Buxton is a
spa town
A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits.
Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath in 1668. H ...
in the
Borough of High Peak
High Peak is a local government district with borough status in Derbyshire, England. The borough compromises high moorland plateau in the Dark Peak area of the Peak District National Park. The district stretches from Holme Moss in the north t ...
,
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
, England. It is England's highest
market town
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...
, sited at some above sea level.
["Buxton – in pictures"]
, BBC Radio Derby, March 2008, accessed 3 June 2013.Alston, Cumbria
Alston is a town in Cumbria, England, within the civil parish of Alston Moor on the River South Tyne. It shares the title of the 'highest market town in England', at about above sea level, with Buxton, Derbyshire. Despite its altitude, the tow ...
also claims this, but lacks a regular market. It lies close to
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
to the west and
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
to the south, on the edge of the
Peak District National Park Peak or The Peak may refer to:
Basic meanings Geology
* Mountain peak
** Pyramidal peak, a mountaintop that has been sculpted by erosion to form a point Mathematics
* Peak hour or rush hour, in traffic congestion
* Peak (geometry), an (''n''-3)-di ...
.
[ In 1974, the ]municipal borough
Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...
merged with other nearby boroughs, including Glossop, to form the local government district
The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...
and borough of ''High Peak''.
The town population was 22,115 at the 2011 Census. Sights include Poole's Cavern, a limestone cavern; St Ann's Well, fed by a geothermal spring bottled by Buxton Mineral Water Company; and many historic buildings, including John Carr's restored Buxton Crescent
Buxton Crescent is a Grade-I-listed building in the town of Buxton, Derbyshire, England. It owes much to the Royal Crescent in Bath, but has been described by the Royal Institution of British Architects as "more richly decorated and altogether m ...
, Henry Currey's Buxton Baths
The Buxton Baths using natural thermal spring water are in Buxton, Derbyshire, England. The baths date back to Roman times and were the basis for developing Buxton as a Georgian and Victorian spa town. The present buildings of the Thermal Baths ...
and Frank Matcham
Francis Matcham (22 November 1854 – 17 May 1920)Mackintosh, Iain"Matcham, Frank" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, accessed 7 July 2019 was an English architect who specialised in the design o ...
's Buxton Opera House
Buxton Opera House is in The Square, Buxton, Derbyshire, England. It is a 902-seat opera house that hosts the annual Buxton Festival and the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival, among others, as well as pantomime at Christmas, musical th ...
. The Devonshire Campus of the University of Derby
, mottoeng = Experience is the best teacher
, established = 1851 – Teacher Training College1992 – gained university status
, type = Public
, chancellor = William Cavendish, Ea ...
occupies historic premises. Buxton is twinned with Oignies
Oignies (; pcd, Ongnies) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.
Geography
Oignies is a former coalmining town, nowadays a light industrial town, northeast of Lens, at the junction of the D46 and ...
in France and Bad Nauheim
Bad Nauheim is a town in the Wetteraukreis district of Hesse state of Germany.
As of 2020, Bad Nauheim has a population of 32,493. The town is approximately north of Frankfurt am Main, on the east edge of the Taunus mountain range. It is a wor ...
in Germany.
History
The origins of the name are unclear. It may derive from the Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
for Buck Stone or for Rocking Stone
Rocking stones (also known as logan stones or logans) are large stones that are so finely balanced that the application of just a small force causes them to rock. Typically, rocking stones are residual corestones formed initially by spheroidal ...
. The town grew in importance in the late 18th century, when it was developed by the Dukes of Devonshire
Duke of Devonshire is a title in the Peerage of England held by members of the Cavendish family. This (now the senior) branch of the Cavendish family has been one of the wealthiest British aristocratic families since the 16th century and has b ...
, with a resurgence a century later as Victorians
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardian ...
were drawn to the reputed healing properties of its waters.
Stone Age beginnings
The first inhabitants of Buxton made homes at Lismore Fields
Lismore Fields is the site of a Stone Age settlement in the town of Buxton, Derbyshire, England. It was discovered close to the River Wye in 1984 by the Trent and Peak Archaeological Trust during a search for a Roman road. The site is a prote ...
some 6,000 years ago. This Stone Age
The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...
settlement, a Scheduled Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
, was rediscovered in 1984, with remains of a Mesolithic
The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...
timber roundhouse and Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
longhouses.
Roman settlement
The Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
developed a settlement known as Aquae Arnemetiae
Aquae Arnemetiae was a small town in the Roman province of Britannia. The settlement was based around its natural warm springs. Today it is the town of Buxton, Derbyshire in England.
Aquae Arnemetiae means 'Waters of Arnemetia'. Arnemetia was ...
("Baths of the grove goddess").[ Coins found show the Romans were in Buxton throughout their occupation of Britain.
]Batham Gate
Batham Gate is the medieval name for a Roman road in Derbyshire, England, which ran south-west from Templebrough on the River Don in South Yorkshire to Brough-on-Noe (Latin '' Navio'') and the spa town of Buxton (Latin ''Aquae Arnemetiae'') i ...
("road to the bath town") is a Roman road
Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...
from Templebrough
Templeborough (historically Templebrough) is a suburb of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The suburb falls within the Brinsworth and Catcliffe ward of Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council. The area takes its name from the remains of the ...
Roman fort in South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham.
In N ...
to Navio Roman Fort
Navio Roman fort overlooks a tight bend of the River Noe at Brough-on-Noe near Hope, Derbyshire, in England. Navio fort and vicus (civilian settlement) is a Scheduled Monument.
