BUXTON, one of the most celebrated of our watering places, on the high road from Derby to Manchester, is a place of great antiquity, as its warm springs were undoubtedly known to the Romans, and is supposed by some to have been the Roman, station Bucostenum. The road called Bathorngate, was clearly traced, by the late Dr. Pegge, between this place and Brough, near Castleton, where the Romans had a station, and several Roman coins have been found here. It is situated 12 miles W.N.W. from Bakewell, 20 miles N. by W. from Ashbourn, 10 miles S.W. from Castleton, 22 miles N.W. from Matlock, 24 miles S.S.E. from Manchester, 26 miles S.W. from Sheffield and 159 miles N.N.W. from London.

BUXTON, a township, chapelry, and market town, with Cowdale, King’s Sterndale, and Staden, contains 1,513A. 1R. 10P, of land, and in 1851 had 266 houses, and l,235 inhabitants, of whom 551 were males and 684 females; rateable value £5,700. His Grace the Duke of Devonshire is lord of the manor and principal owner. Mrs. Pickford, of King’s Sterndale, is also an owner. The Church, dedicated to St. John, situated at Lower Buxton, within the township of Fairfield, is a handsome stone structure, in the Tuscan order, of admirable workmanship. It was erected under the powers of an act of parliament, and opened on the 9th of August, 1812. The east front has large columns, which support a massive pediment, and on the west is raised a beautiful tower, which is seen for consider­able distance, and is altogether a beautiful object and great ornament to the town. By the act of 51st of George III., the patronage of this chapel, and that of Baslow, is given to the Duke of Devonshire; and in lieu of this patronage, lands of the value of £95 per annum, and the patronage of the vicarage of Tutbury, in Staffordshire, are given to the vicar of Bakewell. Buxton is a perpetual curacy in the peculiar jurisdiction of the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield, valued in the King’s book at £5, now £400. It has been augmented with £200 benefaction, £600 Queen Anne’s bounty, and £800 parliamentary grant. The Rev. Robert Pennyman Hull Brown, B.A., is the incumbent. Buxton was formerly considered to be in the chapelry of Chelmorton, with an ancient chapel in the town, but it is now an independent benefice, which has been amply endowed by its liberal founder. The Churchyard, which is tastefully laid out and planted with a variety of shrubs, flowers, evergreens, &c., contains a handsome monument, erected by subscription, to Philip Heacock, Esq., who held the important office of agent to the Duke of Devonshire nearly 60 years in this district, he died February 11th, 1841, aged 73 years. The Old Church, dedicated to St. Ann, a low stone building, erected in 1625, with a turret and one bell at the west end, and a neat stained glass window at the east end, having but little accommodation for the rank and fashion who annually visit Buxton, was fitted up for a

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school; it was, however, re-opened for Church service a few years ago, and Divine service is performed every Sunday afternoon and Thursday evening. The Wesleyan Chapel, Higher Buxton, a handsome stone building with large school rooms immediately behind the same, was erected in 1849. The Independents have a Chapel in Spring Gardens; the Rev. Thos. G. Potter is the pastor; the Presbyterians one on Hall Bank, erected in 1725; and the Primitive Methodists a small Chapel in the Back lane, behind the Queen’s Inn. The catholic Chapel, Scarsdale place, occupies a portion of the house formerly the residence of the late Dr. Darwin; it has been opened about five years, is very neatly fitted, up, and will seat about 60 hearers. On the expiration of the present lease, a more commodious chapel, it is expected, will be erected. Rev. Edward Macgreevy, is the priest.

Buxton Endowed School, erected 1840, is a handsome building with residence for the master, was built in the Market place, by the Duke of Devonshire; it has endowments to the amount of about £100 per annum, (see Charities). The number of children attending is from 100 to 120 who pay a small sum weekly for their use, of the school books, &c., but not as a remuneration to the master, Mr. Jno. Thackaberry.

Wesleyan Day School, Higher Buxton, erected in 1851, behind the chapel, is a convenient building capable of accommodating 100 children. The average attendance is 40, who pay from 2d. to 4d. per week each, according to age.

The Market Place, Higher Buxton, is a large open space, in the centre of which are the remains of an ancient Cross, and near the Eagle Hotel, is a fountain or conduit, erected by His Grace, in 1840, for the better supply of water to the inhabitants.. The Market, held on Saturday is only small, the farmers in the neighbourhood, during the season, go round daily with butter, eggs, poultry, &c., for the supply of the visitors. Fairs are held on the Monday presiding Old Candlemas day, February 3rd, April 1st, May 2nd, Sept. 8th, and October 28th. When any of the latter four fall a Sunday, they are held on the preceding day. A Feast is held on the 24th June.

