Henry Machyn's Diary. 05 Jul 1557. At Donkester [Map], in Yorkeshyre, Thomas Jordayn.

Evelyn's Diary. 16 Aug 1654. We arrived at Doncaster [Map], where we lay this night; it is a large fair town, famous for great wax lights, and good stockings.

Vesta Monumenta. 1752. Plate 2.10. Doncaster Cross [Map], also known as the Hall Cross, which was erected at the southeastern end of Doncaster, near Hallgate, on the old London road, in honor of Otho de Tilly, land steward to the count of nearby Conisborough from about 1165 to 1188. The dense text on either side of the cross relates a brief history of Otho de Tilly. Engraving by George Vertue (age 68). The original cross in Doncaster, UK, was demolished in 1792 but was replaced by a replica ex-situ the following year.

Originating from the village of Tilly in Calvados (Normandy), Otho de Tilly (c. 1121-88) first appears in the historical record during the reign of Stephen of Blois (d. 1154), for instance, as witness to the charter of foundation of Kirkstall Abbey in 1152. He subsequently served as senescallus comitis de Conibroc (seneschal or land steward to the count of Conisborough), Hamelin de Warenne (1129-1202), the illegitimate half-brother of Henry II, who first came into possession of Conisborough Castle in 1163 and extensively rebuilt it – with the addition of a new polygonal stone keep – between 1180 and 1190. Given that Conisborough is located just under six miles down the road from Doncaster, it is likely that the cross that bore Otho's name was erected sometime during his tenure as seneschal to the Warennes—probably between the mid-1160s and Otho's death in 1188.

The River Don rises at Dunford Bridge [Map] after which it flows broadly east through Penistone [Map] then south through Oughtibridge [Map], Sheffield [Map] then east through Rotherham [Map], past Conisbrough Castle [Map], Doncaster [Map] and Stainforth [Map] before joining the River Ouse at Goole [Map]. Originally the River Don was a tributary of the River Trent forming the northern boundary of the Isle of Axholme [Map] but was re-engineered by Cornelius Vermuyden as the Dutch River in the 1620s.