Buxton Timeline from Roman Times to Present Day

BUXTON TIMELINE
3500 BC The earliest known settlement of Buxton dates to the Middle Stone Age, or late Mesolithic period - around 5300 BC. Neolithic (New Stone Age) farmers settled here between 3500 - 1800 BC, leaving behind numerous monuments in the form of barrows and the henges at Arbor Low and Bull Ring. They were followed by dwellers of the Beaker and Bronze Ages, whose stone circles and burial cairns are still visible around Stanton Moor and elsewhere. Evidence of Iron Age settlement can be seen in the hill forts at Castle Naze and Mam Tor.
78 AD The Romans develop the settlement known as Aquae Arnemetiae, or "the spa of the goddess of the grove". (apologies for the poor photo quality - digital cameras were still in their infancy in Roman times!) 450 AD The Romans leave. As far as I know, little evidence of their occupation remains today - although some artifacts can be seen in the museum on Terrace Road.
1105 The village was known as Buchestanes (rocking stone)
1569 Soon after his appointment as jailer to Mary, Queen of Scots, the Earl of Shrewsbury was persuaded by his wife, Bess of Hardwick, to 'take the waters' at Buxton. Four years later they were to bring the ill-fated queen herself. Mary suffered from rheumatism and clearly believed in the healing power of the waters of "La Fontagne de Bogsby" (as she called the town) for she was to return a number of times, staying at the Earl's Old Hall (now a hotel). 1587 Mary, Queen of Scots executed at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire on 8 February, at the age of 44
1675 St Ann's Church built. Pictured here in 1896.
1779 The town begins to grow in importance as a result of development by William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire. The Buxton Bath Charity was formed.
1779 The Crescent, modelled on Bath's Royal Crescent by the great Georgian architect John Carr, completed. 1785 The Great Stables built to accommodate up to 120 horses belonging to guests and servants.
1795 Duke's Drive carriage road constructed by the Duke of Devonshire. Running between the Bakewell and Ashbourne roads it passes above Ashwood Dale and affords a fine view of Lover's Leap.
1818 The newly landscaped Slopes, designed by Sir Jeffrey Wyatville, opened to the public. This picture postcard dates from the 1930s.
1858 Two thirds of the Great Stables donated as a hospital for the ‘sick poor’ of Buxton by the sixth Duke of Devonshire. (This rare "pre-dome" engraving dates from 1872)
1863 Midland Line station opens
1871 The Pavilion and its ornate gardens complete with Serpentine Walk opens to the public
1882 Domed roof added to Devonshire Hospital. Robert Rippon Duke's design was a masterpiece of Victorian engineering. With a diameter of 47m it was the largest unsupported dome in the world - surpassing both St Paul’s Cathedral in London and St Peter’s in Rome.
1896 Grin Low Tower - known locally as "Solomon's Temple" erected.
1905 The Opera House opens to the public for the first time. King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra visit the town.
1921 Princess Mary lays foundation stone for an extension at the Devonshire Hospital.
1934 King George V gives permission for the hospital to become known as the Devonshire 'Royal' Hospital.
1939-1945 The main role of Buxton in the Second World War was as a 'Safe Area' (the official term may have been 'Reception Area') and as such the town received an influx of evacuees of all types. The most important of these were H.M. Customs and Excise which took pver the Palace Hotel and the Norwich Union Insurance Company which occupied the Spa Hotel on the site of the present Hartington Gardens sheltered accommodation. Several smaller firms took over properties or workshops in the town, of which the Shannon File Co, of Kingston-on-Thames springs to mind. The grange School in Buxton park was taken over for the boys of the 'Belgian College' and most of the smaller hotels filled up with residents who were here for the duration, the billeting officer at the Town Hall being responsible for allocating people to any private houses where there was spare accommodation. The army again took over the Empire Hotel, probably for training, with units of the Pioneer Corps and Royal Artillery, the balmoral Hotel being the NCO's Mess. Later in the war there were prisoner of war camps both on Lismore Fields and the site of the former Burbage Golf Course. The RAF Maintenance Unit at the back of Harpur Hill, which was established in the 1930's, became principally an underground storage depot for bombs and other munitions and was, of course, of considerable importance. The large main hall of the Town Hall was turned into a forces canteen and restroom run by WVS (Women's Voluntary Service) or similar groups and was reputed to be one of the best in the region. The garage of the Palace Hotel became the main depot of the NFS (National Fire Service) and in various parts of the the town there were erected unsightly static water tanks whose function it was to provide a reservoir of water for fire-fighting purposes. There was a Home Guard or 'Dad's Army' unit in town. The local authority had the extra involvement of salvage collection (a new departure) and ARP (air raid precautions) of which the town hall cellars and Market Street depot were important centres. At the town hall were the Food Control and the Fuel Control offices as well as the billiting officer and staff already mentioned. The WVS collection point in Spring gardens, known as the 'spitfire shop', collected aluminium pots and pans for the war effort and was instrumental in raising the money to buy a Spitfire to be named 'Buxton'. This may later have become the war charities shop where my mother and sister both helped out. Oliver Gomersall	Share your wartime memories and pictures of Buxton here. Call Keith Jones on 07813 449521 (material returned after scanning)
1972 Thermal baths close and the town goes into decline.
2001 Ownership of the Devonshire Hospital site transferred from the NHS to the University of Derby
2005 The campus was completed and opened in the autumn. 2006 HRH Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, officially open the University of Derby Buxton Campus on 10th February.

Please contact Keith Jones if you have memories and/or photographs
of Buxton that you would like to see included here.