Taking Stock Buxton 2014

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 theirBuxton office.

• 200 acres (the ring of trees) of woodland and one cave are owned and managed by theCivic Association.

• 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 andSaturday• 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 DistrictNational Park’; around 15 million people livewithin one hour’s drive.

As well as the town centre, Buxton has threeurban areas, formerly distinct villages: Burbage,Fairfield and Harpur Hill.

Buxton. A small town with big buildings and massive civic pride.

Sited on the boundary of the Lower Carboniferous limestoneand the Upper Carboniferous shale, sandstone and grit stone.The River Wye rises on Axe Edge and runs through the town; adifferent water source to that of St Ann’s well, the source ofBuxton mineral water, which rises from 5,000 ft below theground at a constant 28oC.

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• More than twice the national average of theworking population are employed in the creativeindustries or in firms that invest significantly inresearch 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 BCNeolithic 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 GreatStables 1789.

• John White - The Square 1806, St John’s Church1811.

The Victorians• Joseph Paxton - Serpentine Walks and (Pavilion)

Gardens 1854 and Corbar Wood, BuxtonImprovement Company formed 1869.

• Edward Milner - The Pavilion and Promenade1871.

• Robert Rippon Duke - The Octagon 1876,Turners Memorial 1879, The Great Dome 1880.

• The Railway Companies - LNWR and MidlandRailway; 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 areon 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 basedeconomy.

• Average earnings are well above the nationalaverage.

Key Industrial Estates• Staden Lane Industrial Estate• Harpur Hill Industrial Estate• Tongue Lane Industrial Estate

Key Employers include:Bradburys: award winning cheese importers andfactors established 1884.Buxton Press: winner of ‘Printing Company of theYear’ for the last two years. Print in excess of 55million magazines annually.Flowflex Ltd: produces over 10,000 plumbingfittings and accessories on a six acre sitesupplying international customers. HSL: UK government health and safety laboratory;incident investigation and controlling risk.Lafarge Tarmac Buxton quarries: produce limeproducts aggregates, asphalt, concrete, lime andcement.Lea Manufacturing: The largest independentsuppliers of surface engineering products in theUK and leading manufacturer of abrasive polishingcompounds and speciality barrelling and tumblingproducts. 35% exports.Lhoist UK Ltd: produce some of the purestlimestone and lime products in the UK at HindlowQuarry.

Lomas Distribution: 190 vehicles haul limestoneproducts from quarries around Buxton all aroundthe UK.Nestlé: Buxton Water (mineral water)Otter controls: design and manufacturethermostatic cut-out controls for domesticappliances and electric motors. Won Exporter of the Year 2012. Primopost: one of the UK's leading suppliers ofprinted and plain packaging for the food and non-food industries.Selden Research Ltd: the UK’s largestindependent developer & manufacturer ofprofessional cleaning chemicals.SGS Baseefa: international inspection,verification, testing and certification for hazardousenvironments 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, claypigeon shooting, Buxton raceway, Go ape2 x 18 hole golf courses, golf driving range, gyms,2 skateboard parks, go karting, swimming, walking,climbing, caving, cycling

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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 Buxtonand 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 yearssince. Unique to Derbyshire, a pagan/Christianthanks for water involves decorating town wellswith large boards covered in clay then withpictures made out of flower petals and thenblessed. A fair is held on the Market Place and aCarnival procession organised by volunteers isheld on Wells Dressing Saturday in July.

Conferences and exhibitions Several venues offer meeting and conferencingfacilities from very small numbers up to 1200people (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 to700 guests.

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RETAIL

Independents: 80 +Supermarkets: Aldi, 2 x Co-op, Iceland, M&S,Morrisons, WaitroseExpress shopping: Sainsbury, Tesco

HOSPITALITY

• 7 Hotels and 35+ Guest houses & B&Bs (537rooms, 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 crosscountry ‘A-roads’ including:A6 north (M60 motorway orbital and ManchesterCity centre)A6 East (Bakewell; Matlock and M1)A515 (Ashbourne & Derby)A54 (Congleton)

A537 (known locally as the Cat & Fiddle toMacclesfield)A53 (Leek, Stoke-on-Trent and M6)

Bus: Well served by bus services - at least anhourly 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 ManchesterInternational Airport from 6.00am - 9.00pm

Airports: By car or taxi Manchester airport is 45minutes. East Midland just under an hourLiverpool just over one hourTrains: Buxton to Manchester - an hourly serviceBuxton to Euston station two and a quarter hours via car to Macclesfield. (A little longer to St Pancras via car to Chesterfield or Derby - justover three hours).

Car: M1, M6, M18, M42, M60,M62 all around 50 minutes drive.Parking: Approximately 2,000

spaces.

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www.buxtontownteam.org

With gratitude and thanks to all the people who publish interesting

facts about Buxton.

Every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained within

this publication was correct at the time of printing. The author does not

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

Buxton Town Team CIC

Registered office: c/o Brooke-Taylor 4 The Quadrant Buxton SK17 6AW

Company Registration Number: 8304388