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BUXTON

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Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 893 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BUXTON , a See also:

market See also:town and fashionable See also:health-resort in the High See also:Peak See also:parliamentary See also:division of See also:Derbyshire, See also:England, on the See also:London & See also:North-Western and Midland See also:railways, 36 m. N.W. by N. of See also:Derby. Pop. of See also:urban See also:district (1901) 10,181. It occupies a high position, lying between boo and 115o ft. above See also:sea-level, in an open hollow, surrounded at a distance by hills of considerable See also:elevation, except on the See also:south-See also:east See also:side, where the Wye, which rises about See also:half a mile away, makes its exit. The old town (High Buxton) stands a little above the new, and consists of one wide See also:street, and a considerable market-See also:place with an old See also:cross. The new town is the richer portion. The See also:Crescent is a See also:fine range of buildings in the Doric See also:style, erected by the See also:duke of See also:Devonshire in 1779-1788. It contains hotels, a See also:ball-See also:room, a See also:bank, a library and other establishments, and the surrounding open grounds are laid out in terraces and gardens. The Old See also:Hall hotel at the See also:west end of the Crescent stands on the site of the See also:mansion built in .1572 by the See also:earl of See also:Shrewsbury in the reign of See also:Queen See also:Elizabeth, which was the See also:residence of See also:Mary queen of Scots when she visited the town. The See also:mineral See also:waters of Buxton, which have neither See also:taste nor See also:smell, are among the most noted in England, and are particularly efficacious in cases of See also:rheumatism and See also:gout. There are numerous public and private See also:baths, the most important of which are those in the See also:establishment at the eastern end of the Crescent. The springs See also:supply hot and See also:cold See also:water at a very See also:short distance from each other, flowing at the See also:rate of 6o gallons a See also:minute.

The former possesses a See also:

uniform temperature of 82° Fahr., and the See also:principal substances in See also:solution are bicarbonate of See also:calcium, bicarbonate of See also:magnesium, chloride of See also:sodium, chloride of magnesium and See also:silica See also:acid. There is also a chalybeate See also:spring known as St See also:Anne's well, situated at the S.W. corner of the Crescent, the water of which when mixed with that of the other springs proves purgative. The Devonshire See also:hospital, formerly known as the See also:Bath Charity, is a benevolent institution, supported by voluntary subscriptions. Every See also:year some thousands of poor patients are treated See also:free of cost; and the hospital was enlarged for their See also:accommodation, a See also:dome being added which is of greater circumference than any other in See also:Europe. In 1894 the duke of Devonshire erected a handsome See also:pump-room at St Anne's well. The Buxton See also:season extends from See also:June to See also:October, and during that See also:period the town is visited by thousands, but it is also popular as a See also:winter resort. The Buxton Gardens are beautifully laid out, with ornamental waters, a fine opeta-See also:house, See also:pavilion and See also:concert hall, See also:theatre and See also:reading rooms. Electric See also:lighting has been introduced, and there is an excellent See also:golf course. The See also:Cavendish See also:Terrace forms a fine See also:promenade, and the neighbourhood of the town is See also:rich in See also:objects of See also:interest. Of these the See also:chief are See also:Poole's Hole, a vast stalactite See also:cave, about half a mile distant; See also:Diamond See also:Hill, which owes its name to the See also:quartz crystals which are not uncommon in its rocks; and Chee Tor, a remarkable cliff, on the See also:banks of the Wye, 300 ft. high. Ornaments are manufactured by the inhabitants from See also:alabaster and spar; and excellent See also:lime is burned at the quarries near Poole's Hole. Buxton is an import-See also:ant centre for See also:horse-breeding, and a large horse-See also:fair is held annually.

Although the See also:

annual rainfall, owing to the situation of the town towards the western flank of the Pennine Hills, is about 49 in., the See also:air is particularly dry owing to the high situation and the rapidity with which waters drain off through the See also:limestone. The See also:climate is bracing and healthy. The waters were known and used by the See also:Romans, but to a limited extent, and no remains of their baths survive. See also:Roman roads connected the place with Derby, See also:Brough in Edale and See also:Manchester. Buxton (Bawdestanes, Bue-stanes), formed into a See also:civil See also:parish from See also:Bakewell in 1895, has thus claims to be considered one of the See also:oldest See also:English spas. It was probably the " Bectune " mentioned in Domesday. After the departure of the Romans the baths seem to have been See also:long neglected, but were again frequented in the 16th See also:century, when the See also:chapel of St Anne was hung See also:round with the crutches of those who were supposed to owe their cure to her healing See also:powers; these interesting See also:relics were destroyed at the See also:Reformation. The baths were visited at least four times by Mary queen of Scots, when a prisoner in See also:charge of See also:George, earl of Shrewsbury, other famous Elizabethan visitors being See also:Lord Burleigh, the earl of See also:Essex, and See also:Robert, earl of See also:Leicester. At the See also:close of the 18th century the duke of Devonshire, lord of the See also:manor (whose ancestor See also:Sir See also:Ralph de Gernons was lord of Bakewell in 1251) , spent large sums of See also:money on improvements in the town. In 1781 he began to build the famous Crescent, and since that See also:time Buxton has steadily increased in favour as an inland watering-place. In 1813 a weekly market on Saturday and four annual fairs were granted. These were bought by the See also:local authorities from the duke of Devonshire in 1864.

See See also:

Gough's edition of See also:Camden's Britannia; See also:Stephen See also:Glover, See also:History of the See also:County of Derby (Derby, 1829) ; W. Bemrose, See also:Guide to Buxton (London, 1869).

End of Article: BUXTON

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