Opening date set for new Doncaster town centre pub

The opening date for a Doncaster town centre pub which will herald the return of a historic name to the town has been revealed.
By The Newsroom
Published 18th Oct 2016, 08:55 BST
Updated 25th Oct 2016, 17:35 BST
The new look Angel & Royal.The new look Angel & Royal.
The new look Angel & Royal.

The Angel and Royal will open its doors for a preview evening on October 26 - and will see the return of the historic name to Doncaster for the first time in half a century.

The original Angel and Royal was knocked down to make way for the Frenchgate Centre in 1962 and the name has been chosen for the former Old Angel in Cleveland Street which is nearing completion after a major overhaul.

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Gary Roberts, spokesman for new owners Amber Taverns, said: "The new name is a variation of the historical names."

The name will be remembered by legions of older drinkers and was one of the town centre's best known watering holes.

A former landlord of an Angel Inn on the east side of French Gate opened the New Angel on the opposite side of the road in 1810, the older establishment surviving until 1838.

Conveniently situated on the Great North Road, the new premises quickly became Doncaster’s principal hotel.

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A prominent list of guests stayed at the new Angel but the most important were Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, Prince Alfred and the Princess Alice.

They spent a night there on August 27, 1851 while journeying to Balmoral.

Afterwards, the hotel was styled Angel & Royal.

The last pints were pulled at the premises on December 30, 1962 at 11.30pm.

Then, the hotel, was demolished to make way for the Arndale (now Frenchgate) Centre.

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The Old Angel closed down earlier this year after being sold by then owners Wetherspoon.

Blackpool-based Amber Taverns snapped up the bar - fornerly Yates's Wine Lodge - and which first opened in 1997.

The distinctive building, with its turreted tower, was built on the site of a row of shops, which were demolished to make way for the new watering hole.

The row was known as King Charles Terrace - and a garden in the street was said to have contained a pear tree, planted by King Charles I, hence the name. The Old Angel was one 34 across the country put up for sale by the Wetherspoon chain last November.