Buxton

The origins of the name are unclear. It may derive from the Old English for Buck Stone or for Rocking Stone.{{Cite web |url=http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Derbyshire/Buxton |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714185605/http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Derbyshire/Buxton |archive-date=14 July 2014 |title=Key to English Place Names |publisher=Institute for Name Studies, University of Nottingham |access-date=12 May 2011}} 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 Victorians were drawn to the reputed healing properties of its waters.{{Cite book |last=Robertson |first=William Henry |title=A Guide To The Use Of The Buxton Waters|orig-year=1859 |year=2019 |publisher=HardPress |isbn=9781318591060}}

The first inhabitants of Buxton made homes at Lismore Fields some 6,000 years ago. This Stone Age settlement, a scheduled monument, was rediscovered in 1984, with remains of a Mesolithic timber roundhouse and Neolithic longhouses.{{Cite web |url=https://www.lismorefields.com/ |title=Lismore Fields Buxton Spa History Ancient Settlement Civilisation |website=lismore-fields |language=en |access-date=12 February 2020}}

The Romans developed a settlement known as Aquae Arnemetiae ("Baths of the grove goddess"). Coins found show the Romans were in Buxton throughout their occupation of Britain.{{cite web |url=http://www.historyofbuxton.co.uk/about_buxton.htm |title=About Buxton |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100116104122/http://www.historyofbuxton.co.uk/about_buxton.htm |archive-date=16 January 2010 |website=History of Buxton |access-date=20 August 2024}}

Batham Gate ("road to the bath town") is a Roman road from Templebrough Roman fort in South Yorkshire to Navio Roman Fort and on to Buxton.

The name Buckestones was first recorded in the 12th century as part of the Peverel family's estate. From 1153 the town was within the Duchy of Lancaster's Crown estate, close to the Royal Forest of the Peak on the Fairfield side of the River Wye. Monastic farms were set up in Fairfield in the 13th century and in the 14th; its royal ownership was reflected in the name of Kyngesbucstones.

By 1460, Buxton's spring had been pronounced a holy one dedicated to St Anne, who was canonised in 1382. A chapel had appeared there by 1498.{{Cite book |last=Leach |first=John |title=The Book of Buxton |publisher=Baracuda Books Limited |year=1987 |isbn=0-86023-286-7 |pages=35–43, 124–125}}

File:055383 st anns well.jpg

File:buxton wells.JPG

Built on the River Wye, and overlooked by Axe Edge Moor, Buxton became a spa town for its geothermal spring,{{cite news |first=Paul |last=Dunn |url=https://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/best_of_britain/article7098524.ece |title=Great British Weekend: Buxton |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100522094142/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/best_of_britain/article7098524.ece |archive-date=22 May 2010 |newspaper=The Sunday Times |date=17 April 2010 |url-status=live |access-date=20 September 2011}} which gushes at a steady 28 °C.

The spring waters are piped to St Ann's Well, a shrine since medieval times at the foot of The Slopes, opposite the Crescent and near the town centre.{{National Heritage List for England |num=1001456 |desc=The Slopes, Buxton |access-date=4 May 2012}} The well was called one of the Seven Wonders of the Peak by the philosopher Thomas Hobbes in his 1636 book De Mirabilibus Pecci: Being The Wonders of the Peak in Darby-shire.{{Cite web |url=https://www.wondersofthepeak.org.uk/objects/2-36/ |title=De Mirabilibus Pecci: Being the Wonders of the Peak in Darby-shire |website=www.wondersofthepeak.org.uk |access-date=29 April 2020}}

The Dukes of Devonshire became involved in 1780, when the William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire used profits from his copper mines to develop it as a spa in the style of Bath. Their ancestor Bess of Hardwick had brought one of her four husbands, the Earl of Shrewsbury, to "take the waters" at Buxton in 1569, shortly after he became the gaoler of Mary, Queen of Scots, and took Mary there in 1573.{{Cite book |last1=Lovell |first1=Mary S. |title=Bess of Hardwick |date=2005 |publisher=Little, Brown |location=London |isbn=0-316-72482-3 |pages=238–239}} She called Buxton "La Fontagne de Bogsby". She stayed at the site of the Old Hall Hotel, where Earl of Shrewsbury had built a lodging for visitors.{{Cite book |last=Scott |first=Jade |title=Captive Queen: The Decrypted History of Mary, Queen of Scots |date=2024 |publisher=Michael O'Mara Books |location=London |isbn=978-1-78929-646-4 |page=135}} According to John Jones of Derby, author of Buxtone's Bathes Benefyte (1572), the visitors to Shrewsbury's "goodly house" enjoyed a game of table bowls known as trou madame.{{cite book |first=John Daniel |last=Leader |title=Mary Queen Of Scots In Captivity: A Narrative Of Events From January, 1569 To December, 1584 |location=Sheffield |publisher=Leader & Sons |date=1880 |pages=303, 305}}

File:Buxton Spring Gardens, 1965.png

The area features in the works of W. H. Auden, Jane Austen and Emily Brontë. Buxton's profile was boosted by a recommendation from Erasmus Darwin of the waters there and at Matlock, addressed to Josiah Wedgwood I. The Wedgwood family often visited Buxton and commended the area to their friends.{{Citation needed|date=October 2008}} Two of Charles Darwin's half-cousins, Edward Levett Darwin and Reginald Darwin, settled there.{{cite book |first1=Charles |last1=Darwin |first2=Frederick |last2=Burkhardt |first3=Sydney |last3=Smith |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ao2I3-8PXBgC&dq=levett+darwin&pg=PA265 |title=The Correspondence of Charles Darwin |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |date=1985 |isbn=0-521-25587-2}} The arrival of the railway in 1863 stimulated growth: the population of 1,800 in 1861 exceeded 6,000 by 1881.{{cite book |title=Railways of the Peak District |first1=Michael |last1=Blakemore |first2=David |last2=Mosley |date=2003 |isbn=1-902827-09-0 |publisher=Atlantic Transport Publishers}}

Buxton held a base for British and Canadian troops in the First World War. Granville Military Hospital was set up at the Buxton Hydropathic Hotel, with the Palace Hotel annexed. The author Vera Brittain trained as a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse at the Devonshire Hospital in 1915. The Royal Engineers based in Buxton used the Pavilion Gardens' lakes for training to build pontoon bridges.{{Cite web |date=13 December 2019 |title=Canadian Red Cross Special Hospital Buxton 1915–1919 |url=https://buxtonmuseumandartgallery.wordpress.com/2019/12/13/canadian-red-cross-special-hospital-buxton-1915-1919/ |access-date=9 November 2020 |website=Buxton Museum and Art Gallery |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |title=BBC – World War One At Home, Buxton Pavilion Gardens, Derbyshire: Bridge Building Practice |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p022x6c4 |access-date=21 January 2020 |website=BBC |date=30 July 2014 |language=en-GB}} Prisoner of war camps at Ladmanlow and Peak Dale were established in 1917 to supply workers for the local limestone quarries.{{Cite book |last=Roberts |first=Alan & David |title=Breaking Stones – Two World War One Prisoner of War Camps |publisher=Roberts Publications |year=2020}}

RAF Harpur Hill became an underground bomb-storage facility during World War II and the country's largest munitions dump. It was also the base for the Peak District section of the RAF Mountain Rescue Service.{{Cite web |date=16 June 2015 |title=R.A.F. Maintenance Unit 28 – Harpur Hill |url=https://buxtoncivicassociation.org.uk/raf-maintenance-unit-28/ |access-date=9 November 2020 |website=Buxton Civic Association |language=en-GB}} Prisoner of war camps for Italians and Germans were set up on Lismore Road, off Macclesfield Road and at Dove Holes.{{Cite web |title=WW2 People's War – Buxton in Wartime – Memories of a War Baby (part 3). |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/64/a4361564.shtml |access-date=9 July 2022 |publisher=BBC}}{{Cite web |title=WW2 People's War – Buxton in the second World War (1939–45) |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/69/a5535669.shtml |access-date=9 July 2022 |publisher=BBC}}{{Cite web |title=WW2 People's War – Memories of when the bombs passed over. |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/68/a2334368.shtml |access-date=9 July 2022 |publisher=BBC}}