Petty Sessions are held at the Eagle Hotel, the last Saturday in every month; Mr. Wm. Bennett, is clerk to the magistrates. The Lock Up is in the Back lane; Mr. Joseph Hibbert, head constable. A Court Leet annually, is held alternately at the King’s Arms Inn, Buxton, and, the Royal Hotel, Chapel-en-le Frith; Joseph Hall, Esq., of Castleton, clerk.

Mechanic’s and Literary Institute, Higher Buxton, was estabhished in 1855, for the instruction of all classes, and afford this means for social, intellectual, and moral elevation, to which is added a Library, Reading and News Room, the former contains about 500 volumes of carefully selected, books in various branches of literature, and this latter is liberally supplied with the London and Provincial daily and weekly newspapers, and the best weekly and monthly periodicals. In addition to these, a Museum of Natural History, Science, and Art is being formed, and will contain specimens of the Natural History, Manufactures, Works of Art, Antiquities, and Curiosities of the Peak of Derdyshire, more especially; the number of members is 233. Mr. Robt. R. Duke, is the president, and Messrs. J. C. Bates, and Wm. Smith, C.E. secretaries.

THE BATHS. Dr. Jones, an eminent physician, published a treatise on the bene­ficial effects of Buxton waters, entitled “Buxtone’s Bathes’ Benefite.” This curious production was issued from the press in 1572, and it appears the waters were then in high repute, and was a place of resort for the fashionable circles of the day.  “Joyninge to the chiefe springe,” says Dr. Jones, “between the river and the Bathe, is a very goodly house foure square, four stories hye, so well compacte with houses and offices beneath and above, and round about with a great chambre and other goodly lodgings to the number of thirty, that it is and will be a bowty to beholde, and very notable for the honorable and worshipful that shall need to repaire thither, as also for other, yea, the poorest shall have lodgings and beds hard by for their uses only. The bathes also so beautfied with seats round about; defended from the ambyent ayes; and chimneys for fyre, to ayre your garments in the bathes syde, and other neceesarys most decent. And truly I suppose that if there were

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for the sicke, a sanctuarie during their abode their, for all causes, saving sacriledge, treason, mnrther, rape, and robbing of the hyeway side, with a license for the sicke to eat flesh at all times, and a Friday market weekly, and two fairs yearly, it should be the posterieties, not only commodious but also to the prince, great honour and gayne. A physician placed there continually might not only counsayle therein, how theto better use God’s benefyte, but also adapt theire bodyes making artificial bathes, by using thereof as the case shall require, with many other profitable devyses, having all things for that use or any other, in a redinesse for all the degrees as before it beelonge it shall be scene of the noble Earels own performing.” To the gentlemen he recommends as exercise, shooting at butts, bowling, and tossing the wind ball. “The ladyes, gentlewomen, wyves, and maydes, may in one of galleries walke, and if the weather be not agreeable to theire expectacion they may have in the ende of a bench eleven holes made, in the whiche to troowle pummetes or bowles of leade, bigge, little, or meane or also of copper, tynne, woode, eyther vyolente or softe, after theire own discretion, the pastyne Troule in Madame is termed. Lykewise men feeble, the same may also practice in another gallery of the new buyldinges, Buckstone’s Bathes, Benefyte, which cureth most grievous diseases.” The Buxton waters were formerly drank in considerable quantities, as appears from a letter from the Earl of Sussex, dated Aug. 7th, 1582, which says—”I have drunk liberally, beginning with 3 pynts, and so inereasying dayly one pynt come to 8 pynts, and from them descendyng a pynt a day, I shall ageyne return to 3 pynts, which will be on Thursdaye next, and then I make an ende.” Prior to this, the Great Hall, for the accommodation of visitors, had been erected by the Earl of Shrewsbury. By Queen Elizabeth’s permission, reluctantly obtained, the earl appears to have visited Buxton four times with his illustrious prisoner Mary Queen of Scots. In a letter to Lord Burleigh, dated Aug. 9th, 1580, he says: “I cam heddar to Buxton wt my charge, the 28th of July. She hadde a harde bygynnenge of her jornye; for whan she shuld have taken her horse, he started asyde and therewith she fell and hurte her backe, wch she still complanes off, nottwithstanding she applyes the bathe ons or twyse a daye. I doo strictly observe hur Maties commandment, wrytten to me by your L. in restreyninge all resorte to this plase, nether doth she seee, nor is seene to any more than to hur own pepell and suche as I appoynt to attende; she hathe nott come forthe of the house synee hur cumynge, nor shall nots before her departynge.”—Lodge’s Illustrations. About the year 1670, the old hall was taken down, and a commodious edifice built on its site, by William, third Earl of Devon­shire. Dr. Robertson, (a resident Physician) in an elegant little work observes “that the amount of solid matters contained in these waters is so trifling, being in reality less than is found in almost any common spring water, that every attempt to theorize on their effects from what we know of the nature of these constituents, must necessarily fall to the ground. What we do know is, that in the cases adapted to their use, they not only erase to stimulate unduly, and cease to interfere with the action of the bowels and of the kidneys; but their use is followed by a marked improvement in these particulars, and is found to be decidedly beneficial to several of the diseases with which man is afflicted.” The Natural Tepid Baths are situated between the western extremity of the Crescent and the Old Mall; and are eleven in number. They have been reconstructed in 1852, on a very extensive scale, and in a manner superior to any other in Europe. There are two plunging baths for gentlemen, and three private baths; one plunge bath and three private baths for ladies, and one plunge bath for each of the male and female patients of the Bath Charity. The dimensions of one of the gentlemen’s baths which occupies a room thirty feet by twenty, and fifteen high, is about twenty-six feet by sixteen, and about four feet and a half deep, paved with gritstone. The springs flow up on the south-east side of the baths, through the fissures of the limestone. It is calculated that all the springs throw up the water, which is constantly running through the baths, at the rate of sixty gallons per minute, so that the three large baths would be entirely replenished in about two hours and thirty minutes. All the baths are commodious and provided with forcing pumps by which the water may be directed against any part affected with considerable force. Screens

