Buxton in 50 Buildings

The Derbyshire spa town of Buxton is probably best known as the source of Buxton Water and for its wide range of attractions for visitors, particularly its striking array of Georgian and Victorian buildings. Lying on the edge of the Peak District, it is the highest market town in England.The spa waters drew the Romans to an early settlement at Buxton, and the town was still known to visitors for its health-giving waters when the Old Hall Hotel, which still stands today, was built by the Earl of Shrewsbury and his wife Bess of Hardwick in the 16th century. The Duke of Devonshire developed Buxton as a fashionable spa in the 18th century and many of its fine Georgian buildings were built in this period, most notably the Crescent and what later became known as the Devonshire Royal Hospital, now part of the University of Derby, with the world’s then largest unsupported dome. The Victorians continued to develop Buxton and many of its most famous buildings date from the 19th and early 20th centuries, including the Opera House, the Pump Room, the Natural Mineral Baths which now feature the country’s largest stained glass window in its barrel-vaulted canopy, with visitors arriving at the town at Joseph Paxton’s railway station. Alongside the constant renovation and adaptation of its historical buildings. Buxton has continued to see new buildings integrated into the town and its environs with the new recently opened state-of-the-art Nestlé factory.Buxton in 50 Buildings explores the history of this fascinating town through a selection of its most interesting buildings from the Tudor era to the present day. The book will appeal to all those who live in Buxton or who have an interest in the town.