After a decline as a spa resort in the earlier 20th century, Buxton had a resurgence in the 1950s and 1970s. The Playhouse Theatre kept a repertory company and pop concerts were held at the Octagon (including the Beatles in 1963).{{Cite web |date=6 April 1963 |title=The Beatles Bible – Live: Pavilion Gardens Ballroom, Buxton |url=https://www.beatlesbible.com/1963/04/06/live-pavilion-gardens-ballroom-buxton/ |access-date=21 January 2020 |website=The Beatles Bible |language=en-GB}} The Opera House re-opened in 1979 with the launch of the Buxton Festival, and the town was being used as a base for exploring the Peak District.{{Cite book |last=Langham |first=Mike |title=Buxton: A Peoples' History |publisher=Carnegie Publishing Ltd |year=2001 |isbn=1859360866 |location=Lancaster |pages=217–219}}

Although outside the National Park boundary, Buxton is in the western part of the Peak District, between the Lower Carboniferous limestone of the White Peak to the east and the Upper Carboniferous shale, sandstone and gritstone of the Dark Peak to the west.{{Cite web |title=Buxton |url=http://www.peakdistrictonline.co.uk/buxton-c30.html |website=Peak District Online |access-date=4 February 2019}} The early settlement (of which only the parish church of St Anne, built in 1625, remains) was largely made of limestone,{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}} while the present buildings of locally quarried sandstone, mostly date from the late 18th century.{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}}

At the south 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. It contains Derbyshire's largest stalactite and some unique "poached egg" stalagmites. Its name recalls a local highwayman.{{cite web |first=T. |last=Oldham |url=http://www.showcaves.com/english/gb/showcaves/PoolesOldham.html |title=History of Poole's Cavern |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012074414/http://www.showcaves.com/english/gb/showcaves/PoolesOldham.html |archive-date=12 October 2008 |website=Showcaves.com |date=2002}}

{{Geographic location

| title = Neighbouring towns and villages

| Northwest = Whaley Bridge, Manchester

| North = Chapel-en-le-Frith, Glossop

| Northeast = Castleton, Sheffield

| West = Macclesfield, Congleton

| Centre = Buxton

| East = Chesterfield, Baslow

| Southwest = Leek, Stoke-on-Trent

| South = Ashbourne, Derby

| Southeast = Bakewell, Matlock

}}

Buxton has an oceanic climate with short, mild summers and long, cool winters. At about {{convert|1000|ft}} above sea level,{{Cite web |url=http://elevationmap.net/town-hall-buxton-sk17-uk?latlngs=(53.25680577753629,-1.9140136241912842) |title=Town Hall Buxton Sk17 Uk on the Elevation Map. Topographic Map of Town Hall Buxton Sk17 Uk. |last=elevationmap.net |website=elevationmap.net |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803222833/http://elevationmap.net/town-hall-buxton-sk17-uk?latlngs=(53.25680577753629,-1.9140136241912842) |archive-date=3 August 2017}} Buxton is the highest market town in England. Buxton's elevation makes it cooler and wetter than surrounding towns, with a daytime temperature typically about 2 °C lower than Manchester.

A Met Office weather station has collected climate data for the town since 1867, with digitised data from 1959 available online.{{Cite web |url=https://www.buxtonweather.co.uk/metofficeslopes.htm |title=The Buxton Meteorological Station: A Brief History |first=Michael |last=Hilton |publisher=BuxtonWeather.com |access-date=22 February 2019}} In June 1975, the town suffered a freak snowstorm that stopped play during a cricket match.{{cite news |first=Tony |last=Francis |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/2361401/Bird-still-foxed-by-day-snow-stopped-play.html |title=June Snow |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804012514/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/2361401/Bird-still-foxed-by-day-snow-stopped-play.html |archive-date=4 August 2017 |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=22 June 2005}}

{{Weather box|location = Buxton, elevation: {{convert|299|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1874–present

| collapsed =

| metric first = y

| single line = y

| Jan record high C = 13.0

| Feb record high C = 15.3

| Mar record high C = 21.6

| Apr record high C = 23.9

| May record high C = 27.2

| Jun record high C = 29.6

| Jul record high C = 35.9

| Aug record high C = 32.7

| Sep record high C = 25.9

| Oct record high C = 25.0

| Nov record high C = 16.7

| Dec record high C = 13.7

| year record high C = 32.7

| Jan high C = 5.5

| Feb high C = 5.9

| Mar high C = 8.2

| Apr high C = 11.2

| May high C = 14.5

| Jun high C = 17.2

| Jul high C = 19.1

| Aug high C = 18.7

| Sep high C = 15.9

| Oct high C = 11.8

| Nov high C = 8.2

| Dec high C = 5.9

| year high C =

| Jan mean C = 3.2

| Feb mean C = 3.3

| Mar mean C = 5.0

| Apr mean C = 7.4

| May mean C = 10.3

| Jun mean C = 13.2

| Jul mean C = 15.1

| Aug mean C = 14.8

| Sep mean C = 12.4

| Oct mean C = 9.0

| Nov mean C = 5.8

| Dec mean C = 3.6

| year mean C =

| Jan low C = 0.9

| Feb low C = 0.7

| Mar low C = 1.8

| Apr low C = 3.5

| May low C = 6.1

| Jun low C = 9.1

| Jul low C = 11.1

| Aug low C = 10.9

| Sep low C = 8.8

| Oct low C = 6.1

| Nov low C = 3.4

| Dec low C = 1.2

| year low C =

| Jan record low C = -17.2

| Feb record low C = -15.0

| Mar record low C = -16.7

| Apr record low C = -8.0

| May record low C = -4.4

| Jun record low C = -0.4

| Jul record low C = -0.6

| Aug record low C = 0.6

| Sep record low C = -1.7

| Oct record low C = -6.6

| Nov record low C = -9.3

| Dec record low C = -14.0

| year record low C = −17.2

| precipitation colour = green

| Jan precipitation mm = 127.4

| Feb precipitation mm = 116.1

| Mar precipitation mm = 100.0

| Apr precipitation mm = 86.5

| May precipitation mm = 82.0

| Jun precipitation mm = 92.6

| Jul precipitation mm = 100.8

| Aug precipitation mm = 101.5

| Sep precipitation mm = 105.7

| Oct precipitation mm = 141.8

| Nov precipitation mm = 136.3

| Dec precipitation mm = 153.3

| year precipitation mm =

| unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm

| Jan precipitation days = 16.5

| Feb precipitation days = 15.0

| Mar precipitation days = 13.4

| Apr precipitation days = 12.2

| May precipitation days = 11.6

| Jun precipitation days = 12.7

| Jul precipitation days = 13.2

| Aug precipitation days = 14.1

| Sep precipitation days = 13.1

| Oct precipitation days = 15.8

| Nov precipitation days = 17.2

| Dec precipitation days = 17.4

| year precipitation days =

| Jan sun = 41.1

| Feb sun = 67.6

| Mar sun = 104.5

| Apr sun = 151.3

| May sun = 185.2

| Jun sun = 170.8

| Jul sun = 182.9

| Aug sun = 169.3

| Sep sun = 126.8

| Oct sun = 90.3

| Nov sun = 52.4

| Dec sun = 40.3

| year sun =

| source 1 = Met Office{{Cite web |url=http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate/gcqwurqwy |title=Buxton 1991–2020 averages |access-date=16 December 2021 |publisher=Met Office}}

| source 2 = KNMI{{Cite web |url=http://eca.knmi.nl/indicesextremes/customquerytimeseriesplots.php |title=Buxton extreme values |access-date=8 November 2011 |publisher=KNMI |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111106050735/http://eca.knmi.nl/indicesextremes/customquerytimeseriesplots.php |archive-date=6 November 2011 }} Meteo Climat{{Cite web |url=http://meteo-climat-bzh.dyndns.org/station-2292-1874-2020.php |title=STATION BUXTON |access-date=3 July 2021 |publisher=Meteo Climat}}

}}

File:Buxton Town Hall designed by William Pollard.jpg (on the right)]]

The many visitors to Buxton for its thermal waters, particularly in the 18th and 19th centuries, led to several new buildings to provide hospitality facilities.

