Buxton Museum and Art Gallery is currently closed to the general public, pending a building inspection. If you’re in need of a local history fix in the meantime, BMAG’s blog is now nearly ten years old and is a veritable bounty of obscure knowledge. Many of the most popular posts concern the heritage of the town. Here’s some you may have missed:
Orient Lodge
The museum’s most read blog of all time can be can be claimed by Georgia Wild and it concerns a long lost building that some Buxtonians may remember but you can forgiven if you’ve never heard of it. Gone but not quite forgotten: Orient Lodge.
7 Buildings in Buxton that No Longer Exist
If bygone buildings are your jam, the second most popular blog ever published by BMAG will interest you. My own curiosity ignited an appetite for lost places: 7 Buildings in Buxton that No Longer Exist.
Ann Yates teapot, Brown Edge Road, Buxton
It’s always great to have a museum object with a fascinating story. In fact, you could argue that’s what museums are all about. This recent acquisition relates to a specific street: Ann Ann Yates teapot, Brown Edge Road, Buxton by Collections Officer Anna Rhodes.
A Letter from Buxton’s Spa Heyday
Equally charming is this old letter concerning Buxton’s most famous association; water. On occasion, a museum curator has to translate an ancient language or the meaning of an abstract piece of art. Sometimes, the story is hidden in someone’s handwriting! A Letter from Buxton’s Spa Heyday
Frederick Banting Drank Buxton Water
A lesser known connection to Buxton is the Canadian doctor who co-discovered insulin. Even the staff at the museum can stumble upon a new fact: Frederick Banting Drank Buxton Water by Isobel Wharton.
A History of Buxton Market Place
Sometimes, there’s enough museum objects to go into some depth about a particular area of Buxton; paintings and photographs that offer an entire visual timeline: A History of Buxton Market Place
A History of Buxton Schools
Or perhaps telling the story of a particular aspect of life in Buxton? After all, lots of people went to school here: A History of Buxton Schools, written during the recent lockdown, when museum staff had a little more time to research and write.
St Anne of the Well
Over the years, BMAG has benefitted from the enthusiasm and expertise of academics on the team such as history student Eve Gilks. St Anne of the Wellis just one of her contributions to the bank of local knowledge.
The Palace Hotel in Wartime
Volunteer Ian Gregory, however, is probably BMAG’s most prolific blogger, offering rare views from the postcard collection, accompanied by his own style of philosophical meandering. The Palace Hotel in Wartime is merely one episode in his encyclopedia.
Buxton Museum: The Early Years
No round up of Buxton history would be complete without the Derbyshire Museum Manager’s own research into the museum’s own 133 year history. Ros Westwood contemplates the dawn of BMAG, which in some ways, seems to echo modern times.
If you’re still hungry for more after this read then click on the Buxton Museum main blog page and select the Buxton History category in the right hand column. Or for a general history of the town, told entirely in museum objects.
You may have your own piece of local history and the team would love to hear from you! Email the museum at [email protected] or contact them via social media.
Buxton Museum and Art Gallery, Terrace Road, Buxton, SK17 6DA
T: 01629 533540
derbyshire.gov.uk/leisure/buxton-museum/buxton-museum-and-art-gallery
Did You Enjoy This?
You might like our regular newsletter. We put all the best events, cultural highlights and offers from Buxton and the Peak District in your inbox every month.
This information will only be used to send you this newsletter. It is stored in Mailchimp.
