Buxton

For other uses, see Buxton (disambiguation).
Buxton

Buxton town centre
Buxton
 Buxton shown within Derbyshire
Population 22,215 (2011 Census)
OS grid referenceSK059735
DistrictHigh Peak
Shire countyDerbyshire
RegionEast Midlands
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town BUXTON
Postcode district SK17
Dialling code 01298
Police Derbyshire
Fire Derbyshire
Ambulance East Midlands
EU Parliament East Midlands
UK ParliamentHigh Peak
List of places
UK
England
Derbyshire

Coordinates: 53°15′32″N 1°54′40″W / 53.259°N 1.911°W / 53.259; -1.911

Buxton is a spa town in Derbyshire, England. It has the highest elevation of any market town in England.[1][nb 1] Close to the county boundary with Cheshire to the west and Staffordshire to the south, Buxton is described as "the gateway to the Peak District National Park".[1] A municipal borough until 1974, Buxton was then merged with other localities lying primarily to the north, including Glossop, to form the local government district and borough of High Peak within the county of Derbyshire. Economically, Buxton is within the sphere of influence of Greater Manchester. The population of the town was 22,115 at the 2011 Census.[2]

Buxton is home to Poole's Cavern, an extensive limestone cavern open to the public, and St Ann's Well, fed by the geothermal spring bottled and sold internationally by Buxton Mineral Water Company. Also in the town is the Buxton Opera House, which hosts several music and theatre festivals each year. The Devonshire Campus of the University of Derby is housed in one of the town's historic buildings.

Buxton is twinned with two other towns: Oignies in France and Bad Nauheim in Germany.[3]

History

Roman settlement

The Romans developed a settlement known as Aquae Arnemetiae[1] (or the spa of the goddess of the grove). The discovery of coins indicates that the Romans were in Buxton throughout their occupation.[4] The origins of the town's name are uncertain. It may be derived from the Old English for Buck Stone or for Rocking Stone.[5] The town grew in importance in the late 18th century when it was developed by the Dukes of Devonshire, with a resurgence a century later as the Victorians were drawn to the reputed healing properties of the waters.

Spa town boom

People filling up bottles with water at St Ann's Well
Buxton Wells, from a 1610 map

Built on the River Wye, and overlooked by Axe Edge Moor, Buxton has a history as a spa town due to its geothermal spring[6] which rises at a constant temperature of 28 °C. The spring waters are piped to St Ann's Well (a shrine to St. Anne since medieval times) opposite the Crescent near the town centre.[7]

The Dukes of Devonshire have been closely involved with Buxton since 1780, when the 5th Duke used the profits from his copper mines to develop the town as a spa in the style of Bath. Their ancestor Bess of Hardwick had taken one of her four husbands, the Earl of Shrewsbury, to "take the waters" at Buxton shortly after he became the gaoler of Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1569, and they took Mary there in 1573. She called Buxton "La Fontagne de Bogsby", and stayed at the site of the Old Hall Hotel. The area features in the poetry of W. H. Auden and the novels of Jane Austen and Emily Brontë.[6]

Instrumental in the popularity of Buxton was the recommendation by Erasmus Darwin of the waters at Buxton and Matlock to Josiah Wedgwood I. The Wedgwood family often went to Buxton on holiday and recommended the area to their friends. Two of Charles Darwin's half-cousins, Edward Levett Darwin and Reginald Darwin, settled there.[8] The arrival of the railway in 1863 stimulated the town's growth: the population of 1,800 in 1861 had grown to over 6,000 by 1881.[9]

Each summer the wells are decorated according to the local tradition of well dressing. The well dressing weekend has developed into a town carnival with live music and funfair.[10] In 2013, the Academy of Urbanism named Buxton as one of the three most attractive towns in Britain.[11]

A thriving Buxton in 1965 with shoppers and tourists filling Spring Gardens

Geography and geology

Built on the boundary of the Lower Carboniferous limestone and the Upper Carboniferous shale, sandstone and gritstone, the early settlement (of which only the parish church of St Anne, built in 1625, remains) was largely of limestone construction. The present buildings, of locally quarried sandstone, mostly date from the late 18th century.