The Old Hall Hotel is one of the town's oldest buildings. It was owned by George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, who with his wife, Bess of Hardwick, acted as the "gaolers" of Mary, Queen of Scots, who came to Buxton several times to take the waters, her final visit being in 1584.{{cite book |first=David |last=Templeman |title=Mary, Queen of Scots: The Captive Queen in England |location=Exeter |publisher=Primedia eLaunch LLC |date=2016 |page=105}} The present building dates from 1670, and has a five-bay front with a Tuscan doorway.{{cite web |url=http://quest.bris.ac.uk/workshops/annual06/Buxton.pdf |title=Things to do in Buxton |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110825112931/http://quest.bris.ac.uk/workshops/annual06/Buxton.pdf |archive-date=25 August 2011 |access-date=18 October 2024}}

File:buxtoncres1.jpg

The Grade I listed Crescent was built in 1780–1784 for the 5th Duke of Devonshire, as part of his effort to turn Buxton into a fashionable spa town. Modelled on Bath's Royal Crescent, it was designed by architect John Carr, together with the neighbouring irregular octagon and colonnade of the Great Stables. These 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's. Currey had previously worked on St Thomas' Hospital in London. It became known as the Devonshire Royal Hospital in 1934. Later phases of conversion after 1881 were by local architect Robert Rippon Duke, including his design for The Devonshire Dome as the world's largest unsupported dome, with a diameter of {{convert|144|ft|m}} – larger than the Pantheon at {{convert|141|ft|m}}, St. Peter's Basilica at {{convert|138|ft|m}} in Rome, and St Paul's Cathedral at {{convert|112|ft|m}}. The record was surpassed only by space frame domes such as the Georgia Dome ({{convert|840|ft|m}}). The building and its surrounding Victorian villas are now part of the University of Derby.

File:Nocturnal view of the Cavendish Arcade's stained glass by Brian Clarke at Buxton Thermal Baths.jpg, and Brian Clarke's modern stained glass canopy over the Cavendish Arcade]]

Currey also designed the Grade II listed Buxton Baths, comprising the Natural Mineral Baths to the west of The Crescent and Buxton Thermal Baths to the east, which opened in 1854 on the site of the original Roman baths, together with the 1894 Pump Room opposite. The Thermal Baths, closed in 1963 and at risk of demolition, were restored and converted into a shopping arcade by conservation architects Derek Latham and Company. Architectural artist Brian Clarke contributed to the refurbishment;{{Cite book |last1=Harrod |first1=Tanya |title=The real thing: essays on making in the modern world |date=2015 |publisher=Hyphen Press |location=London |pages=134–137}}{{Cite magazine |last=Lyttleton |first=Celia |date=1984 |title=In the Wake of William Morris & Co. |issue=5 |magazine=Ritz Magazine: Art Inside}} his scheme, designed in 1984 and completed in 1987, was for a landmark modern artwork,{{Cite magazine |last=Hills |first=Ann |date=April 1987 |title=Buxton's New Landmark |magazine=Building Refurbishment}} a barrel-vaulted modern stained glass ceiling to enclose the former baths{{Cite web |title=Listed Building – Cavendish Shopping Arcade – Derbyshire Historic Environment Record |url=https://her.derbyshire.gov.uk/Designation/DDR6604 |access-date=6 September 2022 |website=her.derbyshire.gov.uk}} — at the time the largest stained glass window in the British Isles — creating an atrial space for what became the Cavendish Arcade.{{Cite journal |date=1987 |title=Modern glass work for listed Buxton site: largest secular window in Britain |journal=Design Week |volume=2 |issue=37 |pages=6 |issn=0950-3676}}{{NHLE |num=1257914 |desc=Natural Mineral Baths |grade=II |fewer-links= |access-date=20 August 2024}} Visitors could "take the waters" at The Pump Room until 1981. Between 1981 and 1995 the building housed the Buxton Micrarium Exhibition, an interactive display with 50 remote-controlled microscopes.{{Cite web |url=http://www.micrariumenterprises.co.uk/page41.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511203656/http://www.micrariumenterprises.co.uk/page41.html |url-status=dead |title=The Micrarium Story |archive-date=11 May 2008 |website=www.micrariumenterprises.co.uk}} The building was 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. In October 2020 Ensana reopened the Crescent as a 5-star spa hotel, after a 17-year refurbishment.{{Cite web |date=1 October 2020 |title=Georgian hotel opens in Buxton 17 years after work begins |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-54357630 |access-date=1 October 2020 |publisher=BBC}}

Nearby stands the 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.highpeak.gov.uk/hp/news/historic-agreement-paves-way-for-crescent-development |title=Historic agreement paves way for Crescent development |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221142408/http://www.highpeak.gov.uk/hp/news/historic-agreement-paves-way-for-crescent-development |archive-date=21 February 2014 |publisher=High Peak Borough Council |date=2 April 2012}}

When the railways arrived in Buxton in 1863, Buxton railway station had been designed by Joseph Paxton, previously gardener and architect to William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire. Paxton also contributed the layout of the Park Road circular estate. He is perhaps known best for his design of the Crystal Palace in London. Buxton Town Hall, designed by William Pollard, was completed in 1889.{{NHLE |num=1259171 |desc=Town Hall |grade=II |fewer-links=yes |access-date=9 June 2020}}

File:View from Hall Bank to Corbar.jpg

Buxton Opera House, designed by Frank Matcham in 1903, is the highest opera-house site in the country. Matcham, a theatre architect, was responsible for several London theatres, including the London Palladium, the London Coliseum and the Hackney Empire. Opposite is an original Penfold octagonal post box. The opera house is attached to the Pavilion Gardens, Octagonal Hall (built in 1875) and the smaller Pavilion Arts Centre (previously The Hippodrome and the Playhouse Theatre.{{Cite news |url=https://www.buxtonadvertiser.co.uk/news/heritage-open-days-raise-curtain-history-buxton-stage-767369 |title=Heritage Open Days to raise curtain on history of Buxton stage |newspaper=Buxton Advertiser |date=3 September 2016 |language=en |access-date=22 February 2020}}). Buxton Pavilion Gardens, designed by Edward Milner, contain 93,000 m² of gardens and ponds and were opened in 1871. These form a Grade II* listed public park of Special Historic Interest. Milner's design was a development of Joseph Paxton's landscape for the Serpentine Walks in the 1830s.{{NHLE |num=1000675 |desc=Pavilion Gardens, Buxton |grade=II* |access-date=21 January 2020 |fewer-links=yes}}

File:Palace Hotel 201307 042.jpg

The 122-room Palace Hotel, also designed by Currey and built in 1868, is a prominent feature of the Buxton skyline on the hill above the railway station.{{Cite web |url=https://www.britanniahotels.com/hotels/palace-hotel-buxton/history|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022094129/http://www.pumahotels.co.uk/hotels/buxton-palace-hotel-derbyshire/ |url-status=dead |title=Palace Hotel Buxton | Britannia Hotels |archive-date=22 October 2013 |website=www.britanniahotels.com}}