The town was recorded as ''Nauione'' in the Ravenna Cosmography's ...
and on to Buxton.
Middle Ages
The name ''Buckestones'' was first recorded in the 12th century as part of the Peverel family's estate. From 1153 the town was within the Duchy of Lancaster's Crown estate, close to the Royal Forest of the Peak on the Fairfield side of the River Wye. Monastic farms were set up in Fairfield in the 13th century and in the 14th; its royal ownership was reflected in the name of ''Kyngesbucstones''.
By 1460, Buxton's spring had been pronounced a holy one dedicated to St Anne, who was canonised in 1382. A chapel had appeared there by 1498.
Spa town boom
Built on the River Wye
The River Wye (; cy, Afon Gwy ) is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, fourth-longest river in the UK, stretching some from its source on Plynlimon in mid Wales to the Severn estuary. For much of its length the river forms part of Wal ...
, and overlooked by Axe Edge Moor
Axe Edge Moor is the major moorland southwest of Buxton in the Peak District. It is mainly gritstone ( Namurian shale and sandstone). Its highest point () is at . This is slightly lower than Shining Tor (which is some to the northwest, across ...
, Buxton became a spa town for its geothermal spring,[Paul Dunn]
"Great British Weekend: Buxton"
''The Sunday Times'', 17 April 2010, accessed 20 September 2011. which gushes at a steady 28 °C.
The spring waters are piped to St Ann's Well, a shrine since medieval times at the foot of The Slopes, opposite the Crescent
A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself.
In Hinduism, Lord Shiva is often shown wearing a crescent moon on his ...
and near the town centre. The well was called one of the Seven Wonders of the Peak
The Seven Wonders of the Peak were described in the 17th century by the philosopher Thomas Hobbes in his book ''De Mirabilibus Pecci: Being The Wonders of the Peak in Darby-shire, Commonly called The Devil's Arse of Peak.'' The wonders refer to ...
by the philosopher Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5/15 April 1588 – 4/14 December 1679) was an English philosopher, considered to be one of the founders of modern political philosophy. Hobbes is best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influent ...
in his 1636 book ''De Mirabilibus Pecci: Being The Wonders of the Peak in Darby-shire.''
The Dukes of Devonshire became involved in 1780, when the William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire
William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire, (14 December 1748 – 29 July 1811), was a British nobleman, aristocrat, and politician. He was the eldest son of William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, by his wife, the heiress Lady Charlotte B ...
used profits from his copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
mines to develop it as a spa in the style of Bath. Their ancestor Bess of Hardwick
Elizabeth Cavendish, later Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury ( Hardwick; c. 1527 13 February 1608), known as Bess of Hardwick, of Hardwick Hall, Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire, was a notable figure of Elizabethan English society. By a series ...
had brought one of her four husbands, the Earl of Shrewsbury
Earl of Shrewsbury () is a hereditary title of nobility created twice in the Peerage of England. The second earldom dates to 1442. The holder of the Earldom of Shrewsbury also holds the title of Earl of Waterford (1446) in the Peerage of Ireland ...
, to "take the waters" at Buxton in 1569, shortly after he became the gaoler of Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567.
The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...
, and took Mary there in 1573. She called Buxton "''La Fontagne de Bogsby''" and stayed at the site of the Old Hall Hotel
The Old Hall Hotel is a hotel in Buxton, Derbyshire, England, and is one of the oldest buildings in the town.
The current building dates from the Restoration period, built around and incorporating an earlier fortified tower.
According to the ''De ...
. The area features in the works of W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
, Jane Austen
Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...
and Emily Brontë
Emily Jane Brontë (, commonly ; 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet who is best known for her only novel, ''Wuthering Heights'', now considered a classic of English literature. She also published a book of poet ...
.[
]
Buxton's profile was boosted by a recommendation from Erasmus Darwin of the waters there and at Matlock, addressed to Josiah Wedgwood
Josiah Wedgwood (12 July 1730 – 3 January 1795) was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist. Founding the Wedgwood company in 1759, he developed improved pottery bodies by systematic experimentation, and was the leader in the indust ...
I. The Wedgwood family often visited Buxton and commended the area to their friends. Two of Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...
's half-cousins, Edward Levett Darwin
Capt. Edward Levett Darwin (12 April 1821 – 23 April 1901) was the author under the pen-name High Elms of ''The Game-preserver's Manual: Containing Instructions in All That Relates to Getting Up and Maintaining a Good Head of Game'' (1859), which ...
and Reginald Darwin, settled there. The arrival of the railway in 1863 stimulated growth: the population of 1,800 in 1861 exceeded 6,000 by 1881.
20th century
Buxton held a base for British and Canadian troops in the First World War. Granville Military Hospital was set up at the Buxton Hydropathic Hotel, with the Palace Hotel annexed. The author Vera Brittain
Vera Mary Brittain (29 December 1893 – 29 March 1970) was an English Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurse, writer, feminist, socialist and pacifist. Her best-selling 1933 memoir '' Testament of Youth'' recounted her experiences during the Fir ...
trained as a Voluntary Aid Detachment
The Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) was a voluntary unit of civilians providing nursing care for military personnel in the United Kingdom and various other countries in the British Empire. The most important periods of operation for these units we ...
nurse at the Devonshire Hospital in 1915. The Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...
based in Buxton used the Pavilion Gardens' lakes for training to build pontoon bridges. Prisoner of war camps at Ladmanlow and Peak Dale were established in 1917 to supply workers for the local limestone quarries.