At the southern edge of the town the River Wye 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. The cavern contains Derbyshire's largest stalactite and there are unique 'poached egg' stalagmites. A notorious local highwayman called Poole gave the cavern its name.[12]

Climate

At 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea level, Buxton is the highest market town in England.[nb 1] Due to this relatively high elevation, Buxton tends to be cooler than surrounding towns, with daytime temperature typically around 2 °C lower than Manchester. A Met Office weather station has collected climate date for the town since 1908, with digitized data from 1959 available online. In June 1975, the town was hit by a freak snowstorm that stopped play during a cricket match.[13]

Climate data for Buxton, elevation: 289m (1981-2010) Extremes (1959 - present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 13.0
(55.4)		 15.3
(59.5)		 20.0
(68)		 23.9
(75)		 25.2
(77.4)		 29.0
(84.2)		 31.0
(87.8)		 32.7
(90.9)		 25.5
(77.9)		 21.1
(70)		 15.7
(60.3)		 13.7
(56.7)		 32.7
(90.9)
Average high °C (°F) 5.2
(41.4)		 5.3
(41.5)		 7.7
(45.9)		 10.5
(50.9)		 14.2
(57.6)		 16.8
(62.2)		 18.9
(66)		 18.5
(65.3)		 15.5
(59.9)		 11.6
(52.9)		 8.0
(46.4)		 5.5
(41.9)		 11.5
(52.7)
Daily mean °C (°F) 2.9
(37.2)		 2.8
(37)		 4.7
(40.5)		 6.9
(44.4)		 10.1
(50.2)		 12.9
(55.2)		 15.0
(59)		 14.6
(58.3)		 12.1
(53.8)		 8.8
(47.8)		 5.6
(42.1)		 3.2
(37.8)		 8.3
(46.9)
Average low °C (°F) 0.5
(32.9)		 0.2
(32.4)		 1.7
(35.1)		 3.2
(37.8)		 5.9
(42.6)		 8.9
(48)		 11.0
(51.8)		 10.7
(51.3)		 8.7
(47.7)		 5.9
(42.6)		 3.1
(37.6)		 0.8
(33.4)		 5.1
(41.2)
Record low °C (°F) −14.4
(6.1)		 −13.3
(8.1)		 −11.1
(12)		 −8.0
(17.6)		 −2.9
(26.8)		 −0.4
(31.3)		 2.2
(36)		 2.5
(36.5)		 −0.6
(30.9)		 −6.2
(20.8)		 −9.3
(15.3)		 −14.0
(6.8)		 −13.3
(8.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 136.5
(5.374)		 100.4
(3.953)		 113.7
(4.476)		 89.9
(3.539)		 77.1
(3.035)		 90.4
(3.559)		 87.8
(3.457)		 100.1
(3.941)		 107.3
(4.224)		 147.1
(5.791)		 133.4
(5.252)		 145.7
(5.736)		 1,329.4
(52.339)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 17.0 13.6 15.5 12.6 11.9 12.6 12.7 13.5 12.7 16.2 16.3 16.4 171.0
Mean monthly sunshine hours 41.2 63.1 93.8 140.2 180.2 166.4 178.5 167.6 123.8 91.4 51.0 37.7 1,334.8
Source #1: Met Office[14]
Source #2: KNMI[15]

Notable architecture

With the increasing popularity of Buxton's thermal waters in the 18th and 19th centuries, a number of buildings were commissioned to provide for the hospitality of tourists retreating to the town.