File:Corbar Cross Buxton 2008.JPG

The town is overlooked by Grin Low hill, 1,441 feet (439 m) above sea level, and by Grinlow Tower (locally also called Solomon's Temple), a two-storey granite, crooked, crenelated folly built in 1834 by Solomon Mycock to provide work for local unemployed, and restored in 1996 after lengthy closure. In the other direction, on Corbar Hill, 1,433 feet (437 m) above sea level, is the tall wooden Corbar Cross. Originally given to the Catholic Church by the Duke of Devonshire in 1950 to mark Holy Year, it was replaced in the 1980s. In 2010, during a visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the UK, it was cut down as a protest against a long history of child abuse at the Catholic St Williams School in Market Weighton, Yorkshire.{{cite news |url=http://www.buxtonadvertiser.co.uk/news/symbol_of_suffering_1_1607702 |title=Symbol of Suffering |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100925213527/http://www.buxtonadvertiser.co.uk/news/symbol_of_suffering_1_1607702 |archive-date=25 September 2010 |newspaper=Buxton Advertiser |date=23 September 2010}} The Buxton ecumenical group Churches Together brought in several benefactors to replace the cross with a smaller one in May 2011.{{cite news |url=http://www.buxtonadvertiser.co.uk/news/corbar_cross_rises_again_1_3394465 |title=Corbar cross rises again |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004110236/http://www.buxtonadvertiser.co.uk/news/corbar_cross_rises_again_1_3394465 |archive-date=4 October 2011 |newspaper=Buxton Advertiser |date=20 May 2011}}

Many pubs and inns in Buxton are listed buildings reflecting the historic character of the town,{{Cite web |url=https://www.highpeak.gov.uk/media/220/Buxton-area-character-appraisal-adopted-April-2007/pdf/HP_CAA.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610083103/https://www.highpeak.gov.uk/media/220/Buxton-area-character-appraisal-adopted-April-2007/pdf/HP_CAA.pdf |archive-date=10 June 2020 |url-status=live |title=BUXTON CONSERVATION AREAS Character Appraisal |date=April 2007 |website=High Peak Borough Council|access-date=1 April 2020}} although many buildings have been demolished. Lost buildings of Buxton include grand spa hotels, the Midland Railway station, the Picture House cinema and Cavendish Girls' Grammar School.

File:BuxtonOperaHouse.jpg]]

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

Buxton Festival, founded in 1979, is an opera and arts event held in July at the Opera House and other venues.{{cite web |url=http://www.buxtonfestival.co.uk/diary.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100913013033/http://www.buxtonfestival.co.uk/diary.html |archive-date=13 September 2010 |title=Diary |publisher=Buxton Festival |date=September 2010 |access-date=18 October 2024}} It includes some literary events in the mornings, concerts and recitals in the afternoon, and operas, many rarely performed, in the evenings.{{cite web |url=http://www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk/festivals/buxton-festival |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100417230047/http://www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk/festivals/buxton-festival/ |title=Buxton Festival |publisher=Buxton Opera House |archive-date=17 April 2010 |access-date=18 October 2024}} The quality of the opera programme has improved 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."{{cite news |authorlink=Rupert Christiansen |first=Rupert |last=Christiansen |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/opera/7873055/The-Buxton-Festival-aiming-for-peak-performance.html |title=The Buxton Festival: aiming for peak performance |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301023900/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/opera/7873055/The-Buxton-Festival-aiming-for-peak-performance.html |archive-date=1 March 2017 |newspaper=Daily Telegraph |date=July 2010}}{{cite news |first=Hugh |last=Canning |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/opera/article4352380.ece |title=Buxton Festival |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615160746/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/opera/article4352380.ece |archive-date=15 June 2011 |newspaper=The Times |date=July 2008}} Running alongside 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 around the town.{{Cite web |url=https://www.buxtonfringe.org.uk/aboutus.html |title=About Us |publisher=Buxton Festival Fringe |access-date=25 June 2018}} In 2018, 181 entrants signed up and comedy and theatre categories were at their largest.{{Cite web |url=https://www.buxtonfringe.org.uk/press201805b.html |title=Party to celebrate bumper Buxton Festival Fringe! |publisher=Buxton Festival Fringe|date=17 May 2018 |access-date=25 June 2018}}

The week-long Four Four Time music festival in February brings a variety of rock, pop, folk, blues, jazz and world music.{{cite web |url=http://www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk/festivals/four-four-time |title=Four-Four Time |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100821135946/http://www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk/festivals/four-four-time |archive-date=21 August 2010 |publisher=Buxton Opera House |date=September 2010 |access-date=18 October 2024}} The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival, a three-week theatre event from the end of July through the first half of August, was held in Buxton from 1994 to 2013; it moved to Harrogate in 2014{{cite news |first=Graham |last=Chalmers |url=http://www.wetherbynews.co.uk/what-s-on/out-about/harrogate-wins-topsy-turvy-battle-over-g-s-festival-1-6657154 |title=Harrogate wins topsy-turvy battle over G&S Festival |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714154621/http://www.wetherbynews.co.uk/what-s-on/out-about/harrogate-wins-topsy-turvy-battle-over-g-s-festival-1-6657154 |archive-date=14 July 2014 |newspaper=Wetherby News |date=5 June 2014}} but returned to Buxton in 2023.{{cite web |last=Orme |first=Steve |url=https://www.britishtheatreguide.info/news/gilbert-and-sullivan-festival-15273 |title=Gilbert and Sullivan Festival returns to Buxton |website=British Theatre Guide |date=19 January 2023}}{{cite news |last=Cooper |first=Louise |url=https://www.buxtonadvertiser.co.uk/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/gilbert-and-sullivan-festival-returning-exclusively-to-buxton-from-next-year-3873394 |title=Gilbert and Sullivan Festival returning exclusively to Buxton from next year |newspaper=Buxton Advertiser |date=10 October 2022}}

The Opera House offers a year-long programme of drama, concerts, comedy and other events.[http://www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk/whats-on/ Whats On] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100921210540/http://www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk/whats-on/ |date=21 September 2010}}. Buxton Opera House, September 2010. In September 2010, the Paxton Suite in the Pavilion Gardens reopened as the Pavilion Arts Centre after a £2.5 million reconstruction. Located behind the Opera House, it includes a 369-seat auditorium. The stage area can be converted into a separate 93-seat studio theatre.[http://www.paviliongardens.co.uk/artscentre/ "The Pavilion Arts Centre"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101115224515/http://www.paviliongardens.co.uk/artscentre/ |date=15 November 2010}}. Pavilion Gardens website, September 2010.{{cite magazine |first=Natalie |last=Woolman |url=http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/29520/buxton-opera-house-to-open-new-pavilion-arts |title=Buxton Opera House to open new Pavilion arts venue|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611144332/http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/29520/buxton-opera-house-to-open-new-pavilion-arts |archive-date=11 June 2011 |magazine=The Stage |date=7 September 2010}}

Buxton Museum and Art Gallery holds local artefacts, geological and archaeological samples (including the William Boyd Dawkins collection) and 19th and 20th-century paintings, with work by Brangwyn, Chagall, Chahine and their contemporaries. There are also displays by local and regional artists and other events.[http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/leisure/buxton_museum/default.asp "Buxton Museum and Art Gallery"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100920095945/http://derbyshire.gov.uk/leisure/buxton_museum/default.asp |date=20 September 2010}}. Derbyshire County Council The Pavilion Gardens hold regular arts, crafts, antiques and jewellery fairs.[http://www.paviliongardens.co.uk/fairsevents/ "Fairs & Events"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100909052939/http://www.paviliongardens.co.uk/fairsevents/ |date=9 September 2010}}. Pavilion Gardens website.

