Buxton
Buxton from Solomon's Temple looking northwards
Buxton shown within Derbyshire
Population	25,000
OS grid reference	SK059735
District	High Peak
Shire county	Derbyshire
Region	East Midlands
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BUXTON
Postcode district	SK17
Dialling code	01298
Police	Derbyshire
Fire	Derbyshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
European Parliament	East Midlands
UK Parliament	High Peak
List of places: UK • England • Derbyshire

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

Buxton is a spa town in Derbyshire, England. History The area that is now Derbyshire was first visited probably briefly by humans 200000 years ago during the Aveley Interglacial as evidenced by a Middle In Biology a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular Species; in Sociology The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using Latitude and Longitude The districts of England are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government High Peak is a Non-metropolitan district and Borough of the Non-metropolitan county of Derbyshire, England. Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties are one of the four levels of Subdivisions of England used for the purposes of Local government outside Greater London History The area that is now Derbyshire was first visited probably briefly by humans 200000 years ago during the Aveley Interglacial as evidenced by a Middle The region, also known as the government office region, is currently the highest tier of local government sub-national entity of England, with only one The East Midlands is one of the Regions of England and consists of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. Constituent country is a phrase used often by official institutions in contexts in which a country makes up a part of a larger entity or grouping England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland This list of sovereign states, alphabetically arranged gives an overview of States around the world with information on the extent of their Sovereignty. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system UK Postal codes are known as postcodes. UK postcodes are Alphanumeric. The SK postcode area, also known as the Stockport postcode area, is a group of postal districts around Alderley Edge, Buxton, Cheadle, Cheadle The UK Telephone numbering plan, also known as the National Telephone Numbering Plan, is the system used for assigning Telephone numbers in the United There are a number of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom. Derbyshire Constabulary is the Home Office Police force responsible for policing the county of Derbyshire, England. The fire service in the United Kingdom operates under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service is the Statutory fire and rescue service covering the area of Derbyshire, England History The East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS is the NHS ambulance service serving the East Midlands region of England. East Midlands is a constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects 6 MEPs using the D'Hondt method of Party-list proportional This is a list of the 646 constituencies currently represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, as at the 2005 general election High Peak is a County constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. A Gazetteer of place names in the United Kingdom showing each place's County, Unitary authority or council area and its geographical coordinates List of places --> List of cities in the United Kingdom List of towns in England Lists of places This is a list of settlements in Derbyshire, England A Abney Acresford Aldercar A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. See also Mineral spa A spa town, or simply spa, is a town frequented mainly for health reasons to "take the waters" History The area that is now Derbyshire was first visited probably briefly by humans 200000 years ago during the Aveley Interglacial as evidenced by a Middle England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Located close to the county boundary with Cheshire to the west, Buxton is described as "the gateway to the Peak District National Park". The Peak District is an upland area in central and northern England, lying mainly in northern Derbyshire, but also covering parts of Cheshire, Greater 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. Municipal boroughs were a type of Local government which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974 in Northern Ireland from 1840 to Glossop is a small Market town within the High Peak borough of Derbyshire, England. Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially ' shire districts', are a type of local government district in England. High Peak is a Non-metropolitan district and Borough of the Non-metropolitan county of Derbyshire, England. A county is a Land area of Regional Government within a larger State. Buxton is within the sphere of influence of Greater Manchester due to its close proximity to the county. Greater Manchester is a Metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2

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. The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian period about 359 Shale (also called mudstone) is a fine-grained Sedimentary rock whose original constituents were Clay minerals or Muds It is characterized by Gritstone — otherwise called Millstone grit — is a Sedimentary rock composed of coarse sand grains with inclusions of small stones Anne, built in 1625, remains. The present buildings, of locally quarried sandstone, mostly date from the late eighteenth century. The 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar, in accordance with the Anno Domini / Common Era numbering system

The river Wye has carved an extensive limestone cavern at the South edge of the town, known as Poole's Cavern, that is open to the public for viewing along more than 300 metres of chambers. Poole's Cavern or Poole's Hole is a 2 million year old natural limestone cave south of Buxton in the Peak District, in the county of Derbyshire

History

People filling up bottles of water at St Ann's Well

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. For other rivers named "Wye" see River Wye (disambiguation The River Wye is a River in Derbyshire, England Axe Edge Moor is the major moorland west of Buxton in the Peak District. The source of the spring is behind Eagle Parade and piped to St. Ann's Well (often mistaken for the source) opposite The Crescent near the town centre.