RAF Harpur Hill became an underground bomb-storage facility during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and the country's largest munitions dump. It was also the base for the Peak District section of the RAF Mountain Rescue Service
The Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service (RAFMRS) provides the UK military's only all-weather search and rescue asset for the United Kingdom. Royal Air Force mountain rescue teams (MRTs) were first organised during World War II to rescue aircr ...
. Prisoner of war camps for Italians and Germans were set up on Lismore Road, off Macclesfield Road and at Dove Holes.
After a decline as a spa resort in the earlier 20th century, Buxton had a resurgence in the 1950s and 1970s. The Playhouse Theatre kept a repertory
A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation.
United Kingdom
Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawin ...
company and pop concerts were held at the Octagon (including the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
in 1963). The Opera House re-opened in 1979 with the launch of the Buxton Festival, and the town was being used as a base for exploring the Peak District.
Geography and geology
Although outside the National Park boundary, Buxton is in the western part of the Peak District, between the Lower Carboniferous
The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...
limestone of the White Peak
The White Peak, also known as the Low Peak, is a Carboniferous limestone, limestone plateau that forms the central and southern part of the Peak District in England. It is mostly between and above sea-level and is enclosed by the higher altitu ...
to the east and the Upper Carboniferous shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...
, sandstone and gritstone
Gritstone or grit is a hard, coarse-grained, siliceous sandstone. This term is especially applied to such sandstones that are quarried for building material. British gritstone was used for millstones to mill flour, to grind wood into pulp for pa ...
of the Dark Peak
The Dark Peak is the higher and wilder part of the Peak District in England, mostly forming the northern section but also extending south into its eastern and western margins. It is mainly in Derbyshire but parts are in Staffordshire, Cheshire, ...
to the west. The early settlement (of which only the parish church of St Anne, built in 1625, remains) was largely made of limestone, while the present buildings of locally quarried sandstone, mostly date from the late 18th century.
At the south edge of the town, the River Wye
The River Wye (; cy, Afon Gwy ) is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, fourth-longest river in the UK, stretching some from its source on Plynlimon in mid Wales to the Severn estuary. For much of its length the river forms part of Wal ...
has carved an extensive limestone cavern known as Poole's Cavern. More than 330 yards (300 metres) of its chambers are open to the public. It contains Derbyshire's largest stalactite
A stalactite (, ; from the Greek 'stalaktos' ('dripping') via
''stalassein'' ('to drip') is a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man-made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material that is soluble an ...
and some unique "poached egg" stalagmite
A stalagmite (, ; from the Greek , from , "dropping, trickling")
is a type of rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave due to the accumulation of material deposited on the floor from ceiling drippings. Stalagmites are typically ...
s. Its name recalls a local highwayman.
Climate
Buxton has an oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
with short, mild summers and long, cool winters. At about above sea level, As the highest market town
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...
in England, Buxton's elevation makes it cooler and wetter than surrounding towns, with a daytime temperature typically about 2 °C lower than Manchester.
A Met Office
The Meteorological Office, abbreviated as the Met Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and is led by CEO Penelope E ...
weather station has collected climate data for the town since 1867, with digitised data from 1959 available online. In June 1975, the town suffered a freak snowstorm that stopped play during a cricket match.
Notable architecture
The many visitors to Buxton for its thermal waters, particularly in the 18th and 19th centuries, led to several new buildings to provide hospitality facilities.
The Old Hall Hotel
The Old Hall Hotel is a hotel in Buxton, Derbyshire, England, and is one of the oldest buildings in the town.
The current building dates from the Restoration period, built around and incorporating an earlier fortified tower.
According to the ''De ...
is one of the town's oldest buildings. It was owned by George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury
George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, 6th Earl of Waterford, 12th Baron Talbot, KG, Earl Marshal
(c. 1522/1528 – 18 November 1590) was an English magnate and military commander. He also held the subsidiary titles of 15th Baron Strange of ...
, who with his wife, Bess of Hardwick, acted as the "gaolers" of Mary, Queen of Scots, who came to Buxton several times to take the waters, her final visit being in 1584. The present building dates from 1670, and has a five-bay front with a Tuscan doorway.
The Grade I listed Crescent was built in 1780–1784 for the 5th Duke of Devonshire, as part of his effort to turn Buxton into a fashionable spa town. Modelled on Bath's Royal Crescent
The Royal Crescent is a row of 30 terraced houses laid out in a sweeping Crescent (architecture), crescent in the city of Bath, Somerset, Bath, England. Designed by the architect John Wood, the Younger and built between 1767 and 1774, it is a ...
, it was designed by architect John Carr, together with the neighbouring irregular octagon and colonnade of the Great Stables. These were completed in 1789, but in 1859 were largely converted to a charity hospital for the "sick poor" by Henry Currey, architect to the 7th Duke of Devonshire's. Currey had previously worked on St Thomas' Hospital
St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS teaching hospital in Central London, England. It is one of the institutions that compose the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. Administratively part of the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foun ...
in London. It became known as the Devonshire Royal Hospital
The Devonshire Royal Hospital was established as the Devonshire Hospital in 1859 in Buxton, Derbyshire by the Buxton Bath Charity for the treatment of the poor. The hospital was built in the converted stable block of The Crescent. The building ...
in 1934. Later phases of conversion after 1881 were by local architect Robert Rippon Duke
Robert Rippon Duke (31 May 1817 16 August 1909) was an English architect and surveyor who designed various prominent Victorian buildings in Buxton, Derbyshire.
