Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for BUXTON

BUXTON, a small town, a chapelry, and a subdistrict in Chapel-en-le-Frith district, Derby. The town stands in the bottom of a small valley, at an elevation of nearly 1,000 feet above the level of the sea, almost engirt by lofty hills, near the source of the river Wye, and at the terminus of a branch-line from the Manchester and Macclesfield railway, also at the terminus of the Ambergate-Junction branch of the Midland railway, 10 miles E of Macclesfield, and 11 WNW of Bakewell. It was formerly called Badestanes, Bawkestanes, and Buckstones. It possesses great medicinal springs, and has long been famed for them. It is thought by some to have been known to the Druids; and it certainly was known to the Romans. Cromlechs and Druidical circles occur on the heights in its neighbourhood; three Roman roads, with branches, went from it; Roman coins and tiles have been found at it; a Roman station, with baths, is believed by most antiquaries to have been on its site; Saxon barrows, in which interesting relics have been found, are near it; and shrines, with baths, images, and offerings made by devotees resorting to it for health, were at it for ages preceding the Reformation. The shrines and baths were destroyed by an emissary of Henry VIII.; but the baths were speedily restored. Mary, Queen of Scots, while in the custody of the Earl of Shrewsbury, came hither four times for health; Lord Burleigh and the Duke of Sussex came in 1577 and 1580; and other personages of note soon followed, giving the place a permanent celebrity. The third Earl of Devonshire, in 1670, pulled down a house which had been built for Queen Mary, and replaced it by a larger structure, now known as the Old Hall Hotel. Buxton was then a mere hamlet; but it thence grew steadily to be first a village and then a town. A pile of buildings, called the crescent, was erected by the Duke of Devonshire, in 1780, at a cost of £120,000. This has a frontage of 316 feet, consisting of two wings 58 feet each, and an intermediate curve of 200 feet; is three stories high; and includes two hotels, an assembly room, news room, library, baths, and private residences. The basement story forms an arcade, and is used as a promenade; the upper part is adorned with Doric pilasters, entablature, and balustrade; and the ground in front is laid out in beautiful terraces. A suit of stables, said to be about the finest in Europe, is behind the crescent; encloses a covered circular ride, 180 feet in diameter, used for exercise in bad weather; and includes an upper story, let off as residences. The Square, Hall Bank, and Scarsdale Place also consist of good buildings. The chief street is wide, but is edificed mainly with small houses. The old town stands distinct from the new; is an ordinary village; and has remains of an ancient cross.

The waters of Buxton have been much recommended by eminent physicians, and warmly sung by several poets. They rise in springs both tepid and cold, within 12 inches of each other; and are pellucid and mild. An analysis of them, in 1852, by Dr. Lyon Playfair, shows, per gallon, 0·666 grains of silica, 0·24 of oxide of iron and alumina, 7·773 of carbonate of lime, 2·323 of sulphate of lime, 4·543 of carbonate of magnesia, 0·114 of chloride of magnesium, 2·42 of chloride of sodium, 2·5 of chloride of potassium, a trace of fluorine, and a trace of phosphoric acid. Two elegant recent buildings, covered and lighted with roofs of glass, adjoin the ends of the Crescent, the one for hot baths, the other for natural baths; and a new erection, in room of an old one, called St. Anne's well, is over the springs, for the use of drinkers. The town can accommodate about 2,000 visitors at a time; and usually has from 12,000 to 14,000 in the course of the season, which lasts from May till October. It has a head post office,‡ a railway station with telegraph, a handsome and extensive hotel of 1868, seven other good and spacious hotels, a town hall, a police station, many good shops, and five annual fairs; is a seat of petty sessions and a polling place; and publishes two weekly newspapers. A trade is carried on in the manufacture and sale of ornaments in alabaster, spar, and other minerals. There are two churches, the one old, the other a structure of 1812, in the Tuscan style, with a neat tower; three chapels for Independents, Wesleyans, and Unitarians; a free school, with £94 a year from endowment; and a bath charity, for invalids, maintained by subscription. Walks, rides, and natural curiosities, of most interesting character, are in the neighbourhood. The serpentine walks go along the margin of the Wye; and are variegated with lakelets, mimic cascades, and rustic seats. The Duke's drive is a circuit of about four miles, through Ashwood-dale, and over Wyedale. A splendid walk goes by Topley-Pike, along and across the Wye, and over cliffs to Chee-Tor. This is a mass of rocks, 300 feet high, covered lightly with foilage and commanding a delightful view. Poole's Hole, about a mile from the town, is a cavern, with stalactites and stalagmites in grotesque forms, and of fantastic names, one of them traditionally associated with a visit of Mary Queen of Scots. Diamond Hill, not far from Poole's Hole, affords beautiful specimens of quartz crystal; and is crowned by a tower commanding a brilliant view. Other caverns, vales, and mountains of fascinating character, in fact all the attractions of the Derby Peak and of some tracts beyond, are within easy distance. Some of the railway works also, on the lines leading to the town and near it-tunnels, viaducts, and cuttings-are very striking.

The chapelry includes the town; is in Bakewell parish; and comprises 1,827 acres. Real property, £10,539. Pop., 1,877. Houses, 343. The property is not much divided; and the manor belongs to the Duke of Devonshire. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Lichfield. Value, £105.* Patron, the Duke of Devonshire. The subdistrict contains parts of three parishes. Acres, 5,741. Pop., 4,142. Houses, 776.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a small town, a chapelry, and a subdistrict"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Chapel En le Frith RegD/PLU       Derbyshire AncC
Place names: BADESTANES     |     BAWKESTANES     |     BUCKSTONES     |     BUXTON
Place: Buxton

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