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and water proof dresses are provided to enable any part to be pumped on without rendering it necessary to immerse the rest of the body. A convenient machine is in readiness to lower the helpless and extremely infirm into the water, and as Dr. Robertson observes, “no means are left untried to deprive the bathers of Buxton of what has been said to be necessary to Englishmen, ‘a something to complain and grumble about.’” Comfortable dressing rooms, bathing gowns, towels, and every requisite needed, are provided for the comfort and convenience of the bathers. The gentlemen’s private baths are eleven feet long and five feet wide, with private dressing rooms, douche-baths and every comfort and accommodation. The ladies’ public bath is contained in an apartment which is thirty-nine feet long, and thirty-nine and a half feet wide. The Bath itself is twenty-three feet long and eighteen feet wide. There are eight dressing closets with every other requisite and comfort. The ladies’ private baths are eleven feet long and five feet wide, elegantly fitted up with every convenience. The entrance to each of these departments is by separate corridors, each sixty feet in length, and of ample width and height, which is reached by the Crescent Colonade from the south-west corner of the Crescent, where is the newly erected St. Anne’s well, for the use of the drinkers of the water. The Well-room is lofty, and lighted from above; the Well in the centre being surrounded by a ledge of marble, on which to place the glasses, supported by a partition, from within which the water is dis­pensed to the drinkers. A little lower down, and next to the entrance to the ladies’ department is the New Well for the supply of the chalybeate water. Until the year 1818 there were no means provided to give the visitors at Buxton a bath of a higher temperature than the natural water. In that year the New Hot Baths were constructed from a plan devised by Mr. C. Sylvester. They are situated on the east wing of the Crescent, and connected with it, the Square, the Hall, and the Natural Baths, by a colonade, and are divided into two separate parts, one of which is devoted to the ladies, and the other to the gentlemen. The Private Hot Baths are lined throughout with marble, and elegantly fitted up. The other baths are floored with marble, and the sides lined with the patent white porcelain-covered bricks. These splendid baths have also been newly erected on the plan of the Crystal Palace, with ridge and furrow roof, which sheds a flood of light throughout this beautiful building, which is not only admirably adapted to the purposes intended, but forms a beautiful addition to the east wing of the Crescent and a splendid ornament to the town. The estimated cost of these improvements exceeded £20,000. Dr. Granville speaks highly of those hot baths, as well as of the Gentleman’s elegant private bath, of the natural temperature, and observes, “I can conscientiously aver, from my own extended experience of mineral waters, on the continent, that persons afflicted with the diseases named, who require the aid of a suitable mineral water, will find that needful aid at Buxton, provided they abjure, on proceeding thither, the sad and interfering practice of constantly drugging their stomachs by way of treatment, and leave nature to nature alone: namely, the mineral waters, and the pure, elastic, and bracing mountain air of the Spa!” Formerly the chapel of St. Anne, the tutelar saint of these hot springs, was hung round with the crutches, &c., of those who had come lame and had returned “leaping aad rejoicing;” and it appears these relics of error and delusion were taken away and destroyed in the reign of Henry VIII. A letter, written in that reign, to Lord Cromwell, connected with the history of Buxton, and skewing the fawning subserviency of high families at that period, is a curious document:—