Buxton's Well Dressing Festival in the week up to the second Saturday in July has been running in its current form since 1840, to mark the provision of fresh water to the high point of the town's marketplace. As well as the dressing of the wells, it includes a carnival procession and a funfair on the marketplace.{{Cite web |url=http://www.buxtonwelldressing.co.uk |title=Buxton Well Dressing Festival |publisher=Buxton Well Dressing Festival website |access-date=15 May 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170515134703/http://buxtonwelldressing.co.uk/ |archive-date=15 May 2017}} Well dressing is an ancient custom unique to the Peak District and Derbyshire and thought to date back to Roman and Celtic times, when communities would dress wells to give thanks for supplies of fresh water.

Buxton's economy covers tourism, retail, quarrying, scientific research, light industry and mineral water bottling. The University of Derby is a noted employer.{{Cite web |date=9 September 2015 |title=University contributes 500 jobs and £32 million a year to Buxton economy |url=https://www.derby.ac.uk/news/2015/university-contributes-500-jobs-and-32-million-a-year-to-buxton-economy/ |access-date=21 March 2023 |website=University of Derby |language=en-GB}} Surrounded by the Peak District National Park, it offers a range of cultural events; tourism is a major industry, with over a million visitors to Buxton each year. Buxton is the main centre for overnight accommodation in the Peak District, with over 64 per cent of the park's visitor bed space.[http://www.highpeak.gov.uk/business/econdev/Profile/highpeakprofile.pdf High Peak Profile] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100926034240/http://highpeak.gov.uk/business/econdev/Profile/highpeakprofile.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024023213/http://www.highpeak.gov.uk/business/econdev/Profile/highpeakprofile.pdf |archive-date=24 October 2007 |url-status=live |date=26 September 2010}}, High Peak Borough Council, September 2010.

The Buxton Mineral Water Company, owned by Nestlé, extracts and bottles mineral waters.[http://www.buxtonwater.co.uk/ "Buxton Water"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325175642/http://www.buxtonwater.co.uk/ |date=25 March 2012}}, official website, March 2012. The Buxton Advertiser appears weekly. Potters of Buxton is the town's oldest department store, founded in 1860.{{Cite web |url=http://www.pottersofbuxton.co.uk/about-us/ |title=About Us |website=www.pottersofbuxton.co.uk |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150619142936/http://www.pottersofbuxton.co.uk/about-us/ |archive-date=19 June 2015}}

The Buxton lime industry has shaped the town's development and landscape since its 17th-century beginnings. Buxton Lime Firms (BLF) was formed by 13 quarry owners in 1891. BLF became part of Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) in 1926 and Buxton was the headquarters for I.C.I. Lime Division until the 1970s.{{Cite web |url=http://www.derbyshireheritage.co.uk/Menu/Archaeology/Limekilns/Buxton-Lime-Firms.php |title=BLF Buxton Lime Firms |website=www.derbyshireheritage.co.uk |access-date=22 February 2020 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404174506/https://www.derbyshireheritage.co.uk/Menu/Archaeology/Limekilns/Buxton-Lime-Firms.php |url-status=dead }} Several limestone quarries lie close,[http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=53.253301,-1.883125&spn=0.113177,0.362206&t=h&z=12 Quarries visible as large white areas in satellite image], Google Maps, September 2010. including the "Tunstead Superquarry", the largest producer of high-purity industrial limestone in Europe, employing 400.[http://www.bgs.ac.uk/foundation-web/Tunstead.html Superquarries: Tunstead] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906050147/http://www.bgs.ac.uk/foundation-web/Tunstead.html |date=6 September 2013}}, British Geological Survey website, September 2010. The quarrying sector also provides jobs in limestone processing and distribution.[http://www.tarmac.co.uk/products_and_services/buxton_lime.aspx "Buxton Lime"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100923064322/http://www.tarmac.co.uk/products_and_services/buxton_lime.aspx |date=23 September 2010}}, Tarmac company website, September 2010{{cite web |first=Laura |last=Hailstone |url=http://www.commercialmotor.com/latest-news/lomas-distribution-consolidates-sites-with-new-depot |title=Lomas Distribution consolidates sites with new depot |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120807021953/http://www.commercialmotor.com/latest-news/lomas-distribution-consolidates-sites-with-new-depot |archive-date=7 August 2012 |website=Commercialmotor.com |date=1 July 2008 |access-date=29 August 2012}} Other industrial employers include the Health & Safety Laboratory, which engages in health and safety research and incident investigations and maintains over 350 staff locally.[http://www.hsl.gov.uk/about-hsl.aspx About HSL] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100730035536/http://www.hsl.gov.uk/about-hsl.aspx |date=30 July 2010}}, HSL Website, September 2010.[http://www.ndi.org.uk/our-members-and-strategic-partners/a-z-member-list/health-and-safety-laboratory/ Health & Safety Laboratory] {{webarchive |url=https://archive.today/20110901081656/http://www.ndi.org.uk/our-members-and-strategic-partners/a-z-member-list/health-and-safety-laboratory/ |date=1 September 2011}}, Northern Defence Industries Website.

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 include Buxton Community School, at the former College Road site of Buxton College, and St. Thomas More Catholic School.[http://www.st-thomasmore.derbyshire.sch.uk/page/default.asp?title=Welcome&pid=1 "St. Thomas More Catholic School"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221113713/http://www.st-thomasmore.derbyshire.sch.uk/page/default.asp?title=Welcome&pid=1 |date=21 February 2014}}, accessed 4 February 2014. Others include Buxton Junior School,[http://www.buxtonjuniorschool.co.uk/ "Buxton Junior School"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222161824/http://www.buxtonjuniorschool.co.uk/ |date=22 February 2014}}, accessed 4 February 2014. St Anne's Catholic Primary,[http://www.st-annesrc.co.uk/ "St. Anne's Catholic Primary School"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130425110442/http://www.st-annesrc.co.uk/ |date=25 April 2013}}, accessed 4 February 2014. the greatest: Harper Hill School with excellent teachers,[http://www.harpurhill.derbyshire.sch.uk/ "Harpur Hill Primary School"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170717051252/http://www.harpurhill.derbyshire.sch.uk/ |date=17 July 2017}}, accessed 6 July 2017. Buxton Infant School,[http://www.buxton-inf.derbyshire.sch.uk/ "Buxton Infant School"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222043113/http://www.buxton-inf.derbyshire.sch.uk/ |date=22 February 2014}}, accessed 4 February 2014. John Duncan School, Fairfield Infant & Nursery, Burbage Primary, Dove Holes CE Primary, Fairfield Endowed Junior, Peak Dale Primary, Leek College, Old Sams Farm Independent School, Hollinsclough CE Primary, Flash CE Primary, Earl Sterndale CE Primary, Peak Forest CE Primary and Combs Infant School.[http://www.yell.com/ucs/UcsSearchAction.do?keywords=schools+and+colleges&location=Buxton%2C+Derbyshire&scrambleSeed=29427230&searchType=&M=&bandedclarifyResults=&ssm=1 "Schools and Colleges Near Buxton, Derbyshire"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161008210404/https://www.yell.com/ucs/UcsSearchAction.do?keywords=schools+and+colleges&location=Buxton,+Derbyshire&scrambleSeed=29427230&searchType=&M=&bandedclarifyResults=&ssm=1 |date=8 October 2016}}, accessed 4 February 2014.