Life
Duke was born in Hull, the son of a whaler, in 1817.
He moved to Buxton and in ...
, including his design for The Devonshire Dome
The Devonshire Dome building (previously known as the Devonshire Royal Hospital) is a Listed building, Grade II* listed 18th-century former Stable, stable block in Buxton, Derbyshire. It was built by John Carr (architect), John Carr of York and ...
as the world's largest unsupported dome
A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
, with a diameter of – larger than the Pantheon
Pantheon may refer to:
* Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building
Arts and entertainment Comics
*Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization
* ''Pantheon'' (Lone S ...
at , St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...
at in Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, and St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...
at . The record was surpassed only by space frame
In architecture and structural engineering, a space frame or space structure ( 3D truss) is a rigid, lightweight, truss-like structure constructed from interlocking struts in a geometric pattern. Space frames can be used to span large areas with ...
domes such as the Georgia Dome
The Georgia Dome was a domed stadium in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta between downtown to the east and Vine City to the west, it was owned and operated by the State of Georgia as part of the Georgia World Congress Center ...
(). The building and its surrounding Victorian villas are now part of the University of Derby
, mottoeng = Experience is the best teacher
, established = 1851 – Teacher Training College1992 – gained university status
, type = Public
, chancellor = William Cavendish, Ea ...
.
Currey also designed the Grade II listed Buxton Baths
The Buxton Baths using natural thermal spring water are in Buxton, Derbyshire, England. The baths date back to Roman times and were the basis for developing Buxton as a Georgian and Victorian spa town. The present buildings of the Thermal Baths ...
, comprising the Natural Mineral Baths to the west of The Crescent and Buxton Thermal Baths to the east, which opened in 1854 on the site of the original Roman baths, together with the 1884 Pump Room opposite. The Thermal Baths, closed in 1963 and at risk of demolition, were restored and converted into a shopping arcade by conservation architects Derek Latham and Company. Architectural artist Brian Clarke
Brian Clarke (born 2 July 1953) is a British painter, architectural artist and printmaker, known for his large-scale stained glass and mosaic projects, symbolist paintings, set designs, and collaborations with major figures in Modern and conte ...
contributed to the refurbishment; his scheme, designed in 1984 and completed in 1987, was for a landmark modern artwork, a barrel-vaulted modern stained glass ceiling to enclose the former baths — at the time the largest stained glass window in the British Isles — creating an atrial space for what became the Cavendish Arcade. Visitors could "take the waters" at The Pump Room until 1981. Between 1981 and 1995 the building housed the Buxton Micrarium Exhibition, an interactive display with 50 remote-controlled microscopes. The building was refurbished as part of the National Lottery-funded Buxton Crescent and Thermal Spa re-development. Beside it, added in 1940, is St Ann's Well. In October 2020 Ensana reopened the Crescent as a 5-star spa hotel, after a 17-year refurbishment.
Nearby stands the imposing monument to Samuel Turner (1805–1878), treasurer of the Devonshire Hospital and Buxton Bath Charity, built in 1879 and accidentally lost for the latter part of the 20th century during construction work, before being found and restored in 1994.["Historic agreement paves way for Crescent development"]
, High Peak Borough Council, 2 April 2012.
When the railways arrived in Buxton in 1863, Buxton railway station
Buxton railway station serves the Peak District town of Buxton in Derbyshire, England. It is managed and served by Northern. The station is south east of Manchester Piccadilly and is the terminus of the Buxton Line.
History
Two railways a ...
had been designed by Joseph Paxton
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
, previously gardener and architect to William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire. Paxton also contributed the layout of the Park Road circular estate. He is perhaps known best for his design of the Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibit ...
in London. Buxton Town Hall
Buxton Town Hall was opened in 1889 on the Market Place in Buxton, Derbyshire, England. It lies in the town's central Conservation area (United Kingdom), Conservation Area overlooking The Slopes, Buxton, The Slopes. It is a Grade-II-listed build ...
, designed by William Pollard, was completed in 1889.
Other architecture
Buxton Opera House, designed by Frank Matcham
Francis Matcham (22 November 1854 – 17 May 1920)Mackintosh, Iain"Matcham, Frank" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, accessed 7 July 2019 was an English architect who specialised in the design o ...
in 1903, is the highest opera-house site in the country. Matcham, a theatre architect, was responsible for several London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
theatres, including the London Palladium
The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 an ...
, the London Coliseum
The London Coliseum (also known as the Coliseum Theatre) is a theatre in St Martin's Lane, Westminster, built as one of London's largest and most luxurious "family" variety theatres. Opened on 24 December 1904 as the London Coliseum Theatre ...
and the Hackney Empire
Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street, in the London Borough of Hackney. Originally designed by Frank Matcham it was built in 1901 as a music hall, and expanded in 2001. Described by ''The Guardian'' as ‘the most beautiful theatre in L ...
. Opposite is an original Penfold octagonal post box. The opera house is attached to the Pavilion Gardens, Octagonal Hall (built in 1875) and the smaller Pavilion Arts Centre (previously The Hippodrome and the Playhouse Theatre.). Buxton Pavilion Gardens
Buxton Pavilion Gardens is a Victorian era, Victorian landscaped public park in the spa town of Buxton in Derbyshire. The River Wye, Derbyshire, River Wye flows through the gardens, which are a Grade II* listed public park of Special Historic Inter ...
