Secret Buxton: An Alternative Tour
Situated in a limestone basin a thousand feet above the level of the sea and graced by grand architecture, the town of Buxton has been a tourist destination for hundreds of years. If you asked someone familiar with Buxton what makes the place so unique they might answer “the water” or “the weather” or perhaps “the buildings” or maybe “the festivals”. All of these answers are true. Scratch beneath the surface, however and you will find hidden features that visitors and even most of the locals don’t know about; local history, folklore and archaeology. Join Explore Buxton on an alternative tour around town. First stop: Higher Buxton.
Higher Buxton
The top end of the town centre is around Buxton’s Market Place. From Lower Buxton, it is a steep climb to Higher Buxton.
1. A Cornucopia of Curiosity: Buxton Museum and Art Gallery
Buxton Museum and Art Gallery was formerly housed in a Victorian hydropathic hotel near Market Place. It now has a temporary home next to Buxton Library.
The former Wonders of the Peak gallery told the story of the area through archaeological finds, historic objects and Ice Age animal remains. The photograph shows the Buxton Mermaid, a constructed figure in the museum collection; its maker and date are unknown. Check with the museum for its current displays.
2. A Shooting: The Eagle Hotel
A local history by Discover Buxton says John Craven was fatally shot outside the Eagle in December 1975, and that Brian Hughes admitted the shooting to police. It dates the shooting to Boxing Day; the original version of this feature gave the following day.
The Eagle closed as a pub in 2022.
3. What Lies Beneath?
Buxton’s Market Place is surrounded by shops, bars and cafés. Archaeologists have considered several possible locations for a Roman fort in Buxton, including the Market Place and Silverlands. Derbyshire County Council’s archaeology team reported in 2022 that the theory of a fort at Silverlands had neither been convincingly proved nor disproved, and that geophysical survey results were inconclusive.
The Market Place was the historic core of the settlement by the medieval period and appears on a 1631 map; Buxton received a market charter in 1813, according to the council’s conservation appraisal. The Methodist church’s history says its present church was built on the site of a cock-pit and opened in 1849. The original version of this feature identified the entrance to former underground toilets in the photograph above and recalled that they were filled in during the 1970s.
4. The Actor’s Grave: St Anne’s Church
Just off the High Street, St Anne’s is one of Buxton’s oldest surviving buildings. Its porch bears the date 1625; Historic England dates the church to 1625 and says it incorporates an earlier building. Its timber-beamed interior is well worth a look when open.
St Anne’s churchyard is the resting place of comedian John Kane, who died in 1799. Historic England records a story that he died after mistaking aconite for a kind of radish. Buxton Opera House opened in 1903, more than a century after his death.
With its crooked gravestones, St Anne’s churchyard looks like a set from a Hammer Horror film. John Kane’s grave is a listed monument. Over the wall is Church Street and nearby is The Swan, with its distinctive Tartan Room. Adjacent Scriveners second-hand bookshop was included in The Guardian’s 2009 selection of ten second-hand bookshops.
For more unusual places and stories, see our quirky Buxton guide.
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