Each summer the wells are decorated according to the local tradition of well dressing. Well Dressing is a custom practised in rural England in which wells springs or other water sources are decorated with designs created from The Well Dressing weekend has developed to become something of a town carnival, including live music and funfair. Traveling carnival A funfair or simply fair (eg " County fair" " state fair" is a small to medium sized traveling Fair

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. Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410 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 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar, in accordance with the Anno Domini / Common Era numbering system Duke of Devonshire is a title in the Peerage of England held by members of the aristocratic Cavendish family Culture The Victorian fascination with novelty resulted in a deep interest in the relationship between modernity and cultural continuities

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. Copper (ˈkɒpɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol Cu (cuprum and Atomic number 29 Bath is a city in Somerset in the south west of England It is situated west of London and south-east of Bristol. 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 site of the Old Hall Hotel. Elizabeth Talbot Countess of Shrewsbury ( July 27[[ 527]]&ndash February 13, 1608) known as Bess of Hardwick, was the third surviving daughter George Talbot 6th Earl of Shrewsbury and Waterford KG, (1528 &ndash 18 November 1590) was an English statesman during the 16th century

Corbar hill and the dome

Notable architecture

• The Crescent (1780–1784) was modelled on Bath's Royal Crescent by John Carr along with the neighbouring irregular octagon and colonnade of the Great Stables. The Royal Crescent is a notable residential road of 30 houses laid out in a crescent, in the city of Bath, England. John Carr (1723 -1807 was a prolific English Architect. He was born in Horbury, near Wakefield, England, the eldest of nine children The crescent incorporates 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 Devonshire (1780–1789) was created from the Great Stables, converted by Henry Currey, in 1859. It became the Devonshire Royal Hospital (now the Devonshire Campus of the University of Derby). The University of Derby is a University in the city of Derby, England. 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 44. Robert Rippon Duke was a famous Architect who designed the Octagon and remodeled the Devonshire Hospital in Buxton, Derbyshire. A dome is a common structural element of Architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a Sphere. 2 m, beating the Pantheon (43 m) and St Peter's Basilica (42 m) in Rome, and St Paul's Cathedral (34m). The Pantheon ( Latin Pantheon, from Greek Πάνθειον Pantheon, meaning "Temple of all the gods" is a building in Rome The Basilica of Saint Peter (Basilica Sancti Petri officially known in Italian as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and commonly known as St St Paul's Cathedral, is the Anglican Cathedral on Ludgate Hill, in the City of London, and the seat of the Bishop of London. However, this record is now routinely beaten by space frame domes such as the Georgia Dome (256 m). A space frame or space structure is a Truss -like lightweight rigid structure constructed from interlocking struts in a geometric Pattern. The Georgia Dome is a domed stadium located in Atlanta Georgia that is owned and operated by the State of Georgia The main building and its surrounding Victorian villas is now part of the University of Derby.

• Buxton Opera House was designed by Frank Matcham in 1903. Buxton Opera House is in The Square Buxton, Derbyshire, England. Frank Matcham (22 November 1854 Newton Abbot, Devon – 17 May 1920 Southend-on-Sea, Essex) was a famous English theatrical He was a prolific theatrical architect and also designed several London theatres, including the London Palladium, the London Coliseum, and the Hackney Empire. An architect is a licensed individual who leads a design team in the Planning and Design of buildings and participates in oversight of Building Construction London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. The London Palladium is a 2286 seat West End theatre located off Oxford Street in the City of Westminster. The Coliseum Theatre (also known as the London Coliseum) is on St The Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street in the London Borough of Hackney, built in 1901 as a Music hall. It is attached to the Pavilion Gardens, Octagonal Hall (built in 1875) and the smaller Paxton Theatre. The Pavilion Gardens contain 23 acres of gardens and ponds and were opened in 1871. Opposite is an original Penfold octagonal post box (one of only 101 remaining).