File:Buxton Raceway in Derbyshire, August 2021.jpg

Above the town are two small speedway stadiums. Buxton Raceway (formerly High Edge Raceway), off the A53 Buxton to Leek road, is a motor sports circuit set up in 1974, hosting banger and stock car racing, as well as drifting events.{{Cite web |url=http://www.buxtonraceway.com/ |title=Buxton Raceway |access-date=8 May 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150508080432/http://www.buxtonraceway.com/ |archive-date=8 May 2015}} It was home to the speedway team Buxton High Edge Hitmen in the mid-1990s before the team moved to a custom-built track to the north of the original one. The original track at High Edge Raceway[http://buxtonraceway.oppositelockforum.com/about.htm "About Us"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081028164357/http://buxtonraceway.oppositelockforum.com/about.htm |date=28 October 2008}}, Buxton Raceway website. was among the longest and trickiest in the UK. The new track is more conventional, and has been improved a few times. Buxton have been competitors in the Conference League.[http://www.youandyesterday.co.uk/articles/Speedway_in_Derbyshire "Speedway in Derbyshire"], {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071018013311/http://www.youandyesterday.co.uk/articles/Speedway_in_Derbyshire |date=18 October 2007}} You and Yesterday, accessed on 16 December 2007.{{cite news |first=Neil |last=Hubbert |url=http://www.buxtonadvertiser.co.uk/speedway/Victory-for-Hitmen.3080737.jp |title=Victory for the Hitmen |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071025095102/http://www.buxtonadvertiser.co.uk/speedway/Victory-for-Hitmen.3080737.jp |archive-date=25 October 2007 |newspaper=Buxton Advertiser |date=2 August 2007}} Buxton Raceway was due to hold a floodlit 2019 BriSCA Formula 2 World Final.{{Cite web |url=https://buxtonraceway.com/f2world/index.htm |title=BriSCA F2 World Championship 2019 |website=buxtonraceway.com |access-date=29 August 2019 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404131731/https://buxtonraceway.com/f2world/index.htm |url-status=dead }}

Buxton's football club, Buxton F.C., plays at Silverlands and Buxton Cricket Club at the Park Road ground.{{Cite web |url=http://www.buxtoncc.org/ |title=Buxton Cricket Club |date=19 November 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119152424/http://www.buxtoncc.org/ |archive-date=19 November 2008}} Other team clubs are Buxton Rugby Union[http://www.buxtonrugbyclub.com Buxton Rugby Club] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101108032432/http://www.buxtonrugbyclub.com/ |date=8 November 2010}}, accessed 10 December 2011. and Buxton Hockey Club.{{Cite web |url=http://www.buxtonhockeyclub.co.uk |title=Home page |publisher=Buxton Hockey Club |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303065304/http://www.buxtonhockeyclub.co.uk/ |archive-date=3 March 2016}} There are also four Hope Valley League football clubs: Buxton Town, Peak Dale and Buxton Christians play at the Fairfield Centre and Blazing Rag at the Kents Bank Recreation Ground.{{Citation needed|date=December 2011}}

Buxton has two 18-hole golf courses. Cavendish Golf Club ranked among the top 100 in England. It was designed by the renowned Alister MacKenzie and dates from 1925.{{Cite web |url=http://www.cavendishgolfclub.com/ |title=Cavendish Golf Club – Award-winning golf club in Buxton, Derbyshire |website=Cavendish Golf Club |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081106040541/http://www.cavendishgolfclub.com/ |archive-date=6 November 2008}} At Fairfield is Buxton & High Peak Golf Club. Founded in 1887 on the site of Buxton Racecourse, it is the oldest in Derbyshire.{{Cite web |url=http://www.bhpgc.co.uk/ |title=Home|website=Buxton and High Peak Golf Club |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208234349/http://www.bhpgc.co.uk/ |archive-date=8 December 2008}}

File:Buxton View From Peakdistrict.jpg]]

The hillside round 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.{{cite book |last1=Warren |first1=Daniel |first2=Graham |last2=Warren |title=High over Buxton: A Boulderer's Guide |publisher=Raven Rock Books |date=2003 |isbn=0-9530352-1-2}} Hoffman Quarry at Harpur Hill, sitting prominently above Buxton, is a local venue for sport climbing.{{cite book |first=Gary |last=Gibson |title=From Horseshoe to Harpur Hill |publisher=BMC |date=2004 |isbn=0-903908-72-7}}

Youth groups include the Kaleidoscope Youth Theatre at the Pavilion Arts Centre,[http://www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk/education-community/kaleidoscope "Kaleidoscope"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111208235500/http://www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk/education-community/kaleidoscope |date=8 December 2011}}, Buxton Opera House, accessed 12 May 2011. Buxton Squadron Air Cadets,{{Cite web |url=http://www.2517sqn.org.uk |title=home |website=2517sqn.org.uk}} Derbyshire Army Cadet Force and the Sea Cadet Corps, in addition to units of the Scouts & Guide Association.{{Citation needed|date=August 2011}}

Buxton has three Masonic Lodges and a Royal Arch Chapter, which meets at the Masonic Hall, George Street. Phoenix Lodge of Saint Ann No. 1235 was consecrated in 1865, Buxton Lodge No. 1688 in 1877, and High Peak Lodge No. 1952 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.United Grand Lodge of England (2006) Directory of Lodges and Chapters London.

Regional TV news comes from Salford-based BBC North West and ITV Granada. Television signals are received from the Winter Hill and the local relay transmitters.{{cite web |url=https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Winter_Hill |title=Full Freeview on the Winter Hill (Bolton, England) transmitter |date=May 2004 |publisher=UK Free TV |access-date=19 September 2023}}{{cite web |url=https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Buxton |title=Freeview Light on the Buxton (Derbyshire, England) transmitter |date=May 2004 |publisher=UK Free TV |access-date=19 September 2023}}

Local radio stations are BBC Radio Derby on 96.0FM and Greatest Hits Radio Derbyshire (High Peak) (formerly High Peak Radio) on 106.4FM.

The Buxton Advertiser is the town’s weekly local newspaper.{{cite web |url=https://www.britishpapers.co.uk/england-emids/buxton-advertiser/ |title=Buxton Advertiser |publisher=British Newspapers Online |date=24 January 2014 |access-date=19 September 2023}}

Buxton railway station has a generally half-hourly service to Stockport and Manchester Piccadilly along the Buxton line; trains are operated by Northern. The journey to Manchester takes just under an hour.{{Cite web |title=Timetables and engineering information for travel with Northern |work=Northern Railway |date=May 2023 |access-date=17 June 2023 |url= https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/travel/timetables |quote=}}

File:Buxton railway station 1958012 9600359f.jpg

Buxton had three railway stations. Two were aligned to the LNWR: Buxton and Higher Buxton; the latter was next to Clifton Road and closed in 1951. The third was Buxton (Midland), situated next to the LNWR terminus. The Midland Railway station, closed on 6 March 1967, became the site for the Spring Gardens shopping centre. The trackbed of the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midland Junction Railway has, in part, been used as a walking and cycling path called the Monsal Trail.

Peak Rail, a preserved railway group, has restored the section from Rowsley South to Matlock; it has long-term ambitions to reopen it through to Buxton.{{Cite web |title=A history of the Midland Railway route through the Peak |work=Peak Rail |date=2021 |access-date=17 June 2023 |url= https://www.peakrail.co.uk/our-railway/historyofline/ |quote=}}

The town is served by bus routes that cross the Peak District National Park, including to the nearby towns of Whaley Bridge, Chapel-en-le-Frith, New Mills, Glossop and Ashbourne.

The High Peak Transpeak service offers an hourly link southwards to Taddington, Bakewell, Matlock, Belper and Derby. The Skyline 199 route operates every half hour during the day to Manchester Airport, along the A6 through New Mills and Stockport.

Other services link Buxton with Macclesfield, Leek, Stoke-on-Trent, Sheffield, Chesterfield and Meadowhall.{{Cite web |title=Buxton Bus Services |work=Bus Times |date=2023 |access-date=17 June 2023 |url= https://bustimes.org/localities/buxton-derbyshire|quote=}}

The nearest airports are Manchester Airport (22 miles away), Liverpool John Lennon Airport (48 miles) and East Midlands Airport (52 miles).

