Buxton

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Buxton is a spa town in Derbyshire, England which is close to the Cheshire/Derbyshire border at Kettleshulme and is described as "the gateway to the Peak District National Park" (true from the west). A municipal borough until 1974, Buxton was then merged with other localities including Glossop, lying primarily to the north, to form the local government district and borough of High Peak within the county of Derbyshire. Buxton is within the sphere of influence of Greater Manchester due to its close proximity to the conurbation.


Contents

History

Built on the River Wye, and overlooked by Axe Edge Moor, Buxton has a long history as a spa town due to its geothermal spring which rises at a constant temperature of 28 °C. The source of the spring is marked by St. Ann's Well opposite The Crescent near the town centre. Each summer the wells are decorated according to the local tradition of well dressing.

Initially developed by the Romans around AD 78, the settlement was known as Aquae Arnemetiae (or the spa of the goddess of the grove), although little evidence remains to be seen today. The town largely grew in importance in the late 18th century when it was developed by the Dukes of Devonshire, with a second resurgence a century later as the Victorians were drawn to the reputed healing properties of the waters.

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 jailer of Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1569, and they took Mary there in 1573 — she called Buxton "La Fontagne de Bogsby", but stayed at the Old Hall Hotel.


Notable architecture

  • The Crescent (1780–1784) was modelled on Bath's Royal Crescent by John Carr along with the neighbouring Great Stables. In 1859 Henry Currey converted the stables into the Devonshire Royal Hospital (now the University of Derby, Devonshire Royal campus). Later phases of the conversion were by local architect Robert Rippon Duke including his design for what was the world's largest unsupported dome with a diameter of 47 m, beating St Peter's Basilica (42 m) and the Pantheon of Rome (43 m). However, this record is now routinely beaten by space frame domes such as the Georgia Dome (256 m). The dome is now part of the University of Derby.
  • Buxton Opera House was designed by Frank Matcham in 1903. He was a famous theatrical architect and also designed several London theatres including the London Palladium, the London Coliseum and the Hackney Empire.
  • Buxton railway station was designed by Joseph Paxton, and who also designed the layout of the Park Road circular estate. He is perhaps more famous for his design of the Crystal Palace in London.


Culture

The annual Buxton Festival and the three-week long International Gilbert and Sullivan Festivals are held in the refurbished Opera House. The Buxton Festival, which runs for about two weeks in mid-July, is particularly noted for its Handel productions and the presentations of rare operas, with top quality artists and orchestras.

Running alongside it is the Buxton Festival Fringe. It is popular as a warm-up for the Edinburgh Fringe, and it now claims to be the largest 'true' fringe festival in the UK.

Buxton has a range of other cultural activities including Screen Buxton, an innovative, new film club.


Geology

Built on the boundary of the Carboniferous limestone and the Derbyshire shale and gritstone, the original settlement was largely of limestone construction, of which only the parish church of St. Anne, built in 1625, remains. The present buildings, of locally quarried sandstone, mostly date from the late eighteenth century.


Economy

Buxton's mixed economy includes revenue derived from the commercialisation of the local spring waters, bottled and marketed by the Buxton Mineral Water Company (now owned by Nestlé Waters UK). Other major economic activities include tourism, and limestone quarrying. The presence of the opera house and Gilbert and Sullivan Festivals in the summer both generate a good deal of economic activity.

In 2004 Barclays Bank published a survey of its customers showing that the High Peak borough had the largest percentage year-on-year increase of people earning over £60,000 of anywhere in Britain.

Buxton is twinned with two other towns - Oignies in France and Bad Nauheim in Germany.


Climate

At 307 metres (1,000 feet) above sea level, Buxton is the highest market town in England — see, however, the article on Alston, Cumbria, which also makes this claim (but lacks a regular market). Buxton has an annual rainfall (1959-1995) of 1,286 mm with a mean temperature (1959-1995) of 7.8 °C. The town is sometimes described by Derbyshire locals as being 'a top coat colder'.


Public transport

Buxton has a railway station with frequent links to Stockport, and the nearby city of Manchester. Like most busy towns, Buxton had two stations. Unfortunately, in the mid 1960's this other station was demolished to make way for a shopping centre. You can still see part of the building opposite the traffic lights. The town's buses offer affordable travel into the Peak District National Park. Other buses run to the nearby towns of Chapel en le Frith, New Mills and Glossop, as well as the 'Transpeak' coach service, offering an hourly link to Matlock, Derby and Nottingham. There is a Trent Bus directly from the Manchester Airport to Buxton. Other buses provide a roughly two hourly service linking Buxton with Stoke-on-Trent and Buxton with Sheffield. Some locals consider the public transportation system poor because of its consistent lack of reliability and limitations in making local travel (e.g. to the Hope Valley area). Journeys to more distant locations like Manchester are easier to make than to many local villages.


Famous Buxtonians


Pages linking here


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County:  Derbyshire




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