The Old Hall Hotel is one of the oldest buildings in Buxton. It was owned by the 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, George Talbot. He and his wife, Bess of Hardwick, were the "gaolers" of Mary, Queen of Scots. She came to Buxton several times to take the waters, the last time in 1584. The present building dates from 1670 and has a five-bay front with a Tuscan doorway.[17]

Buxton Crescent and St Ann's Well

The Crescent was built between 1780 and 1784, modelled on Bath's Royal Crescent by John Carr along with the neighbouring irregular octagon and colonnade of the Great Stables. The Crescent features a grand assembly room with a fine painted ceiling. Nearby stands the elegant and 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. The Crescent has been unoccupied for many years, but plans are in place for it to be converted into a hotel.[18]

Corbar Hill and the Dome

The neighbouring Great Stables 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 and previously of St Thomas' Hospital in London. It became known as the Devonshire Royal Hospital in 1934. Later phases of the conversion following 1881 were by local architect Robert Rippon Duke including his design for The Devonshire Dome, which was the world's largest unsupported dome with a diameter of 144 feet (44 m), larger than the Pantheon at 141 feet (43 m), St Peter's Basilica at 138 feet (42 m) in Rome, and St Paul's Cathedral at 112 feet (34 m). The record was surpassed by space frame domes such as the Georgia Dome (840 feet (260 m)). The building and its surrounding Victorian villas are now part of the University of Derby.

Currey also designed The Natural Mineral Baths, opened in 1854 on the site of the original Roman baths, and The Pump Room, built in 1884 opposite The Crescent. The Natural Baths feature a barrel vaulted stained glass canopy — the largest stained glass window in Britain — designed by Brian Clarke, and were re-developed as an arcade in 1987.[19] Visitors could 'take the waters' at The Pump Room until 1981. Between 1981 and 1995 the building housed the unique Micrarium Exhibition.[20] The building is being 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.

When the railways arrived in Buxton in 1863, Buxton railway station was opened under the design of Joseph Paxton, previously gardener and architect to William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire. Paxton also designed the layout of the Park Road circular estate; he is perhaps most famous for his design of the Crystal Palace in London.

Other architecture

Corbar Cross[22][nb 2]

Culture

Opera House, Buxton

Cultural events include the annual Buxton Festival, among other festivals and performances held in the Buxton Opera House, with shows running at other venues alongside this. Buxton Museum & Art Gallery offers year-round exhibitions.

Buxton Festival

The Buxton Festival, founded in 1979, is an opera and arts festival that runs for about three weeks in July at various venues including the Opera House.[24] The programme includes literary events in the mornings, concerts and recitals in the afternoon, and operas, many of them rarely performed, in the evenings.[25] There has been an increase in the quality of the operatic programme in recent years, after decades when, according to critic Rupert Christiansen, the festival featured "work of such mediocre quality that I just longed for someone to put it out of its misery."[26][27] Running alongside it is the Buxton Festival Fringe, known as a warm-up for the Edinburgh Fringe. The Buxton fringe features drama, music, dance, comedy, poetry, art exhibitions and films in various venues around the town. In 2014 there were nearly 600 events from over 150 entrants.[28]

Other festivals

The week-long Four Four Time music festival is held every February and features a variety of rock, pop, folk, blues, jazz and world music.[29] The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival, a three-week theatre festival from the end of July through most of August, was held in Buxton from 1994 to 2013; it moved to Harrogate in 2014.[30] By June 2013, 25,000 tickets had been sold for the 2013 events.[31]

The Opera House has a year-long programme of drama, concerts, comedy and other events.[32] In September 2010, following a £2.5 million reconstruction, the former Paxton Suite in the Pavilion Gardens re-opened as a performance venue called the Pavilion Arts Centre. The centre, located behind the Opera House, includes a 369-seat auditorium. The stage area can be converted into a separate 93-seat studio theatre.[33][34]

Buxton Museum & Art Gallery has a permanent collection of local artefacts, geological and archaeological samples (including the William Boyd Dawkins collection) and 19th- and 20th-century paintings, including works by Brangwyn, Chagall, Chahine and their contemporaries. There are also regular exhibitions by local and regional artists and various other events.[35] The Pavilion Gardens hosts regular arts, crafts, antiques and jewellery fairs.[36]

Folklore

According to local folklore, a farm three miles to the north-east of Buxton possesses a screaming skull called Dickie.[37]

