Taking Stock
Buxton 2014
Buxton. A small town with big buildings and massive civic pride.
Sited on the boundary of the Lower Carboniferous limestone and the Upper Carboniferous shale, sandstone and grit stone. The River Wye rises on Axe Edge and runs through the town; a different water source to that of St Ann’s well, the source of Buxton mineral water, which rises from 5,000 ft below the ground at a constant 28oC. •
The highest market town in England (the Town Hall is 1,000 ft above sea level).
Population: 21,000 (rising to 24,000 in term) 2,934 are children 0 -15 years Two small outdoor markets - Tuesday and Saturday • 1 Farmer’s Market • 75 fairs and events every year • 1.3 million visitors annually contribute £60 million spend •
Known as ‘The Gateway to the Peak District National Park’; around 15 million people live within one hour’s drive.
As well as the town centre, Buxton has three urban areas, formerly distinct villages: Burbage, Fairfield and Harpur Hill.
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Listed buildings and structures • 1 Grade 1 • 6 Grade2* • 89 Grade 2 FANTASTIC FACTS World’s largest biennial quarrying exhibition. Third largest unsupported dome in the world: the Devonshire Dome. • One of the longest quarry faces in Europe at Tunstead. • The tops of Buxton RFC goal posts are the highest in England. • Over 100 PhDs and 100 MScs work in one building at HSL. • Parker and Unwin drew up the plans for Letchworth and Welwyn Garden Cities at their Buxton office. • 200 acres (the ring of trees) of woodland and one cave are owned and managed by the Civic Association. • •
More than twice the national average of the working population are employed in the creative industries or in firms that invest significantly in research and development. • Lows are high - actually means ‘hill’. • Possibly the smallest department store in the world - Atticus Boo. •
THE ARCHITECTS AND MAKERS OF BUXTON Mesolithic man circa 5300 BC Neolithic farmers settled here 3500 - 1800 BC The Romans (Aquae Arnemetiae) circa AD70 • The Earl of Shrewsbury - built the New Hall (now Old Hall) 1576. • Mary, Queen of Scots, resided under house arrest at the New Hall 1576-78. • Sir Thomas Delves of Donnington re-built St Ann's Well 1709. The Georgians • John Barker of Rowsley - baths constructed next to the Old Hall, completed 1712. • John Carr commissioned for baths upgrade 1775 • The 5th Duke of Devonshire commissioned Carr to build The Crescent 1780-89 and The Great Stables 1789. • John White - The Square 1806, St John’s Church 1811.
The Victorians • Joseph Paxton - Serpentine Walks and (Pavilion) Gardens 1854 and Corbar Wood, Buxton Improvement Company formed 1869. • Edward Milner - The Pavilion and Promenade 1871. • Robert Rippon Duke - The Octagon 1876, Turners Memorial 1879, The Great Dome 1880. • The Railway Companies - LNWR and Midland Railway; two lines opened in 1863. • Henry Currey - The Palace Hotel 1867, The Pump Room 1893. The Edwardians • Frank Matcham - Opera House 1903 • Parker & Unwin - Arts and Crafts - ‘Cheshire Revival’; examples of their work and others are on College Road, The Park, Temple Road.
EDUCATION 14 Pre-schools / nurseries 6 Primary schools. • 2 Secondary schools. • 1 College of Further Education (in top 7% nationally for 16-18 achievement). • 1 University (in top 10% nationally for onward progression). • Buxton 4 Youth. • •
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EMPLOYMENT Buxton has a significant knowledge based economy. • Average earnings are well above the national average. •
Key Industrial Estates • Staden Lane Industrial Estate • Harpur Hill Industrial Estate • Tongue Lane Industrial Estate Key Employers include: Bradburys: award winning cheese importers and factors established 1884. Buxton Press: winner of ‘Printing Company of the Year’ for the last two years. Print in excess of 55 million magazines annually. Flowflex Ltd: produces over 10,000 plumbing fittings and accessories on a six acre site supplying international customers. HSL: UK government health and safety laboratory; incident investigation and controlling risk. Lafarge Tarmac Buxton quarries: produce lime products aggregates, asphalt, concrete, lime and cement. Lea Manufacturing: The largest independent suppliers of surface engineering products in the UK and leading manufacturer of abrasive polishing compounds and speciality barrelling and tumbling products. 35% exports. Lhoist UK Ltd: produce some of the purest limestone and lime products in the UK at Hindlow Quarry. 4
Lomas Distribution: 190 vehicles haul limestone products from quarries around Buxton all around the UK. Nestlé: Buxton Water (mineral water) Otter controls: design and manufacture thermostatic cut-out controls for domestic appliances and electric motors. Won Exporter of the Year 2012. Primopost: one of the UK's leading suppliers of printed and plain packaging for the food and nonfood industries. Selden Research Ltd: the UK’s largest independent developer & manufacturer of professional cleaning chemicals. SGS Baseefa: international inspection, verification, testing and certification for hazardous environments and equipment.
