How did Union Street get its name

ONLY a tiny portion of Doncaster's Union street remains more than 200 years after it was first built.

Union Street, now home to the homeless charity M25’s hostel, was formed and set out as a new road or highway in 1802, although there were references to it earlier.

Joiner and builder William Crossley, of Doncaster, erected the first cottages.

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The street was cleared by the mid-1960s, yet part of the entrance from St Sepulchre Gate still exists. The rest of the old route is occupied by offices, the Cleveland Street dual-carriageway, and high-rise flats.

How did it get its name? This is a difficult question to answer.

Some individuals may speculate whether it is connected with trade unionism, the Union Workhouse which was formerly situated nearby, or an Act of Union? Not one of these is correct. I tend to believe, and so do some of my fellow local historians, that the name was simply derived through the street, at the time of its inception, forming a union between two well-established routes.

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