“Right Honourable and my in especial Good Lord,

“According to my bounden duty, and the tenor of your Lordship’s letters lately to me directed, I have sent your Lordship by this bearer, my brother, Francic Bassett, the images of St. Anne of Buxton, and St. Andrew of Burton-upon-Trent; which images I did take from the places where they did stand, and brought them to my house within forty-eight hours after the contemplation of your Lordship’s letters, in as sober a manner as my little and rude will would serve me. And for that there should be no

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more idolatry and superstition there used, I did not only deface the tabernacles and places where they did stand, but also did take away crutches, shirts, and shifts, with wax offered, being things that allure and entice the ignorant to the said offering; also giving the keepers of both places orders that no more offerings should be made in those places, till the King’s pleasure and your Lordship’s be further known in that behalf.

“My  Lord, I have locked up and sealed the baths and wells of Buxton, that none shall enter to wash there, till your Lordship’s pleasure be further known; whereof I beseech your good Lordship that I may be ascertained again at your pleasure, and I shall not fail to execute your Lordship’s commandments to the utmost of my little wit and power. And, my Lord, as touching the opinion of the people, and the fond trust they did put in those images, and the vanity of the things, this bearer can tell your Lordship better at large than I can write, for he was with me at the doing of all this, and in all places, knoweth good Jesus, whom ever have your Lordship in his precious keeping. Written at Lang­ley, with the rude and simple hand of your assured and faithful orator, and as one and ever at your commandment, next unto the King’s, to the uttermost of his little power.

“To Lord Cromwell.                                                                                           WILLIAM BASSET, KNIGHT.”

Amongst the various opinions of mankind, which are continually experiencing ex­traordinary mutations, so that it is difficult to say what is true or false; yet recent investigations tend strongly to shew that all hot springs have one common origin,—volcanic. There are two systems by which water is returned to the surface. One is a simple diversion of the water descending from the higher regions of the strata; when it arrives at a fault, it flows out of the brow or side of the hill. The other is occasioned by water ascending from below by hydrostatic pressure, and derived from strata which, at their contact with the fault, are often at a great depth. On a subject so abstruse, and so remote from actual observation, limited humanity may easily err, and the obtaining a knowledge of the properties and uses much more important. Much has been written on the Buxton waters. Mr. Page, a resident surgeen, in his treatise, observes they are fairly entitled to the appellation of a mild saline mineral, the tem­perature of which at all seasons of the year is pretty uniformly eighty-two, on Faren­heit’s scale. They are perfectly pellucid and inodorous; and owing, most probably, to the large proportion of nitrogen gas which they contain, devoid of that vapid taste so observable in ordinary waters when heated to the same temperature. To their purity, to the mildness and uniformity of their temperature, at all times and seasons, neither depressing the vital powers by cold nor enervating them by heat, and to their impregna­tion with nitrogen gas, may be attributed, in no small degree, their salutary effects. The following are the diseases to which, by a successful application of the water, a cure may be looked for:—‘In that state of weakness and irritability which so generally attend on the subsidence of febrile and inflammatory affections, but more especially on the protracted stages of gout and rheumatism; in many nervous disorders, such as epilepsy, paralysis, St. Vitus’ dance, palpitation of the heart, tic doloreux,’ &c.; as in many anomalous com­plaints, originating, or complicated with, a disordered state of the digestive organs, a judicious employment of the Buxton waters will frequently be attended with the happiest effects; and this, too, in spite of chemical analysis, and the opinion of those persons who affect to doubt their virtues, because neither they nor their chemical friends have been able to discover the in­gredients on which such virtues should depend.” Dr. Granville, the last medical writer on these celebrated waters, seems to agree with Mr. Page, as to their beneficial effects, and when speak­ing of the chemical ingredients of waters, and comparing them with those of Schlangenbad, he says,—“Here, at Buxton, we have a water at nearly the same degree of heat, with

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fewer ingredients, still producing, not only similar, but even more enegetic effects.” These opinions of’the author of the “German Spas,” in favour of Buxton, certainly may be considered of consequence. Dr. Pearson was one of the most successful en­quirers into the nature and chemical constitution of these waters, and was the first to express a doubt as to the nature of the gas which impregnated the water, which was ori­ginally considered to be carbonic acid gas instead of azote, and subjoined we give his and Dr. Murry’s analysis.

