Roman

The town derives its name from the great north British Roman routeway, Ermine Street. This road, also known as the Roman Ridge, follows the A638 (former A1) northwards through the centre of Doncaster (former Danum) until the junction of the A635 and A638. It follows to the west of the A638, and passes along the western perimeter of Woodlands, dividing the estate from the Red House industrial park. It rejoins the Great North Road (the A1 at this point) at the Red House interchange.

Medieval

In December 2007, archaeologists from ARCUS were called in after site workers preparing for the construction of the brand new North Ridge Community School unearthed human remains. The new School, for special needs children, was to be built adjacent to North Doncaster Technology College (now Outwood Academy Adwick).

40 graves were discovered; 37 containing skeletal remains dating between 660 AD and 880 AD, the Middle Saxon period. There was some erosion and disturbance on the site. A small number of grave goods were found but in the future, any artefacts will be archived in Doncaster Museum.

This is believed to be the first Anglo-Saxon or early Medieval cemetery of this type found in South Yorkshire and one of the most significant Anglo-Saxon finds in the country. The earliest references to the settlement are found in Domesday Book (1086),

Road

Long Lands Lane bridge over the A1(M)

Floods in June 2007

The old village is on the B1220 road, and meets the A638 road to the south of the village at Adwick Grange, near the Highwayman pub. To the west is the parish of Brodsworth. Highfields Country Park is adjacent to Brodsworth. The parish boundary with Brodsworth is mostly the Roman Ridge, except for a small section adjacent to Pickburn, where it extends out to the A1(M) near the country park, and follows Long Lands Lane from the motorway bypass.

To the north, the parish boundary follows the Old Ea Beck, broadly following the ECML railway. It then follows a drain under Adwick Lane, then Langthwaite Drain under the ECML, to the Highwayman roundabout; this roundabout is the southern edge of the (religious, no longer civil) parish of Adwick along the A638. The division between Woodlands and Adwick parish follows just east of the A638, to the west of the secondary school, meeting the A638 at the Red House junction.

Red House industrial park

The Woodlands parish from Hangthwaite meets the A638 further south near the former Long Edge Quarry, then follows Green Lane (B6422) until a point just east of Scawthorpe, where it meets the Roman Ridge. It follows the present Roman Ridge north and along the present-day parish boundary to the A1(M). It follows the A1(M) all the way to the Red House junction (38), including the Red House industrial park, whereas the present-day parish boundary (with Brodsworth) follows the Roman Ridge, north of Long Lands Lane past Markham Grange garden centre.

Rail

Aldwick Station

Adwick, is on the electrified line part of the East Coast Main Line to Wakefield and Leeds. It is also the terminus for trains from Sheffield, via Doncaster. Just north of the station, is an east–west connecting freight-only line that originates just outside Hatfield and Stainforth, passing the former Thorpe Marsh Power Station. The railway station originally closed in 1967 and re-opened in 1993. The village, on occasion, has flooded. In 2007 the East Coast Main Line was under feet of water.