In the 2011 census, Buxton's population was 98.3% white, 0.6% Asian, 0.2% black and 0.8% mixed/multiple.{{Cite web |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/eastofengland/wards/ |title=United Kingdom: East of England (Local Authority Districts and Wards) – Population Statistics, Charts and Map |website=www.citypopulation.de}} In 2021, the population of Buxton was 20,048 people, 97.5% of them white, 0.9% Asian, 0.3% black and 1% mixed/multiple race.{{Cite web |title=Buxton (Derbyshire, East Midlands, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map, Location, Weather and Web Information |url=https://citypopulation.de/en/uk/eastmidlands/derbyshire/E63001599__buxton/ |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=citypopulation.de}}

2021 consensus of religion in Buxton

File:Charles Henry John Chetwynd-Talbot, Vanity Fair, 1903-07-30.jpg

File:Herbert Eisner.jpg

• Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury (1860–1921), styled Viscount Ingestre, ran in the early 1880s a daily Greyhound (fast) coach service for the 20 miles from Buxton Spa to his house at Alton Towers.
• Henry Guppy (1861–1948), Librarian of the John Rylands Library in Manchester from 1899 to 1948, lived in Buxton.
• Rear Admiral Leonard Warren Murray (1896–1971 in Buxton),{{cite book |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/leonard-warren-murray |title=Canadian Encyclopedia |chapter=Murray, Leonard Warren |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115071646/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/en/article/leonard-warren-murray/ |first=

Marc |last=Milner |archive-date=15 January 2018 |access-date=20 August 2024}} senior officer of the Royal Canadian Navy who played a significant role in the Battle of the Atlantic

• John Pilkington Hudson (1910 in Buxton – 2007), horticultural scientist{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/feb/08/secondworldwar.obituaries |newspaper=The Guardian |date=8 February 2008 |title=Obituary, John Hudson |first=Dan |last=van der Vat |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205110603/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/feb/08/secondworldwar.obituaries |archive-date=5 February 2017 |access-date=20 August 2024}} and bomb disposal expert
• Herbert Eisner (1921–2011), British-German scientist{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/science-obituaries/8668910/Herbert-Eisner.html |title=Telegraph obituary: Herbert Eisner |date=28 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115071635/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/science-obituaries/8668910/Herbert-Eisner.html |archive-date=15 January 2018 |access-date=20 August 2024}} high-expansion firefighting foam, playwright, schooled and lived in Buxton
• Tony Marchington (1955 in Buxworth – 2011), biotechnology entrepreneur{{cite web |url=http://www.aboutderbyshire.co.uk/cms/11/flying-scotsman-steams-in.shtml |title=Flying Scotsman Steams Into Derbyshire! |first=Tom |last=Bates |website=About Derbyshire |date=23 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727115833/http://www.aboutderbyshire.co.uk/cms/11/flying-scotsman-steams-in.shtml |archive-date=27 July 2011 |access-date=18 October 2024}} and owner of the Flying Scotsman

• Hugh Molson, Baron Molson (1903–1991), Conservative{{usurped|1=[http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20120109143504/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Hcommons3.htm Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs]}} retrieved January 2018. MP for High Peak 1939–1961
• Sir Spencer Le Marchant (1931–1986), Conservative MP for High Peak 1970 to 1983
• Christopher Hawkins (born 1937), Conservative MP for High Peak 1983–1992
• Tom Levitt (born 1954), Labour[https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/10356/tom_levitt/high_peak#profile TheyWorkForYou website, Tom Levitt MP] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115001425/https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/10356/tom_levitt/high_peak |date=15 January 2018}} retrieved January 2018. MP High Peak 1997–2010
• Andrew Bingham (born 1962 in Buxton), Conservative[https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/24748/andrew_bingham/high_peak#profile TheyWorkForYou website, profile] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115001321/https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/24748/andrew_bingham/high_peak |date=15 January 2018}} retrieved January 2018. MP for High Peak 2010–2017

File:Vera Brittain.jpg

File:Lloyd Cole live in Münster (sept 2010).jpg

• Orlando Jewitt (1799–1869), architectural wood-engraver
• Vera Brittain (1893–1970), author of Testament of Youth and mother of Shirley Williams, lived in Buxton from 1905{{cite book

|last=Brittain

|first=Vera

|author-link=

|date=1933

|title=Testament of Youth

|location=London

|publisher=Fontana paperback (1979)

|page=27

|isbn=}} till 1915.{{cite web |url=http://openplaques.org/plaques/8484 |title=Vera Brittain author of "Testament of Youth" lived here 1907–1915 |publisher=openplaques.org |access-date=9 November 2012}}

• Robert Stevenson, (1905–1986), Buxton-born director of Disney films including Mary Poppins
• John Buxton Hilton (1921–1986), Buxton-born crime writer[https://www.curtisbrown.co.uk/client/john-buxton-hilton Curtis Brown website, literary and talent agency] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115001708/https://www.curtisbrown.co.uk/client/john-buxton-hilton |date=15 January 2018}} retrieved January 2018.
• Angela Flanders (1927–2016), Buxton-born perfumer{{Cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2016/05/22/angela-flanders-perfumer--obituary/ |title=Angela Flanders, perfumer – obituary |newspaper=Daily Telegraph |date=22 May 2016 |access-date=24 May 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160524105516/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2016/05/22/angela-flanders-perfumer--obituary/ |archive-date=24 May 2016}}
• Marjorie Lynette Sigley (1928–1997), Buxton-born artist, writer and actress, teacher, choreographer, theatre director and TV producer
• Elizabeth Spriggs, (1929–2008), Buxton-born character actress with the Royal Shakespeare Company
• Tim Brooke-Taylor (1940–2020), comic actor in The Goodies
• David Fallows (born 1945 in Buxton), musicologist[http://www.manchester.ac.uk/research/David.fallows/ Research page, University of Manchester] {{webarchive |url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20151221000934/http://www.manchester.ac.uk/research/David.fallows/ |date=21 December 2015}} retrieved January 2018. specializing in music of the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance
• Dave Lee Travis (born 1945 in Buxton), disc jockey, radio and TV presenter
• Lloyd Cole (born 1961 in Buxton), musician,{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/lloyd-cole-mn0000229348/biography |title=Lloyd Cole |publisher=AllMusic |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114184726/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/lloyd-cole-mn0000229348/biography |archive-date=14 January 2018 |access-date=18 October 2024}} songwriter, frontman of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
• Dan Rhodes (born 1972), writer,{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3592073/A-writers-life-Dan-Rhodes.html |title=A writer's life: Dan Rhodes |first=Lloyd |last=Evans |newspaper=Daily Telegraph |date=22 March 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824201359/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3592073/A-writers-life-Dan-Rhodes.html |archive-date=24 August 2017 |access-date=18 October 2024}}{{failed verification|date=October 2024}} awarded the E. M. Forster Award in 2010, lives in Buxton.
• Bruno Langley (born 1983), actor, who played Adam Mitchell in Doctor Who and Todd Grimshaw in Coronation Street, was brought up in Buxton.
• Lucy Spraggan (born 1991), musician (folk, acoustic, hip hop pop), went to school in Buxton.
• Kate Butch, drag queen from series 5 of RuPaul's Drag Race UK, grew up in Buxton and attended Buxton Community School.

