During the 14th century , numerous friars arrived in Doncaster who were known for their religious enthusiasm and preaching . In 1307 the Franciscan friars ( Greyfriars ) arrived , and Carmelites ( Whitefriars ) arrived in the middle of the 14th century . In the Medieval period , other major features of the town included the Hospital of St Nicholas and the leper colony of the Hospital of St James , a moot hall , grammar school , and the five-arched stone town bridge , with a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Bridge . By 1334 , Doncaster was the wealthiest town in southern Yorkshire and the sixth most important town in Yorkshire as a whole , even boasting its own banker . By 1379 , it was recovering from the Black Death , which had reduced its population to 1,500 . In October 1536 , the Pilgrimage of Grace ended in Doncaster . This was a rebellion led by the lawyer Robert Aske , who commanded 40,000 people of Yorkshire against Henry VIII in protest about the monarch 's Dissolution of the Monasteries . Many of Doncaster 's streets are named with the suffix ' gate ' . The word ' gate ' is derived from the old Danish word ' gata , ' which meant street . During Medieval times , craftsmen or tradesmen with similar skills , tended to live in the same street . Baxter is an ancient word for baker : Baxtergate was the bakers ' street . Historians believe that ' Frenchgate ' may be named after French-speaking Normans who settled on this street
Pilgrimage of Grace
Pilgrimage of Grace
Doncaster