Economy

Buxton has a mixed economy including tourism, retail, quarrying, scientific research, light industry and mineral water bottling. The University of Derby is a significant employer. The town is surrounded by the Peak District National Park and offers a range of cultural events; tourism is a major industry, with more than a million visitors to Buxton each year. Buxton is the main centre for overnight accommodation within the Peak District, with more than 64% of the park's visitor bed space.[38]

The Buxton Mineral Water Company (owned by Nestle) extracts and bottles mineral waters in Buxton.[39] A local newspaper, the Buxton Advertiser, is published weekly.

J.W. Potter & Co is located in the town and is the oldest department store in the town and surrounding area, established in 1860.[40]

Quarrying

Several Limestone quarries are located close to Buxton,[41] including the "Tunstead Superquarry", the largest producer of high-purity industrial limestone in Europe, which employs 400 people.[42] The quarrying sector also provides employment in limestone processing[43] and distribution.[44] Other industrial employers include the Health & Safety Laboratory, which engages in health and safety research and incident investigations and maintains over 350 staff locally.[38][45][46]

Education

The town hosts a University of Derby campus at the site of the former Devonshire Royal Hospital, as well as the Buxton & Leek College formed by the August 2012 merger of the university with Leek College.

Secondary schools in the town include Buxton Community School (at the former College Road site of Buxton College) and St. Thomas More Catholic School.[47] Other nearby schools include Buxton Junior School,[48] St. Anne's Catholic Primary School,[49] Harpur Hill Primary School,[50] Buxton Infant School,[51] John Duncan School, Fairfield Infant & Nursery School, Burbage Primary School, Dove Holes C. E. Primary School, Fairfield Endowed Junior School, Peak Dale Primary School, Leek College, Old Sams Farm Independent School, Hollinsclough C.E Primary School, Flash C.E. Primary School, Earl Sterndale C of E Primary School, Peak Forest C of E Primary School and Combs Infant School.[52]

Sport and civic organisations

In the high land above the town there are two small speedway stadia. The High Edge Raceway was the original home of the speedway team Buxton High Edge Hitmen in the mid-1990s before the team moved to the custom-built track immediately to the north of the original circuit. The original track in the High Edge Raceway[53] was amongst the shortest and trickiest tracks in the UK. The custom-built track is of a more conventional shape and length. Buxton have been regular competitors in the Conference League.[54][55]

Buxton has a football club Buxton F.C., who play at the Silverlands; a cricket club, Buxton Cricket Club;[56] a Buxton Rugby Union club;[57] and a hockey club, Buxton Hockey Club.[58] In addition, four Hope Valley League football clubs are based in Buxton: Buxton Town, Peak Dale and Buxton Christians play at the Fairfield Centre, with Blazing Rag playing at the Kents Bank Recreation Ground.

There are two 18-hole golf courses in Buxton. In the eastern suburb of Fairfield is the Buxton & High Peak club. Founded in 1887 it is the oldest in Derbyshire.[59] On the western edge of the town is the Cavendish Club (1925), designed by the renowned course architect Dr. Alister MacKenzie.[60]

Buxton Raceway (formerly High Edge Raceway) off the A53 Buxton to Leek road is a motor sports circuit established in the early 1970s, hosting banger and stock car racing, as well as drifting events.[61]

View of Buxton from Solomon's Temple

The hillside around 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.[62] Hoffman Quarry at Harpur Hill, sitting prominently above Buxton, is a local venue for sport climbing.[63]

Youth groups include the Kaleidoscope Youth Theatre at the Pavilion Arts Centre,[64] Buxton Squadron Air Cadets,[65] Derbyshire Army Cadet Force and the Sea Cadet Corps, in addition to units from the Scouts & Guide Association.