Buxton Opera House

Buxton Crescent and St. Anne's Well

Buxton Wells

• Buxton railway station was designed by Joseph Paxton, and who also designed the layout of the Park Road circular estate. Buxton railway station is a railway station that serves the town of Buxton in Derbyshire. Sir Joseph Paxton ( 3 August 1803 &ndash 8 June 1865) was an English Gardener and Architect, best known He is perhaps more famous for his design of the Crystal Palace in London. The Crystal Palace was a cast-iron and Glass building originally erected in Hyde Park, London, England, to house the

• The Natural Baths, by Henry Currey, sit on the site of the original Roman Baths. The building was opened in 1854 and re-developed as an arcade in 1987, featuring a barrel valuted stained glass canopy - the largest stained glass window in Britain - designed by Brian Clarke.

• The Pump Room, also by Henry Currey, was built in 1884 opposite The Crescent. Visitors could 'take the waters' until 1981. Between 1981 and 1995 the building housed the unique Micrarium exhibition. ^[1] The building is being refurbished as part of the National Lottery-funded Buxton Crescent and Thermal Spa re-development. The National Lottery is the largest Lottery in the United Kingdom. Beside it, added in 1940, stands St Ann’s Well.

• The 122-room Palace Hotel, built in 1868, is a prominent feature of the Buxton skyline, situated on the hill above the railway station. It was designed by Henry Currey, architect to the 7th Duke of Devonshire. ^[2]

• 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 "jailers" of Mary Queen of Scots. She came to Buxton several times to take the waters, the last of which was in 1584. The present building dates from 1670 and has a five-bay front with a Tuscan doorway. ^[3]

• The town is overlooked by two highly visible landmarks; atop Grinlow Hill (1441 ft above sea level) is Grinlow Tower (locally also called "Solomons Temple"), a 2 story granite, crooked, crenelated folly built in 1834 by Solomon Mycock to provide work for the towns unemployed and later restored in 1996 after a lengthly closure to the public. In the other direction, on Corbar hill (1433 ft above sea level) stands Corbar Cross, a tall, simple, wooden crucifix given to the Roman Catholic Church by the Duke of Devonshire in 1950, to commemorate Holy Year.

Culture

The annual Buxton Festival, Four Four Time music festival, and International Gilbert and Sullivan Festivals are held in the refurbished Opera House. The Buxton Festival is an annual summer festival of Opera, music and (since 2000 a literary series held in Buxton, Derbyshire in England since The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival is held every summer at the Opera House in Buxton, Derbyshire.

The Buxton Festival, founded in 1979, 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. The Buxton Festival is an annual summer festival of Opera, music and (since 2000 a literary series held in Buxton, Derbyshire in England since 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 and is the second-largest Arts festival in the country after Edinburgh, which is itself the largest annual festival in the world. The Edinburgh Fringe (officially the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, commonly just The Fringe) is the world’s largest Arts festival.

The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival, founded in 1994, which runs for over three weeks from the end of July through most of August, is an adjudicated competition among amateur G&S societies and also presents professional performances and fringe events. The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival is held every summer at the Opera House in Buxton, Derbyshire.

In 1992, American actor Carl Weathers visited Buxton and declared it to be his "favourite town in the north of England". Carl Weathers (born January 14, 1948) is an American actor as well as former professional football player in the United States and Canada. ^[4]

Since 2004, the Opera House and the neighbouring Pavilion Gardens have also hosted the annual Four Four Time music festival which sees a wide variety of performers appearing over one week in February.

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

Economy

Shops in Spring Gardens, Buxton

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). Nestlé is a multinational packaged food company founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland Buxton Blue is a blue cheese with PDO status that can only be made in and around Buxton. Buxton Blue cheese is an English blue cheese that is a close relative of Blue Stilton. Blue cheese (or bleu cheese) is a general classification of cow's milk sheep's milk or goat's milk Cheeses that has had Penicillium cultures

Other major economic activities include tourism and limestone quarrying. Tourism is Travel for Recreational or Leisure purposes The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel Limestone is a Sedimentary rock composed largely of the Mineral Calcite ( Calcium carbonate: CaCO3 The presence of the opera house and the festivals in the summer generate a good deal of economic activity, and Buxton has a considerable number of hotels (including the large Palace Hotel), B&B establishments and restaurants. There is a pedestrian-only street, Spring Gardens, that caters to tourists; an enclosed mall with various stores, including a Marks & Spencer, and a market square in the town. Marks & Spencer Group plc (also M&S, Marks and Sparks, and Marks) is a British Retailer with 843 stores in more than 30

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. Barclays PLC is a major global financial services provider operating in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Latin America, Australia High Peak is a Non-metropolitan district and Borough of the Non-metropolitan county of Derbyshire, England.

