Built in 1780 to the designs of John Carr, the Crescent was the first ‘resort’ hotel in Britain...

The 18th Century

Built in 1780 to the designs of John Carr, the Crescent was the first ‘resort’ hotel in Britain and was at the heart of Buxton’s aspirations to become a fashionable spa town.

Originally, the Crescent was built to house two hotels, St Ann’s at the western and The Great Hotel at the eastern end, which boasts the magnificent Ballroom used as the main social venue of the town.  John Carr’s visionary design also included seven lodging houses, built in the sweep of the Crescent between the two hotels, including a town house for the Duke of Devonshire himself. These lodging houses were designed to allow the hotels to expand towards the centre of the Crescent as the market dictated.

There were also shops beneath the covered arcade to the front of the building.  With everything spa guests would need – all under one roof - the Crescent could justifiably lay claim to being Britain’s first leisure resort. The Crescent is without doubt one of the finest buildings of its kind anywhere in the world and is, as the Fifth Duke of Devonshire intended, a fitting rival to the crescents of Bath.

The 19th Century

During the 19th. Century Buxton was one of the most important UK spa resorts, embracing the therapeutic benefits of the thermal spring to treat rheumatism and gout and the mountain air to clear the lungs of the growing populations of the surrounding industrial cities.

The Devonshire Dome, originally built as stables to serve the Crescent became the Devonshire Royal, one of Britain’s foremost rheumatism hospitals. The ‘Natural’ Baths, adjacent to the Crescent lie immediately above the spring. This building housed hydrotherapy baths, which were still in use until the 1960s and the famous ‘Buxton Moor Wrap’ of peat infused with thermal water. These treatments were complemented by thermal mineral water pools and Turkish baths.

The elegant pump room, which sits at the foot of the Slopes, opposite the Crescent was also built as a place to ‘take the waters’ and to socialise. The 19th. Century was truly Buxton’s heyday which also saw the creation of the Pavilion, Opera House and Gardens.

 
The 20th Century

The 20th. Century saw the use of spas decline as wars and the National Health Service both took their toll on Britain’s traditional spa resorts. In 1960 the Natural Baths became the town’s swimming pool, until closed in 1972. However, Buxton’s famed mineral water continues to be drawn from the spring for bottling and this well-known brand is now part of Nestlé’s worldwide bottled water operations.

A worse fate was to befall the Crescent.  In the Great War, the Great Hotel was home to Canadian troops and by the 1930’s had become the Buxton Clinic and later became the geriatric annex of the Devonshire Royal Hospital, before being bought by Derbyshire County Council in the 1970’s for conversion into council offices and a public library. The library occupied both the ground floor and also the Card Room and Ballroom – still resplendent with chandeliers.
The weight of books eventually caused the Ballroom floor, which was designed with ‘spring’ for dancing, to become overburdened and unsafe and the subsequent structural issues forced the library’s closure in 1992.

St Ann’s hotel at the western end of the Crescent remained open for business until 1989 when it was forced to close following the service of public health notices due to dirty kitchens.

Its owners were unwilling to fund its restoration and by 1993 the building had fallen into such a state of disrepair that in a landmark case the Department of National Heritage served a legal notice threatening compulsory purchase and the owners were forced to agree its sale to High Peak Borough Council, funded by a grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund.

High Peak Borough Council also agreed to accept the role of caretaker until a longer-term strategy could be established and a further grant of £1.5 million was provided by English Heritage for vital repairs to the structure.

The 21st Century

Now for the first time, a plan to restore the Crescent to its former glory can begin. New interest in and enthusiasm for spas has emerged as people realise the benefits of natural resources and treatments coupled with new opportunities for rest and relaxation.

The Crescent Thermal Spa Hotel will revive the elegance and traditions by the 5th. Duke of Devonshire and restore thermal spa bathing to Buxton while introducing state of the art treatments and spa experiences alongside the tradition and expertise embodied in European spa culture.

A spokesperson for the development team said, “Now agreement has been reached with Nestlé to protect Buxton’s natural mineral water, the Council can grant us the permission we need to undertake the first stages of the development. This involves ground investigations and design review to ensure the new spa and hotel are built with the protection of the springs and long term sustainability firmly at the forefront of our thinking”. 

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