Buxton is home to three Masonic Lodges, and one Royal Arch Chapter, which meet at the Masonic Hall in George Street. Phoenix Lodge of Saint Ann No.1235 was consecrated in 1865; Buxton Lodge No.1688 was consecrated in 1877 and High Peak Lodge No.1952 was consecrated 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.[66]

Public transport

Buxton railway station is served by the former L&NWR and LMS line via Whaley Bridge. It has frequent trains to Stockport and the nearby city of Manchester. The journey from Buxton to Manchester Piccadilly takes just under an hour. Buxton had three railway stations, Two under the LNWR, Buxton and High Buxton, located next to Clifton Road which closed in 1951 and the Midland Railway station situated next door to the LNWR terminus, The Midland Railway station was closed on 6 March 1967, later becoming the site for the Spring Gardens shopping centre. The trackbed of the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway has in part been used as a walk and cycleway called the Monsal Trail. Peak Rail, a heritage railway group, have restored the section from Rowsley to Matlock, with the long-term objective of re-opening it back to Buxton.

The town's buses include services into the Peak District National Park. Other buses run to the nearby towns of Whaley Bridge, Chapel en le Frith, New Mills and Glossop, and the High Peak 'Transpeak' service offers an hourly link southwards to Taddington, Matlock, Derby and Nottingham and northwards to Stockport and Manchester. There is also a High Peak bus directly from Manchester Airport to Buxton. Other buses provide roughly two-hourly services linking Buxton with Macclesfield, Stoke-on-Trent and Sheffield.[67] There are also taxi services based in the town.

Neighbouring towns and villages.
Whaley Bridge, Manchester Chapel-en-le-Frith, Glossop Castleton, Sheffield
Macclesfield, Congleton Chesterfield, Baslow
   Buxton  
Leek, Stoke-on-Trent Ashbourne, Derby Bakewell, Matlock

