Editing Buxton (section)

== Notable architecture ==
[[File:Buxton Town Hall designed by William Pollard.jpg|thumb|[[Buxton Town Hall]] (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.<ref>{{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}}</ref> The present building dates from 1670, and has a five-bay front with a [[Tuscany|Tuscan]] doorway.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

[[File:buxtoncres1.jpg|right|thumb|Buxton Crescent and St Ann's Well]]
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 (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)|Henry Currey]], architect to the [[William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire|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, Rome|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|left|thumb|Nocturnal view of the restored [[Buxton Baths|Buxton Thermal Baths]], and [[Brian Clarke|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;<ref name="Tanya Harrod - The real thing">{{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}}</ref><ref name="In the Wake of William Morris">{{Cite magazine |last=Lyttleton |first=Celia |date=1984 |title=In the Wake of William Morris & Co. |issue=5 |magazine=Ritz Magazine: Art Inside}}</ref> his scheme, designed in 1984 and completed in 1987, was for a landmark modern artwork,<ref name="auto1">{{Cite magazine |last=Hills |first=Ann |date=April 1987 |title=Buxton's New Landmark |magazine=Building Refurbishment}}</ref> a barrel-vaulted modern stained glass ceiling to enclose the former baths<ref>{{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}}</ref> — at the time the largest stained glass window in the British Isles — creating an atrial space for what became the Cavendish Arcade.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref name="auto1"/><ref>{{NHLE |num=1257914 |desc=Natural Mineral Baths |grade=II |fewer-links= |access-date=20 August 2024}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref> The building was refurbished as part of the [[National Lottery (United Kingdom)|National Lottery]]-funded Buxton Crescent and Thermal Spa re-development. Beside it, added in 1940, is [[St Ann's Well (Buxton)|St Ann's Well]]. In October 2020 Ensana reopened the Crescent as a 5-star spa hotel, after a 17-year refurbishment.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

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.<ref name=highpeak>{{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}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{NHLE |num=1259171 |desc=Town Hall |grade=II |fewer-links=yes |access-date=9 June 2020}}</ref>

[[File:View from Hall Bank to Corbar.jpg|thumb|150px|left|Corbar Hill and the Dome]]

=== Other architecture ===
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 [[Pillar box#Penfolds|Penfold]] octagonal post box. The opera house is attached to the Pavilion Gardens, Octagonal Hall (built in 1875) and the smaller [[Pavilion Arts Centre, Buxton|Pavilion Arts Centre]] (previously The Hippodrome and the Playhouse Theatre.<ref>{{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}}</ref>). [[Buxton Pavilion Gardens]], designed by [[Edward Milner]], contain 93,000 m<sup>2</sup> 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.<ref>{{NHLE |num=1000675 |desc=Pavilion Gardens, Buxton |grade=II* |access-date=21 January 2020 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>

[[File:Palace Hotel 201307 042.jpg|thumb|Palace Hotel]]
The 122-room [[Palace Hotel, Buxton|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.<ref>{{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 &#124; Britannia Hotels |archive-date=22 October 2013 |website=www.britanniahotels.com}}</ref>

[[File:Corbar Cross Buxton 2008.JPG|left|thumb|Corbar Cross<ref name=NewCross/><ref group="nb">This is a photo of the cross before it was cut down in 2010. It has since been restored.</ref>]]
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, Buxton|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.<ref name=Cut>{{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}}</ref> The Buxton ecumenical group Churches Together brought in several benefactors to replace the cross with a smaller one in May 2011.<ref name=NewCross>{{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}}</ref>

Many [[pubs and inns in Buxton]] are listed buildings reflecting the historic character of the town,<ref name=":3">{{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}}</ref> 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.