, designed by Edward Milner, contain 93,000 m2 of gardens and ponds and were opened in 1871. These form a Grade II* listed public park of Special Historic Interest. Milner's design was a development of Joseph Paxton
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
's landscape for the Serpentine Walks in the 1830s.
The 122-room Palace Hotel, also designed by Currey and built in 1868, is a prominent feature of the Buxton skyline on the hill above the railway station.
The town is overlooked by Atop Grin Low hill, 1,441 feet (439 m) above sea level, by Grinlow Tower (locally also called Solomon's Temple
Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple (, , ), was the Temple in Jerusalem between the 10th century BC and . According to the Hebrew Bible, it was commissioned by Solomon in the United Kingdom of Israel before being inherited by th ...
), a two-storey granite, crooked, crenelated folly built in 1834 by Solomon Mycock to provide work for local unemployed, and restored in 1996 after lengthy closure. In the other direction, on Corbar Hill
Corbar Hill is a sandstone hill at the south end of Combs Moss, overlooking Buxton in Derbyshire, in the Peak District. The summit (marked by a trig pillar) is above sea level.
The north west side of the hill (and most of Combs Moss and Black ...
, 1,433 feet (437 m) above sea level, is the tall wooden Corbar Cross. Originally given to the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
by the Duke of Devonshire in 1950 to mark Holy Year, it was replaced in the 1980s. In 2010, during a visit of Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...
to the UK, it was cut down as a protest against a long history of child abuse at the Catholic St Williams School in Market Weighton
Market Weighton ( ) is a town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is one of the main market towns in the East Yorkshire Wolds and lies midway between Hull and York, about from either one. According to the 2011 UK cen ...
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
.[Symbol of Suffering]
. ''Buxton Advertiser
The ''Buxton Advertiser'' is an English weekly local newspaper published in Buxton, Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the ...
'', 23 September 2010. The Buxton ecumenical group Churches Together brought in several benefactors to replace the cross with a smaller one in May 2011.[Corbar cross rises again]
. ''Buxton Advertiser
The ''Buxton Advertiser'' is an English weekly local newspaper published in Buxton, Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the ...
'', 20 May 2011.
Many pubs and inns in Buxton
The pubs and inns in Buxton are an important part of the historical character of the town of Buxton, Derbyshire, in England. The inns date back to the 16th century and several are listed buildings. Most are within the Conservation Areas of Higher ...
are listed buildings reflecting the historic character of the town, although many buildings have been demolished. Lost buildings of Buxton include grand spa hotels, the Midland Railway station, the Picture House cinema and Cavendish Girls' Grammar School.
Culture
Cultural events include the annual Buxton Festival
The Buxton Festival is an annual summer festival of opera, music and (since 2000) a literary series, held in Buxton, Derbyshire, England since its beginnings in July 1979. The 2020 festival would have run but was cancelled due to the Covid-19 cri ...
, festivals and performances at the Buxton Opera House, and shows running at other venues alongside them. Buxton Museum and Art Gallery
__NOTOC__
Buxton Museum and Art Gallery focuses its collection on history, geology and archaeology primarily from the Peak District and Derbyshire.
The museum is located at Terrace Road, Buxton, England. The museum opens Tuesday to Saturday a ...
offers year-round exhibitions.
Buxton Festival
Buxton Festival, founded in 1979, is an opera and arts event held in July at the Opera House and other venues. It includes literary events in the mornings, concerts and recitals in the afternoon, and operas, many rarely performed, in the evenings. The quality of the opera programme has improved in recent years, after decades when, according to critic Rupert Christiansen Rupert Christiansen (born 1954) is an English writer, journalist and critic.
Life and career
Born in London, Christiansen is the grandson of Arthur Christiansen (former editor of the '' Daily Express'') and son of Kay and Michael Christiansen (for ...
, the festival featured "work of such mediocre quality that I just longed for someone to put it out of its misery." Running alongside is the Buxton Festival Fringe, known as a warm-up for the Edinburgh Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
. The Buxton Fringe features drama, music, dance, comedy, poetry, art exhibitions and films around the town. In 2018, 181 entrants signed up and comedy and theatre categories were at their largest.
Other festivals
The week-long ''Four Four Time'' music festival in February brings a variety of rock, pop, folk, blues, jazz and world music. The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival
The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival was founded in 1994 by Ian Smith and his son Neil and is held every summer in England. The two- or three-week Festival of Gilbert and Sullivan opera performances and fringe events attracts thousands ...
, a three-week theatre event from the end of July through most of August, was held in Buxton from 1994 to 2013; it moved to Harrogate
Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...
in 2014.
The Opera House offers a year-long programme of drama, concerts, comedy and other events. In September 2010, the Paxton Suite in the Pavilion Gardens reopened as the Pavilion Arts Centre after a £2.5 million reconstruction. Located behind the Opera House, it includes a 369-seat auditorium. The stage area can be converted into a separate 93-seat studio theatre.
Buxton Museum and Art Gallery
__NOTOC__
Buxton Museum and Art Gallery focuses its collection on history, geology and archaeology primarily from the Peak District and Derbyshire.
The museum is located at Terrace Road, Buxton, England. The museum opens Tuesday to Saturday a ...
holds local artefacts, geological
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Eart ...
and archaeological
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
samples (including the William Boyd Dawkins
Sir William Boyd Dawkins (26 December 183715 January 1929) was a British geologist and archaeologist. He was a member of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, Curator of the Manchester Museum and Professor of Geology at Owens College, Manc ...
collection) and 19th and 20th-century paintings, with work by Brangwyn
Sir Frank William Brangwyn (12 May 1867 – 11 June 1956) was a Welsh artist, painter, watercolourist, printmaker, illustrator, and designer.