Famous Buxtonians

See also

Sources

Notes

  1. 1 2 Alston, Cumbria also makes this claim but lacks a regular market.
  2. ↑ This is a photo of the cross before it was cut down in 2010. It has since been restored.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Buxton – in pictures", BBC Radio Derby, March 2008, accessed 3 June 2013
  2. ↑ "Town population 2011". Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  3. ↑ Town Twinning website
  4. ↑ About Buxton, History of Buxton, accessed June 2009
  5. ↑ Buxton, Key to English Place Names, Institute for Name Studies, University of Nottingham, accessed 12 May 2011
  6. 1 2 Dunn, Paul. "Great British Weekend: Buxton", The Sunday Times, 17 April 2010, accessed 20 September 2011
  7. ↑ Historic England. "The Slopes, Buxton (1001456)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
  8. ↑ Darwin, Charles, Frederick Burkhardt and Sydney Smith. The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1985 ISBN 0-521-25587-2
  9. ↑ Railways of the Peak District, Blakemore & Mosley, 2003 ISBN 1-902827-09-0
  10. ↑ "Crowds flock to biggest Buxton Carnival for years", Buxton Advertiser, 14 July 2008, accessed 20 September 2011
  11. ↑ "Top towns in the British Isles include Buxton, in Derbyshire", BBC News Derby, 17 June 2013
  12. ↑ Oldham, T. "History of Poole's Cavern", Showcaves.com (2002)
  13. ↑ Francis, Tony. "June Snow", The Telegraph, 22 June 2005
  14. ↑ "Buxton 1981–2010 averages". Met Office. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  15. ↑ "Buxton extreme values". KNMI. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  16. ↑ "Buxton Climate", KNMI, accessed 8 November 2011
  17. ↑ Information about Buxton buildings
  18. ↑ "Historic agreement paves way for Crescent development", High Peak Borough Council, 2 April 2012
  19. ↑ "Natural Mineral Baths, Buxton", BritishListedBuildings.co.uk, accessed 4 May 2012
  20. ↑ Micrarium Enterprises
  21. ↑ The Palace Hotel's website
  22. 1 2 Corbar cross rises again. Buxton Advertiser, 20 May 2011
  23. ↑ Symbol of Suffering. Buxton Advertiser, 23 September 2010
  24. ↑ Buxton Festival 2010 Programme Buxton Festival Website, September 2010
  25. ↑ Buxton Festival Buxton Opera House Website, September 2010
  26. ↑ Christiansen, Rupert. "The Buxton Festival: aiming for peak performance". Telegraph Online, July 2010
  27. ↑ Canning, Hugh. Buxton Festival,Times Online, July 2008
  28. ↑ About Us. Buxton Festival Fringe
  29. ↑ "Four four time". Buxton Opera House website, September 2010
  30. ↑ Chalmers, Graham. "Harrogate wins topsy-turvy battle over G&S Festival", Wetherby News, June 5, 2014
  31. ↑ "Gilbert and Sullivan festival quits Buxton for Harrogate", BBC News Derby, 19 June 2013
  32. ↑ Whats On. Buxton Opera House, September 2010
  33. ↑ "The Pavilion Arts Centre". Pavilion Gardens website, September 2010
  34. ↑ Woolman, Natalie. "Buxton Opera House to open new Pavilion arts venue". The Stage, 7 September 2010
  35. ↑ "Buxton Museum and Art Gallery". Derbyshire County Council
  36. ↑ "Fairs & Events". Pavilion Gardens website
  37. ↑ Ash, Russell (1973). Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain. Reader's Digest Association Limited. p. 398. ISBN 9780340165973.
  38. 1 2 High Peak Profile, High Peak Borough Council, September 2010
  39. ↑ "Buxton Water", official website, March 2012
  40. ↑ J.W Potter & Co (BUXTON) Ltd, July 2015
  41. ↑ Quarries visible as large white areas in satellite image, Google Maps, September 2010
  42. ↑ Superquarries: Tunstead, British Geological Survey website, September 2010
  43. ↑ "Buxton Lime", Tarmac company website, September 2010
  44. ↑ Hailstone, Laura. "Lomas Distribution consolidates sites with new depot", Commercialmotor.com, 1 July 2008, accessed 29 August 2012
  45. ↑ About HSL, HSL Website, September 2010
  46. ↑ Health & Safety Laboratory, Northern Defence Industries Website
  47. ↑ "St. Thomas More Catholic School", accessed 4 February 2014
  48. ↑ "Buxton Junior School", accessed 4 February 2014
  49. ↑ "St. Anne's Catholic Primary School", accessed 4 February 2014
  50. ↑ "Harpur Hill Primary School", accessed 4 February 2014
  51. ↑ "Buxton Infant School", accessed 4 February 2014
  52. ↑ "Schools and Colleges Near Buxton, Derbyshire", accessed 4 February 2014
  53. ↑ "About Us", Buxton Raceway website
  54. ↑ "Speedway in Derbyshire", You and Yesterday, accessed on 16 December 2007
  55. ↑ Hubbert, Neil. "Victory for the Hitmen", Buxton Advertiser, 2 August 2007
  56. ↑ Buxton Cricket Club
  57. ↑ Buxton Rugby Club, accessed 10 December 2011
  58. ↑ Buxton Hockey Club
  59. ↑ Buxton & High Peak Golf Club website
  60. ↑ Cavendish Golf Club website
  61. ↑ "Buxton Raceway". Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  62. ↑ Warren, Daniel and Graham Warren. High over Buxton: A Boulderer's Guide, Raven Rock Books (2003) ISBN 0-9530352-1-2
  63. ↑ Gibson, Gary. From Horseshoe to Harpur Hill, BMC (2004) ISBN 0-903908-72-7
  64. ↑ "Kaleidoscope", Buxton Opera House, accessed 12 May 2011
  65. ↑ Buxton Air Cadets
  66. ↑ United Grand Lodge of England (2006) Directory of Lodges and Chapters London
  67. ↑ "Timetable Information", High Peak Buses, accessed 1 July 2012
  68. ↑ "Carl Mason", Player biographies, The PGA European Tour, accessed 1 July 2012
  69. ↑ Amazing Story of the Ghost Runner, Derby Telegraph, 11 December 2011, Retrieved 14 September 2015

Further reading

External links

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