SOLID CONTENTS, AS GIVEN BY

The water is recommended to be taken an hour before breakfast, and again about twelve at noon. The medium quantity is about half a pint each time. If this agrees perfectly well, the doses may be increased or taken oftener, but it is seldom necessary to take more than a pint and a half every day, though, in some cases, double that quantity may be taken with advantage. In addition, walking and exercise are the greatest benefit. Their use has been, by all writers, interdicted during the, actual existence of any undue determination of blood to particular organs, during the existence of all febrile and inflammatory action, and in all visceral obstructions; consequently, no invalid should have recourse to them without proper advice. The bath should not be entered immediately after eating or taking the water, as dangerous consequences may ensue. One bath in twenty-four hours is considered sufficient in the most severe cases, but once in every two or three days in general ones. Mr Page gives this following rules:—“To go into the bath about the middle of the day; to go in when the body is warm; to go in with the feet first; to remain in the water first but a very short time; to bathe on alternate days, or miss every third day.” The celebrity of Buxton has for nearly, two hundred years been constantly increasing, and, conse­quently, resorted to by vast numbers in all ranks of life, during the season. “Strangers entering Buxton from the south must be greatly disappointed in their expectations. The Crescent and the numerous buildings by which it is surrounded, together with the whole of the modern part of the town, are hid in the deep hol­low below, over which the eye passes to the hills beyond, and nothing is seen but a miser­able village, placed in as miserable a country as the mind can possibly conceive. Approaching the Eagle Inn, the place improves; but it is not, until we arrive at the brow of St. Anne’s Hill, that the now part of Buxton, with its elegant buildings and splendid hotels, is beheld. The transition is so sudden, and the change of scene so complete and entire, that the mind, bewildered and confused, almost doubts the reality of so extraordinary a contrast. The upper part of Buxton is truly a Derbyshire village; the lower, in the elegance of its buildings, its show and its parade, approximate to Bath. Nothing can be more instantaneous or more forcibly felt, than the change of passing from one part to the other of this fashionable bathing place; and the company who visit it during the summer season, furnish a contrast equally striking and impressive. The bloom of health, and, the sallow hue of disease—the elastic bound of youth, and the faltering step of infirmity—wealth and poverty, and all the gradations that society produces between, are here mingled together; teaching a salutary lesson to the observing strangers as he passes by.” The greatest

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part of Buxton has been built with a view to accommodate visitors, and it is said that from 12,000 to 14,000 annually visit its healthy streams. The influx of company gave an impulse to building, and many boarding houses in the upper part of the town, and some good inns for the accommodation of the more wealthy, were erected, while ample means were also provided for the comfort and convenience of the poor invalid; and here Buxton stands unrivalled in its beneficent intentions to the poor. “The late Duke of Devonshire, who watched over the rising prosperity of this spot with great interest, which induced him to buy up all the inns and boarding houses he could, to pull down and rebuild them on a larger scale and in a better style, still thought more were wanting to accommodate the vast influx of visitors who came from all quarters for a few months in the season; his Grace, therefore, determined to erect such a range of buildings as should afford ample and princely accommodation for all, whether they came simply for pleasure or health. Hence the splendid pile, the CRESCENT, dictated by such a spirit of munificence, and executed in a style of grandeur as if intended solely for the residence of a prince, was commenced about the year 1789, and completed in seven years, at a cost of £120,000. The design was by John Carr, Esq., an eminent provincial architect, who superintended the whole building.” It is in the Doric order of architecture. it is composed of three stories; the lower one a rusticated arcade, forming a beautiful and convenient promenade for the visitor in wet weather, or on scorching days, and amply provided with seats for their accommodation. It in seven feet wide within the pillars, (which support the two upper stories,) and eleven feet high. The floor of the arcade is raised at least three feet above the gravelled area in front, between which communications are formed by several flights of steps. An elegant balustrade skirts the front and ends of the building, the span of which is nearly 317 feet. The divisions between the windows over the piers of the arcade, are formed of fluted Doric pilasters, that support the architrave and cornice. The triglyps of the former, and the rich plancere of the latter, are specimens of workmanship rarely excelled, and have a beautiful effect. Another balustrade, raised above the cornices, and extending all round, much enriches the building, in the centre of which is the Devonshire arms, well carved. The diameter of the inner circle of the Crescent is about 240 feet, that of the outer one three hundred; each wing measures 58 feet; and the number of windows is 378. It is built of gritstone, obtained in the locality. Its situation is low, but it is contiguous to the springs and baths, and the Hall-bank in front is most tastefully laid out in terraces and serpentine walks, intersecting each other, with ornamental vases here and there, and convenient seats at intervals, all the loftier points affording interesting views of the country. The Crescent now contains only one hotel, (St. Anne’s,) several lodging houses, the post office, and one shop. St. Anne’s hotel occupies the west wing, and the Assembly rooms the east wing, a noble apartment, with a projecting cornice, highly enriched with various ornaments. Over this are a number of low windows, which throw the light softly over the top part of the room, which is 75½ feet long, 30 feet wide, and the same in height. The great stables at the back of the Crescent, but elevated above it, are considered the finest in Europe; their form outside is an octagon, the opposing sides of which are equal and similar, but inside the area is a circle 60 yards in diameter, round which is a covered gallery, where the company can take exercise on horseback whenever the weather proves unfavorable for going abroad. In these stables is ample room for a large number of horses and carriages. They were built at a cost of £14,000, said to be included in the £120,000.