Brangwyn was an artistic Jack of all trades, master of none, jack-of-all-trades. As well as pain ...
, Chagall
Marc Chagall; russian: link=no, Марк Заха́рович Шага́л ; be, Марк Захаравіч Шагал . (born Moishe Shagal; 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with se ...
, Chahine and their contemporaries. There are also displays by local and regional artists and other events. The Pavilion Gardens hold regular arts, crafts, antiques and jewellery
Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a wester ...
fairs.
Buxton's Well Dressing Festival in the week up to the second Saturday in July has been running in its current form since 1840, to mark the provision of fresh water to the high point of the town's marketplace. As well as the dressing of the wells, it includes a carnival procession and a funfair on the marketplace. Well dressing is an ancient custom unique to the Peak District and Derbyshire and thought to date back to Roman and Celtic times, when communities would dress wells to give thanks for supplies of fresh water.
Economy
Buxton's economy covers tourism, retail, quarrying, scientific research, light industry and mineral water bottling. The University of Derby is a noted employer. Surrounded by the Peak District National Park, it offers a range of cultural events; tourism is a major industry, with over a million visitors to Buxton each year. Buxton is the main centre for overnight accommodation in the Peak District, with over 64 per cent of the park's visitor bed space.[High Peak Profile]
, ''High Peak Borough Council'', September 2010.
The Buxton Mineral Water Company, owned by Nestlé, extracts and bottles mineral waters. The ''Buxton Advertiser
The ''Buxton Advertiser'' is an English weekly local newspaper published in Buxton, Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the ...
'' appears weekly. Potters of Buxton is the town's oldest department store, founded in 1860.
Quarrying
The Buxton lime industry has shaped the town's development and landscape since its 17th-century beginnings. Buxton Lime Firms (BLF) was formed by 13 quarry owners in 1891. BLF became part of Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) in 1926 and Buxton was the headquarters for I.C.I. Lime Division until the 1970s. Several limestone Quarry, quarries lie close, including the "Great Rocks Dale, Tunstead Superquarry", the largest producer of high-purity industrial limestone in Europe, employing 400. The quarrying sector also provides jobs in limestone processing and distribution. Other industrial employers include the Health and Safety Executive#The Health and Safety Laboratory, Health & Safety Laboratory, which engages in health and safety research and incident investigations and maintains over 350 staff locally.[
]
Education
The town hosts a University of Derby#University of Derby Buxton, University of Derby campus at the site of the former Devonshire Dome, Devonshire Royal Hospital, as well as the Buxton & Leek College formed by the August 2012 merger of the university with Leek College.
Secondary schools include Buxton Community School, at the former College Road site of Buxton College, and St Thomas More Catholic School, Buxton, St. Thomas More Catholic School. Others include Buxton Junior School, St Anne's Catholic Primary, Harpur Hill Primary School, Buxton Infant School, John Duncan School, Fairfield Infant & Nursery, Burbage Primary, Dove Holes CE Primary, Fairfield Endowed Junior, Peak Dale Primary, Leek College, Old Sams Farm Independent School, Hollinsclough CE Primary, Flash CE Primary, Earl Sterndale CE Primary, Peak Forest CE Primary and Combs Infant School.
Sport and civic organisations
The land above the town holds two small motorcycle speedway, speedway stadiums. Buxton Raceway (formerly High Edge Raceway), off the A53 Buxton to Leek road, is a motor sports circuit set up in 1974, hosting banger and stock car racing, as well as drifting events. It was home to the speedway team Buxton Hitmen, Buxton High Edge Hitmen in the mid-1990s before the team moved to a custom-built track to the north of the original one. The original track at High Edge Raceway was among the longest and trickiest in the UK. The new track is more conventional, with regular improvements being made. Buxton have been competitors in the Conference League (speedway), Conference League. Buxton Raceway was due to hold a floodlit 2019 BriSCA Formula 2 Stock Cars, BriSCA Formula 2 World Final.
Buxton's football club, Buxton F.C., plays at Silverlands and Buxton Cricket Club at the Park Road, Buxton, Park Road ground. Other team clubs are rugby union, Buxton Rugby Union and Buxton Hockey Club. There are also four Hope Valley League football clubs: Buxton Town, Peak Dale and Buxton Christians play at the Fairfield Centre and Blazing Rag at the Kents Bank Recreation Ground.
Buxton has two 18-hole golf courses. Cavendish Golf Club ranked among the top 100 in England. It was designed by the renowned Alister MacKenzie and dates from 1925. At Fairfield is Buxton and High Peak Golf Club, Buxton & High Peak Golf Club. Founded in 1887 on the site of Buxton Racecourse, it is the oldest in Derbyshire.
The hillside round Solomon's Temple is a popular local bouldering venue with many small outcrops giving problems mainly in the lower grades. These are described in the 2003 guidebook ''High over Buxton: A Boulderer's Guide''. Hoffman Quarry at Harpur Hill, sitting prominently above Buxton, is a local venue for sport climbing.
Youth groups include the Kaleidoscope Youth Theatre at the Pavilion Arts Centre, Buxton Squadron Air Training Corps, Air Cadets, Derbyshire Army Cadet Force and the Sea cadets, Sea Cadet Corps, in addition to units of the Scouts & Guide Association.