File:Mick Andrews Yamaah 1976.jpg

• William Shipton (1861 in Buxton – 1941 in Buxton), cricketer,{{cite web |url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/229835.html |title=Obituaries in 1941 |date=16 December 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111074148/http://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/229835.html |archive-date=11 November 2012 |publisher=Wisden |access-date=18 October 2024}} later a solicitor in Buxton
• Fred Smith (1887 in Buxton – 1957), footballer before WWI, mainly for Macclesfield
• Bobby Blood (1894 in Harpur Hill – 1988), footballer for Port Vale, West Brom and Stockport
• George Bailey (1906 in Buxton – 2000), steeplechaser,[https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ba/george-bailey-2.html George Bailey, Olympics at Sports-Reference.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115001333/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ba/george-bailey-2.html |date=15 January 2018 }} retrieved January 2018. competed at the 1932 Summer Olympics
• Frank Soo (1914 in Buxton – 1991), Stoke City F.C. footballer[https://footballpink.net/2016/02/29/the-wanderer-just-who-was-frank-soo/ The Wanderer–Just who was Frank Soo, The Football Pink] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021045137/https://footballpink.net/2016/02/29/the-wanderer-just-who-was-frank-soo/ |date=21 October 2016 }} retrieved January 2018. (173 pro appearances) and first mixed-race professional to represent England
• John Tarrant (1932–1975), long-distance runner,[http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/Amazing-story-ghost-runner-ndash-man-just-couldn/story-13179473-detail/story.html Amazing Story of the Ghost Runner]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}, Derby Telegraph, 11 December 2011, Retrieved 14 September 2015. "The Ghost Runner", lived in Buxton.
• Mick Andrews (born 1944 in Buxton), former international[http://www.mickandrews.net/ MickAndrews.net website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123010327/http://www.mickandrews.net/ |date=23 January 2015 }} retrieved January 2018 motorcycle trials rider
• Les Bradd (born 1947 in Buxton), former footballer,[https://web.archive.org/web/20080227030912/http://www.football-england.com/les_bradd.html Player profile Football_england.com archive] retrieved January 2018. over 580 pro appearances, all-time leading goalscorer for Notts County
• Carl Mason (born 1953 in Buxton), professional golfer[http://www.europeantour.com/seniortour/players/playerid=121/bio/index.html "Carl Mason"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111104063710/http://www.europeantour.com/seniortour/players/playerid=121/bio/index.html |date=4 November 2011 }}, Player biographies, The PGA European Tour, accessed 1 July 2012
• Mark Higgins (born 1958 in Buxton), former Everton, Bury and Stoke footballer, 265 pro appearances
• Lorraine Winstanley (born 1975) [https://www.dartsdatabase.co.uk/PlayerDetails.aspx?playerKey=10337 Player profile on Lorraine Winstanley from Dartsdatabase] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915231938/http://www.dartsdatabase.co.uk/PlayerDetails.aspx?playerKey=10337 |date=15 September 2017}} retrieved January 2018. and Dean Winstanley (born 1981),[http://www.dartsdatabase.co.uk/PlayerDetails.aspx?playerKey=7471 Player profile on Dean Winstanley from Dartsdatabase] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160118042621/http://www.dartsdatabase.co.uk/PlayerDetails.aspx?playerKey=7471 |date=18 January 2016}} retrieved January 2018. BDO darts players, live in Buxton.
• Ben Burgess (born 1981 in Buxton), Irish footballer,[http://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=20396 SoccerBase Database] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171227061859/http://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=20396 |date=27 December 2017 }} retrieved January 2018. played for Hull City F.C. and Blackpool F.C.
• Abbie Wood (born 1999 in Buxton) swam in two finals at the 2020 Summer Olympics.{{Cite news |title=Swimming – Women's 200m Individual Medley results |language=en-GB |work=BBC Sport |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/57970374 |access-date=30 July 2021}}{{Cite news |title=Tokyo Olympics: Swimming – Women's 200m Breaststroke |language=en-GB |work=BBC Sport |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/57994179 |access-date=30 July 2021}}

A series of four recent novels by Sarah Ward – In Bitter Chill (2015), A Deadly Thaw (2017), A Patient Fury (2018) and The Shrouded Path (2019) – feature the fictional town of Bampton, which the author states "is partly based on Buxton with its Georgian architecture, Bakewell, a well-heeled market town... and Cromford with its canal and fantastic industrial heritage."[https://r1.dotdigital-pages.com/p/24K5-JOP?dm_i=24K5,76Z48,HG1MUU,T57SQ,1 Faber publications. Retrieved 15 January 2021.]

Bill Bryson recounts his visit to Buxton in his 2015 book The Road to Little Dribbling.{{Cite book |last=Bryson |first=Bill |title=The Road to Little Dribbling |publisher=Penguin |year=2015 |isbn=9780552779838 |pages=345}}

Vera Brittain grew up in Buxton and in her memoir Testament of Youth, she is critical of the town's snobbery.{{Cite web |title=World War One At Home, Buxton, Derbyshire: Where Vera Brittain Trained as a Nurse |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01ws2bf |access-date=30 April 2022 |publisher=BBC |language=en-GB}}

Buxton is mentioned in James Joyce's Ulysses at the beginning of chapter 10. Father Conmee, a Jesuit priest, encounters the wife of David Sheehy MP and in their exchange says that he "would go to Buxton, probably, for the waters".{{cite web |title=Ulysses, about 1.55 in |url=https://www.rte.ie/culture/2020/0610/1146705-listen-ulysses-james-joyce-podcast/ |website=www.rte.ie|date=10 June 2022 }}

The Victorian diarist Anne Lister recounts her visit to Buxton during August 1816 in her journal.{{Cite web |last=Lister |first=Anne |date=16 August 1816 |title=Journal Entry SH:7/ML/E/26/2/004 |url=https://www.catalogue.wyjs.org.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=CC00001%2f7%2f9%2f6%2f26%2f2%2f5 |website=WYAS}}

Buxton's St Ann's Well and Poole's Cavern were listed as two of the Seven Wonders of the Peak, in Thomas Hobbes's 17th-century book De Mirabilibus Pecci: Being the Wonders of the Peak in Darby-shire, commonly called The Devil's Arse of Peak.{{Cite web |title=De Mirabilibus Pecci: Being the Wonders of the Peak in Darby-shire |url=https://www.wondersofthepeak.org.uk/objects/2-36/ |access-date=29 April 2020 |website=www.wondersofthepeak.org.uk}}

• Listed buildings in Buxton
• Buxton Hospital
• Cavendish Hospital
• Lightwood Reservoir
• Macclesfield group power stations
• Pubs and inns in Buxton

{{Reflist|group=nb}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |first=W. |last=Bemrose |title=Guide to Buxton and Neighbourhood |publisher=Bemrose & Sons |location=London |date=1869}}
• {{cite book |title=Black's Guide to Buxton and the Peak country of Derbyshire |publisher=A. and C. Black |date=1898}}
• {{cite book |first=Tom |last=Aitken |title=One Hundred & One Beautiful Towns in Great Britain |publisher=Rizzoli |date=2008}}
• {{cite book |title=Buxton and its Medicinal Waters |publisher=John Heywood |last=Gifford-Bennet |first=Robert Ottiwell |year=2009 |orig-year=1892 |url=https://archive.org/details/buxtonanditsmedi30682gut |location=London}}
• {{cite book |first=Mike |last=Langham |title=Buxton: A People's History |publisher=Carnegie Publishing |date=2001}}

{{commons category}}

• {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Buxton |volume=4 |short=x}}
• [http://www.visitbuxton.co.uk/ Visit Buxton.co.uk]
• [http://explorebuxtonderbyshire.co.uk/ Explore Buxton]

{{High Peak}}

{{Derbyshire}}

{{Derbyshire Places of interest}}

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| s-search = 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Buxton

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Category:Towns in Derbyshire

Category:Spa towns in England

Category:Towns and villages of the Peak District

Category:Unparished areas in Derbyshire

Category:Former civil parishes in Derbyshire

Category:High Peak, Derbyshire