Promenade Room.—Since the closing of the Great hotel, the fine assembly room has been used for that purpose, and forms an agreeable lounge in damp weather, and every forenoon the Duke’s band plays in front of the Crescent. Adjoining the hot baths is the News room, and under the same roof is an elegantly furnished billiard room; both of which are conducted by Mr. Wm. D. Sutton.

The Repository, kept by Mr. Turner, No. 1, Hall Bank, contains a beautiful variety of fancy articles, tastefully arranged, which the proprietor spares no expense in collecting, and consists of Italian figures, vases, and Mosaic tablets, with a variety of Derbyshire

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goods in spar and marbles, formed into beautiful ornaments. Besides which there are Messrs. Bright & Co., Crescent; Mr. Woodruff, Quadrant; and Mr. Webster, Higher Buxton; with several others, who have each an excellent display of the rare and beautiful productions of Derbyshire.

The Circulating Libraries, kept by Mr. Turner and Mr. W. D. Sutton, have every requisite for amusement, and instruction, being well supplied with all the newest works in every department of literature, with reviews, magazines, &c.

The Buxton Bath Charity is a most distinguishing feature of the place, and its imitation at all other watering places is desirable. By the application of this humane institution on behalf of poor patients who have not the means of obtaining the benefit of its waters except by public bounty, great numbers are relieved. This charity is supported by voluntary subscriptions and donations, and a donation of one shilling by every visitor, who is politely requested to enter his or her name on the subscription book on the first day he or she dines at any of the hotels or boarding houses. Thus a small sum, which “blesseth him that takes and those who give,” judiciously applied, has been the means of restoring to health hundreds of our poorer population, who otherwise could not have availed them­selves of these healing streams. Sermons are also preached in the church and at the dissenting places of worship, for the benefit of this charity. The institution is under the management of trustees. A committee of the nobility and gentry (visitors at Buxton) annually audit the accounts. A donation of £10 constitutes a subscriber for life, with power to send a patient to the full benefit of the charity annually, and every subscriber of one guinea, and the boards of guardians, of different unions, are allowed to send a patient for every guinea subscribed, who shall be entitled to receive medical advice, medicines, the use of the baths, and 5s. weekly. A subscriber of half-a-guinea, one patient, who is entitled to receive medicines, &c., and 2s. 6d. a week, and a subscriber of 2s. 6d. and under 10s. 6d. one patient, who is entitled to receive medicines, attendance, and the use of the baths, but no weekly allowance. To prevent improper cases, a letter must be addressed to the sec­retary, Mr. James Wardley, of the Buxton Bath Charity, with a medical certificate of the nature of the complaint, and of his or her fitness for the use of the baths. From the year 1820 to 1855, no less than 36,230 patients have been admitted to these baths, of which number 1271 were admitted during the year 1855. Below we give a statement of the receipts and disbursements for the year ending 1st September, 1855:―

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W. H. Robertson, Esq., M.D., is the physician; W. P. Shipton, Esq., surgeon; Edward Woollett Wilmot, Esq., treasurer; and Mr. James Wardley, secretary. The trustees have under consideration plans for the erection of suitable buildings as a Board and Lodging house, for the accommodation of 100 patients. Amount of subscriptions already received towards that object, £3,100, towards which sum his Grace, the Duke of Devonshire con­tributed £100 and the site, and a further sum of £800 was realized; being the proceeds from a bazaar held for the above object.

