pictures of the day that by 1829 the Maw stand formed the front of a much larger block, which must have housed in sequence the young ladies and the boys. Whether the front part was retained as the Doncaster Racecourse Club House cannot be concluded for sure but it is very probable. That would account for the sale in 1829 for ?2,000 with the deaf & dumb buying only the rest in 1831 for another ?3,000 to complete their site. The main grandstand itself was greatly extended in 1824 and even more to the point a private stand for Noblemen & Gentlemen was added in 1826 with a proper view of the course. This would strongly suggest the death sentence for a Club House from which one could not really watch the races set maybe 100 yards more or less directly behind the latest construction. Chadwick and Artis would not seem to be racing names at all but were presumably acting on behalf of the Rogerson School and/or the deaf & dumb trustees. The auctioneer would like to thank David Oldrey, Tim Cox and Tony Barber (author of a recent book on Doncaster) for their assistance in the preparation of this lot.