Buxton has three Masonic Lodges and a Royal Arch Chapter, which meets at the Masonic Hall, George Street. Phoenix Lodge of Saint Ann No. 1235 was consecrated in 1865, Buxton Lodge No. 1688 in 1877, and High Peak Lodge No. 1952 in 1881. The Royal Arch Chapter is attached to Phoenix Lodge of Saint Ann, and bears the same name and number, it being consecrated in 1872.
Media
Regional TV news comes from Salford-based BBC North West and ITV Granada, local radio from High Peak Radio on 106.4FM, and BBC Radio Derby on 96.0FM.
Transport
Railway
Buxton railway station
Buxton railway station serves the Peak District town of Buxton in Derbyshire, England. It is managed and served by Northern. The station is south east of Manchester Piccadilly and is the terminus of the Buxton Line.
History
Two railways a ...
has a generally half-hourly service to Stockport railway station, Stockport and Manchester Piccadilly station, Manchester Piccadilly along the Buxton line; trains are operated by Northern Trains, Northern. The journey to Manchester takes just under an hour.
History
Buxton had three railway stations. Two were aligned to the London and North Western Railway, LNWR: Buxton and Higher Buxton railway station, Higher Buxton; the latter was next to Clifton Road and closed in 1951. The third was Buxton railway station (Midland Railway), Buxton (Midland), situated next to the LNWR terminus. The Midland Railway station, closed on 6 March 1967, became the site for the Spring Gardens shopping centre. The trackbed of the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midland Junction Railway has, in part, been used as a walking and cycling path called the Monsal Trail.
Heritage
Peak Rail, a preserved railway group, has restored the section from Rowsley South railway station, Rowsley South to Matlock railway station, Matlock and has long-term ambitions to reopen it through to Buxton.
Buses
The town is served by bus routes that cross the Peak District National Park, including to the nearby towns of Whaley Bridge, Chapel-en-le-Frith, New Mills, Glossop and Ashbourne, Derbyshire, Ashbourne. The High Peak Buses, High Peak ''Transpeak'' service offers an hourly link southwards to Taddington, Bakewell, Matlock, Belper and Derby. There is also a High Peak bus direct to Manchester Airport, via Stockport. Other services link Buxton with Macclesfield, Leek, Staffordshire, Leek, Stoke-on-Trent, Sheffield, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Chesterfield and Meadowhall Interchange, Meadowhall.
Air
The nearest airports are Manchester Airport (22 miles away), Liverpool John Lennon Airport (48 miles) and East Midlands Airport (52 miles).
Demographics
In the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census, Buxton's population was 98.3% white, 0.6% Asian, 0.2% black and 0.8% mixed/multiple.
Famous Buxtonians
Public service
*Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury (1860–1921), styled Viscount Ingestre, ran in the early 1880s a daily Greyhound (fast) coach service for the 20 miles from Buxton Spa to his house at History of Alton Towers, Alton Towers.
*Henry Guppy (librarian), Henry Guppy CBE (1861–1948), Librarian of the John Rylands Research Institute and Library, John Rylands Library in Manchester from 1899 to 1948, lived in Buxton.
*Leonard W. Murray, Rear Admiral Leonard Warren Murray, CB, CBE (1896–1971 in Buxton), senior officer of the Royal Canadian Navy who played a significant role in the Battle of the Atlantic
*John Pilkington Hudson (1910 in Buxton – 2007), horticultural scientist and bomb disposal expert
*Herbert Eisner (1921–2011), British-German scientist high-expansion firefighting foam, playwright, schooled and lived in Buxton
*Tony Marchington (1955 in Buxworth – 2011), biotechnology entrepreneur and owner of the ''LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman, Flying Scotsman''
Politics
*Hugh Molson, Baron Molson, PC (1903–1991), Conservative [ retrieved January 2018.] MP for High Peak (UK Parliament constituency), High Peak 1939–1961
*Sir Spencer Le Marchant (1931–1986), Conservative MP for High Peak (UK Parliament constituency), High Peak 1970 to 1983
*Christopher Hawkins (High Peak MP), Christopher Hawkins (born 1937), Conservative MP for High Peak (UK Parliament constituency), High Peak 1983–1992
*Tom Levitt (born 1954), Labour MP High Peak (UK Parliament constituency), High Peak 1997–2010
*Andrew Bingham (born 1962 in Buxton), Conservative MP for High Peak (UK Parliament constituency), High Peak 2010–2017
The Arts
*Orlando Jewitt (1799–1869), architectural wood-engraver
*Vera Brittain
Vera Mary Brittain (29 December 1893 – 29 March 1970) was an English Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurse, writer, feminist, socialist and pacifist. Her best-selling 1933 memoir '' Testament of Youth'' recounted her experiences during the Fir ...
(1893–1970), author of ''Testament of Youth'' and mother of Shirley Williams, lived in Buxton from 1905 till 1915.
*Robert Stevenson (filmmaker), Robert Stevenson, (1905–1986), Buxton-born director of Walt Disney Pictures, Disney films including ''Mary Poppins (film), Mary Poppins''
*John Buxton Hilton (1921–1986), Buxton-born crime writer
*Angela Flanders (1927–2016), Buxton-born perfumer
*Marjorie Lynette Sigley (1928–1997), Buxton-born artist, writer and actress, teacher, choreographer, theatre director and TV producer
*Elizabeth Spriggs, (1929–2008), Buxton-born character actress with the Royal Shakespeare Company
*Tim Brooke-Taylor OBE (1940–2020), comic actor in The Goodies
*David Fallows (born 1945 in Buxton), Musicology, musicologist specializing in music of the Ars nova, late Middle Ages and the Renaissance music, Renaissance
*Dave Lee Travis (born 1945 in Buxton), former disc jockey, radio and TV presenter
*Lloyd Cole (born 1961 in Buxton), musician, songwriter, frontman of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
*Dan Rhodes (born 1972), writer, awarded the E. M. Forster Award in 2010, lives in Buxton.