The Serpentine Walks are entered nearly opposite the Old Hall, and extend along the course of the Wye, northward, which is here a small but beautiful stream, made highly interesting by being deepened in places, to give a greater expanse of water, and banked up in others, to form miniature cascades, which adds greatly to the picturesque beauties of the scene. At convenient distances, seats and rustic summer houses are made for the comfort of visitors. The walks are admirably laid out and ornamented with shrubs, and thriving plantations, near to which is the Park, which occupies about one hundred and twenty acres of greensward, sloping towards the south, with walks and drives carried through it for the use of the public.

The Duke’s Drive was made by his Grace, about 1795, whose constant study has been to render this highly favoured watering-place as interesting and attractive as possible. This Drive, through Ashwood Dale, leaves the Bakewell road about a mile from Buxton, and branches off to the right; it then takes a circuitous route over the high ground, and skirts the top of the crags that bound Wye Dale, commanding some fine views of wild romantic scenery. After a circuit of about three miles, it joins the old London road, and enters Buxton by the Cheshire Cheese.

A Drive for about four miles along the Bakewell road to the vicinity of Topley Pike, is exceedingly rich and beautiful, through Ashwood Dale and Wye Dale. In this direction Miller’s Dale, about seven miles, may be reached, and Chee Torr, if the visitor has no objection to walk, leaving the carriage at the bottom of Topley Pike, and proceed along the margin of the river by Blackwall mill, cross the river by the stepping stones there, and take the sheep-track up the cliff and over the rocks to Chee Torr, and send the carriage round to meet them. This scenery is rich and beautiful, and will amply repay the toil and trouble. Chee Torr, Miller’s Dale, Cressbrook, Monsal Dale, and Ashford, all of which form excur­sions by taking the road by Fairfield. and are described in their proper places. The excursions in every direction are beautiful and romantic.

Poole’s Hole is a celebrated cavern situated in Hartington Upper Quarter, where it is described.

Diamond Hill, about a mile beyond Poole’s Hole, is a place mostly visited by strangers for the purpose of collecting those detached crystals which are here denominated Buxton Diamonds. These crystals are often hexagonal, and their sides and angles are accurately formed, and so hard that the points will cut glass. An author, remarking on the advantages of Buxton, observes that “to the mineralogist it offers many a rare and beautiful fossil, but to the botanist it is a source of incalculable delight; for there is scarcely a plant indigenous in Britain which may not be found on the mountains or in the valleys in its neighbourhood. To the angler, the pellucid waters of the Wye and Dove furnish the beautiful tribes of trout and grayling, so celebrated by Cotton and Walton. To the sportsman, during the shooting season, the extensive moors belonging to the Duke of Devonshire, and the Earl of Derby, abounding with grouse, partridges, snipes, dotterel, plover, &c., have their attractions.”

Buxton has been greatly improved within the last half century by the erection of several handsome villa residences and superior lodging houses, with good lofty rooms, many of them fitted up in the first style of elegance, and possess every comfort the most fanciful visitor could wish. The Inns and Posting houses in general are of a very superior class and afford every accommodation the tourist or invalid may require; the principal of which

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are the St. Anne’s Hotel, Crescent; the Old Hall; the Grove, Lower Buxton; the George, Square; the Shakespeare, Spring Gardens; the White Lion, Spring Gardens; the Royal Hotel, Winster Place; and the New Inn and Yorkshire Hotel, the Sun, and the Cheshire Cheese, at Higher Buxton.

The Gas Works are situated in the township of Fairfield, near the river Wye, and were erected in 1851 by a company of £10 shareholders, with a capital of £2000. The gasometer will contain about 14,000 cubic feet of gas, and there are 4 retorts, but the works are about to be enlarged by an additional outlay of £1,000. Mr. John Smilter, is the secretary.

Visitors have abundant means of transport to all parts of the kingdom, for which see Coaches and Carriers, &c., in the Directory. The High Peak railway passes within 1½ miles of Buxton, and the proprietors have a station at 1 mile distance. The contemplated line of railway, to be applied for during the present session of parliament, which will come within a short distance of Buxton, will open an easy transit to all parts of the country, and doubtless cause an increased number of visitors here.