Buxton is twinned with two other towns - Oignies in France and Bad Nauheim in Germany. Oignies is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais département in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France. Bad Nauheim is a town in the Wetteraukreis district of Hesse state of Germany.

Sport

It the high land above the town there are two small motorcycle speedway stadia. Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to as speedway, is a Motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise The original 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 build track immediately to the north of the original circuit. The Buxton Hitmen are a speedway team in the British Conference League. The original track in the High Edge Raceway 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^[5][6]. The Conference League is the lower division of Speedway in the United Kingdom and governed by the Speedway Control Board (SCB in conjunction with the

There is also a local football team, Buxton F.C.. Buxton FC are a football club based in Buxton, Derbyshire, England.

Climate

At 307 metres (1,000 feet) above sea level, Buxton is the highest market town in England. The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International A foot (plural feet or foot; symbol or abbreviation ft or sometimes &prime – the prime symbol) is a non-SI unit Mean sea level (MSL is the average (mean height of the Sea, with reference to a suitable reference surface Market town or market right is a legal term originating in the Medieval period for a European settlement that has the right to hold Markets England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Alston, Cumbria also makes this claim (but lacks a regular market). Alston is a small Town in Cumbria, England on the River South Tyne. 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 is served by a railway line with frequent trains to Stockport and the nearby city of Manchester. Buxton railway station is a railway station that serves the town of Buxton in Derbyshire. Stockport ( is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground on the River Mersey at the influx of the rivers Goyt The journey from Buxton to Manchester city centre takes just under an hour. Like most busy towns, Buxton had two stations, but one was demolished in the 1960s to make way for the Spring Gardens shopping centre. The trackbed of the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway has in part been utilized as a walk and cycleway called the Monsal Trail. The Manchester Buxton Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway initially served neither Manchester nor the Midlands since its connection with the North Midland Railway The Monsal Trail is a cycle and walking trail in the Derbyshire Peak District. Peak Rail, a heritage railway group, have restored the section from Rowsley to Matlock, with the long-term objective of trying to re-open back to Buxton. Peak Rail is a preserved railway operating Timetabled steam services for Tourists and Visitors to the Peak District and the Derbyshire

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, and the 'Transpeak' coach service offers an hourly link to Taddington, Matlock, Derby and Nottingham. Chapel-en-le-Frith (ˌtʃæpl ɒn lə ˈfrɪθ often abbreviated to Chapel, is a small Derbyshire town on the edge of the Peak District, part of the There is also places named New Mills in Wales. New Mills is a town in Derbyshire, England approximately 8 miles Glossop is a small Market town within the High Peak borough of Derbyshire, England. See also Taddington Gloucestershire. Taddington is a village in Derbyshire, England. Matlock is the County town of Derbyshire, England. It is situated at the south eastern edge of the Peak District, and is twinned Derby (pronounced "dar-bee" /dˈɑːbɪ/ is a city in the East Midlands of England. Nottingham ( is a city in the Ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire, England. There is a Trent Bus directly from the Manchester Airport to Buxton. Manchester Airport is a major Airport in the vicinity of Manchester, England, and the largest airport in the United Kingdom outside the Other buses provide roughly two-hourly services linking Buxton with Stoke-on-Trent and Sheffield. Stoke-on-Trent ( often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city in Staffordshire, England which forms a linear Conurbation almost 12 miles (19 Sheffield ( is a city and Metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England

Famous Buxtonians

• Vera Brittain (1893–1970) — author of Testament of Youth and mother of Shirley Williams
• Tim Brooke-Taylor^[7] — comedy actor
• Lloyd Cole— musician and songwriter, frontman of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
• Bruno Langley — actor in Coronation Street
• Elizabeth Spriggs — BAFTA nominated actress^[8]
• Robert Stevenson — director of many Disney films including Mary Poppins^[9]
• Dave Lee Travis^[10] — former BBC Radio 1 DJ, better known as DLT
• Mark Higgins — former footballer with Everton F.C. and Manchester United F.C.

References

External links

• Information about Buxton
• Buxton Opera House
• Visit Buxton.co.uk
• Buxton's local newspaper
• Buxton Festival Fringe
• Buxton lodging information
• 360° panoramic photo taken from the top of the tower at Trinity Church in Buxton