*Bruno Langley (born 1983), actor, who played Adam Mitchell (Doctor Who), Adam Mitchell in ''Doctor Who'' and Todd Grimshaw in ''Coronation Street'', was brought up in Buxton.
*Lucy Spraggan (born 1991), musician (folk, acoustic, hip hop pop), went to school in Buxton.
Sport
*William Shipton (1861 in Buxton – 1941 in Buxton), cricketer, later a solicitor in Buxton
*Fred Smith (footballer, born 1887), Fred Smith (1887 in Buxton – 1957), footballer before WWI, mainly for Macclesfield Town F.C., Macclesfield
*Bobby Blood (1894 in Harpur Hill – 1988), footballer for Port Vale F.C., Port Vale, West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Brom and Stockport County F.C., Stockport
*George Bailey (athlete), George Bailey (1906 in Buxton – 2000), steeplechaser, competed at the 1932 Summer Olympics
*Frank Soo (1914 in Buxton – 1991), Stoke City F.C. footballer (173 pro appearances) and first mixed-race professional to represent England
*John Tarrant (athlete), John Tarrant (1932–1975), long-distance runner,[Amazing Story of the Ghost Runner]
Derby Telegraph, 11 December 2011, Retrieved 14 September 2015. ''"The Ghost Runner"'', lived in Buxton.
*Mick Andrews (born 1944 in Buxton), former international motorcycle trials rider
*Les Bradd (born 1947 in Buxton), former footballer, over 580 pro appearances, all-time leading goalscorer for Notts County F.C., Notts County
*Carl Mason (born 1953 in Buxton), professional golfer
*Mark Higgins (footballer), Mark Higgins (born 1958 in Buxton), former Everton F.C., Everton, Bury F.C., Bury and Stoke City F.C., Stoke footballer, 265 pro appearances
*Lorraine Winstanley (born 1975) and Dean Winstanley (born 1981), British Darts Organisation, BDO darts players, live in Buxton.
*Ben Burgess (born 1981 in Buxton), Irish footballer, played for Hull City F.C. and Blackpool F.C.
*Abbie Wood (born 1999 in Buxton) swam in two finals at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Literature
A series of four recent novels by Sarah Ward (novelist), Sarah Ward – ''In Bitter Chill'' (2015), ''A Deadly Thaw'' (2017), ''A Patient Fury'' (2018) and ''The Shrouded Path'' (2019) – feature the fictional town of Bampton, which the author states "is partly based on Buxton with its Georgian architecture, Bakewell, a well-heeled market town... and Cromford with its canal and fantastic industrial heritage."
Bill Bryson recounts his visit to Buxton in his 2015 book ''The Road to Little Dribbling''.
Vera Brittain
Vera Mary Brittain (29 December 1893 – 29 March 1970) was an English Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurse, writer, feminist, socialist and pacifist. Her best-selling 1933 memoir '' Testament of Youth'' recounted her experiences during the Fir ...
grew up in Buxton and in her memoir ''Testament of Youth'', she is critical of the town's snobbery.
Buxton is mentioned in James Joyce's ''Ulysses (novel), Ulysses'' at the beginning of chapter 10. Father Conmee, a Jesuit priest, encounters the wife of David Sheehy MP and in their exchange says that he "would go to Buxton, probably, for the waters".
The Victorian diarist Anne Lister recounts her visit to Buxton during August 1816 in her journal.
Buxton's St Ann's Well and Poole's Cavern were listed as two of the Seven Wonders of the Peak
The Seven Wonders of the Peak were described in the 17th century by the philosopher Thomas Hobbes in his book ''De Mirabilibus Pecci: Being The Wonders of the Peak in Darby-shire, Commonly called The Devil's Arse of Peak.'' The wonders refer to ...
, in Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5/15 April 1588 – 4/14 December 1679) was an English philosopher, considered to be one of the founders of modern political philosophy. Hobbes is best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influent ...
's 17th century book ''De Mirabilibus Pecci: Being The Wonders of the Peak in Darby-shire, Commonly called The Devil's Arse of Peak.''
See also
*Listed buildings in Buxton
*Buxton Hospital
*Cavendish Hospital
*Lightwood Reservoir
*Macclesfield group power stations
*Pubs and inns in Buxton
Sources
Notes
References
Further reading
*W. Bemrose, ''Guide to Buxton and Neighbourhood'', Bemrose & Sons, London, 1869
*''Black's Guide to Buxton and the Peak country of Derbyshire'', A. and C. Black, 1898
*Tom Aitken, ''One Hundred & One Beautiful Towns in Great Britain'', Rizzoli, 2008
*
*Mike Langham, ''Buxton: A People's History,'' Carnegie Publishing, 2001
External links
*
Buxton Newsdesk, Latest Buxton and High Peak News
Visit Buxton.co.uk
Explore Buxton
{{Authority control
Buxton,
Towns in Derbyshire
Spa towns in England
Towns and villages of the Peak District
Unparished areas in Derbyshire
High Peak, Derbyshire