Antiquarians all agree that Buxton was a Roman station, and Watson supposes it to have been on the hill above the Hall, which is known by the name of the Stene or Stane Cliffs. Several Roman baths have been found here, and one so lately as 1781, in digging the foundation of the present Crescent. Major Rooke, also, in 1787, found remains which he conjectured to be those of a Roman temple. From these circum­stances, and from the meeting of at least three of their roads at the same point, there is little doubt of a Roman station having existed in this spot; and there is some foundation for supposing the name of it to have been Aqua, as Aquœ Sextioe, in Provence, and Aquœ Solis or Sulis, in Somersetshire were names given by the Romans to places distinguished by their warm springs. The river Wye rises a little west of Buxton, from the north east side of Axe Edge, and separates this from Fairfield township, in Hope parish, which, after passing Buxton, is joined by another branch on the east side of Combs Moss, near Fairfield, passes King’s Sterndale, a little south of Wormhill, through Miller’s Dale, Monsal Dale to Ashford and Bakewell, and skirting Haddon park, falls into the Derwent near Rowsley.

Cowdale, 1½ miles S.E. from Buxton, consists of a few scattered houses.

King’s Sterndale, a small village on the Wye, 2½ miles S.E. from Buxton, contains two large farms the property of Mrs. Elizabeth Pickford, who also has a neat residence on the estate. A new Church, dedicated to Christ, was erected here in 1848, in the early English style, and contains nave, chancel, porch, and turret with one bell. It will seat about 120 persons, all of which are free. The Parsonage, which was erected about the same time, is situated a little S.W. from the church, and cost about £1,100. The living is a perpetual curacy, and the Rev. Jph. C. Bates, B.A., is the incumbent.

CHARITIES.—Buxton School.—On a brass-plate in Buxton chapel, there is the fol­lowing inscription, dated 1674, of benefactors to the town of Buxton, for the uses under expressed, amounting to £300, with which sum the donors purchased £15 per annum in fee clear of all charges, viz.:—£12 for the schoolmaster of the said town, for teaching Latin, English and writing; 50s. for repairing the highway from Buxton Butts to the stone that standeth on the hill Cockard, and so on to Shallcross Brook, in June and July; and 10s. to be spent by the trustees at the making up of their accounts, on the 29th September, yearly, for ever. A suit in chancery was, in 1792, instituted for the regu­lation of this charity, but not prosecuted with effect; from this time till 1817, the school appears to have been suspended, when the old chapel of Buxton was converted into a school room, and re-opened. The lands now belonging to this charity in Buxton and Hartington, consist of 35A. 1R. 4P., let for the annual sum of £64 1s. 6d., and in 1819, a sum of £750, part of a balance in favour of this charity, was laid out in the purchase of £712 11s. 8d. navy 5 per cent stock. On the reduction of the dividends in that

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stock, the Duke of Devonshire and others, as trustees, became possessed of £748 4s. 3d. new 4 per cent. The dividends on the stock amount to £29 18s. 6d. per annum, making the whole income of the charity £94 per annum, which is received by Mr. Wilmot, the treasurer, who keeps the accounts. In 1819, it was ordered the schoolmaster’s salary should be £100 a year, which exceeds the income, and in the year ending 25th of June, 1826, a balance of £117 16s. 9d. against the charity, had been advanced by Mr. Heacock, as the agent of the Duke of Devonshire. The treasurer’s accounts are audited on 25th June, at a meeting of the trustees. The schoolmaster, with the assistance of an usher, appointed and paid by himself, instructs on the National system in reading, writing, and arithmetic, all the poor children, usually about 120; of the chapelry of Buxton, the only charge being 1s. a year for firing, and 1s. a year towards books and stationery. The schoolmaster is prepared to teach the Latin language to any children whose parents require it.

Rev. Francis Gisborne’s Charity.—(See Bradley).—The annual sum of £5 10s. for this chapelry, is received by the minister, and laid out in coarse woollen or flannel, given to the poor about Christmas.

BUXTON DIRECTORY.

Post Office, The Crescent, Mr. John Smilter, postmaster. Letters from London, Chesterfield, and Bakewell, arrive at 7 a.m.; and are despatched at 6 p.m. Letters from Bakewell and Sheffield, arrive at 2.15 p.m.; and are despatehed to Bakewell (only), at 3.10 p.m. Letters from Stockport, Manchester, &c., arrive at 3.15 p.m.; and are despatched at 2.10 p.m. Money Orders issued and paid from 9 am, to 6 p.m. daily.

Thoae marked 1 are in Fairfield; 2, Hartington Upper Quarter.

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