HEALTH AND WELLBEING 2 Hospitals 4 Doctors surgeries and clinics • 2 Surestart centres • 6 Care homes • 1 Night stop • 1 Foodbank • •
Sporting Activities: Cricket, football, rugby, 2 sets of tennis courts, 2 x sports centres, crown green bowling, clay pigeon shooting, Buxton raceway, Go ape 2 x 18 hole golf courses, golf driving range, gyms, 2 skateboard parks, go karting, swimming, walking, climbing, caving, cycling
Main parks and public space: • Ashwood Park • Buxton Country Park: Poole’s Cavern and Grin Low Wood SSSI • Corbar Woods • Fairfield Common • Ferneydale Grassland LNR • Pavilion Gardens • Serpentine Walks • Temple Fields • 1 community orchard (dispersed - 4 sites to date) • 5 allotment sites Volunteering: More than 80 voluntary organisations in Buxton and dozens of special interest groups
THE ARTS AND CULTURE 1 Opera House 1 Pavilion Arts Theatre • 1 Studio Theatre • 1 Paupers Pit Theatre • 1 Museum and Art Gallery • 1 Co-operative Art Gallery • 1 Library • •
Festival Town: • Adventure Festival • Beer Festival • Four Four Time Festival • Fringe Festival • Literary Festival • Morris Dancing Festival • Opera Festival • Puppet Festival • Cycling Festival • Walking Festival Wells dressing: revived 1840; held most years since. Unique to Derbyshire, a pagan/Christian thanks for water involves decorating town wells with large boards covered in clay then with pictures made out of flower petals and then blessed. A fair is held on the Market Place and a Carnival procession organised by volunteers is held on Wells Dressing Saturday in July. Conferences and exhibitions Several venues offer meeting and conferencing facilities from very small numbers up to 1200 people (standing) e.g. • 800 seated delegates in The Octagon at the Pavilion Gardens. • 300 seated delegates at The Palace Hotel. • 1300 sq ft of exhibition space is available at The Dome; it also hosts Asian weddings with up to 700 guests.
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RETAIL Independents: 80 + Supermarkets: Aldi, 2 x Co-op, Iceland, M&S, Morrisons, Waitrose Express shopping: Sainsbury, Tesco HOSPITALITY 7 Hotels and 35+ Guest houses & B&Bs (537 rooms, 1,116 beds) • 20+ Self catering • 6 Caravan and camping sites • 25 Cafes and tea rooms • 23 Restaurants including Chinese, Indian, Italian, Mexican, Spanish, Swiss/Italian, Thai • 18 Pubs and 1 micro brewery • 2 Night clubs •
COMMUNICATIONS The town lies on a main intersection of cross country ‘A-roads’ including: A6 north (M60 motorway orbital and Manchester City centre) A6 East (Bakewell; Matlock and M1) A515 (Ashbourne & Derby) A54 (Congleton)
A537 (known locally as the Cat & Fiddle to Macclesfield) A53 (Leek, Stoke-on-Trent and M6) Bus: Well served by bus services - at least an hourly service to almost anywhere: Derby, Manchester, Chesterfield, Stoke on Trent. The University provides a service linking Derby, Buxton and Leek. Also half hourly bus service to Manchester International Airport from 6.00am - 9.00pm
Airports: By car or taxi Manchester airport is 45 minutes. East Midland just under an hour Liverpool just over one hour Trains: Buxton to Manchester - an hourly service Buxton to Euston station two and a quarter hours via car to Macclesfield. (A little longer to St Pancras via car to Chesterfield or Derby - just over three hours). Car: M1, M6, M18, M42, M60, M62 all around 50 minutes drive. Parking: Approximately 2,000 spaces.
www.buxtontownteam.org With gratitude and thanks to all the people who publish interesting facts about Buxton. Buxton Town Team CIC
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained within
Registered office: c/o Brooke-Taylor 4 The Quadrant Buxton SK17 6AW
this publication was correct at the time of printing. The author does not
Company Registration Number: 8304388
accept liability of any nature arising from, or as a result of, information given in this document, or as a result of any error or omission. 28.08.13
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