Buxton Crescent

The Buxton Crescent is the town's defining building and one of the great examples of Georgian civic architecture in England. Built between 1780 and 1789, the sweeping curved facade of 378 feet follows the natural contour of the hillside, enclosing a piazza that faces St Ann's Well. After long decades of deterioration — the building sat partially derelict through much of the late 20th century — it reopened in 2020 as a luxury hotel and spa, finally fulfilling the purpose its builder intended.

Visitors who are not guests can admire the facade from the street, which is handsome enough. The warm thermal spring water that gave Buxton its reputation still flows from St Ann's Well directly opposite; you can fill a bottle for free. The spring maintains a constant temperature of 27.5°C year-round and has been flowing without interruption for the past two thousand years of recorded history.

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A story
Construction of the Crescent began in 1780 under the instruction of the 5th Duke of Devonshire, who hired architect John Carr to create a statement of Georgian ambition on the edge of the Pennines. The thermal spring beside the building had been visited since Roman times — the Romans called the settlement Aquae Arnemetiae — and the Duke intended to create an English rival to Bath. The restoration completed in 2020 took over two decades and cost more than £70 million.