IHouse · listed 1951Buxton CrescentOn the list as The CrescentPhoto: Eugene Birchall · CC BY-SA 2.0
The Opera House · Photo: Dave Pape · Public domainAHistory Grade
History of Buxton · Historic England
101 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I
Historic England counts them inside Buxton’s built-up area, 50 for every 10,000 residents. It also has 2 scheduled monuments. 35% of its homes were built before 1919. We have photos of 11 of its listed buildings and 8 old views of the town. Buxton grades A for history: #4 of 59 in Derbyshire.
Listed buildings
101
50 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
1
exceptional interest
Grade II*
7
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
2
2 registered parks & gardens
Homes built before 1919
35%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures
Buxton in 22 photos and old views
Nearly every Grade I and II* building, photographed, and the town before 1950. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
The CrescentGrade I listed
Devonshire Royal HospitalGrade II* listed
The Old Club HouseGrade II listed
Natural Mineral BathsGrade II listed
Grove Hotel and Grove ParadeGrade II listed+17See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons and Geograph, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its licence; names open the building’s page or its official list entry.
Through time
Buxton from 1766 to 1930
8 old photos and postcards, in date order. All public domain, made before 1950.
c. 1766
c. 1853
c. 1890
c. 1890
c. 1890
c. 1914
1930s
Public domain, from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server. Each credit opens the image’s page with its full description and history.
The map
Where Buxton’s history is
Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park, over the age of each neighbourhood’s homes.
Grade IGrade II*Scheduled monumentPark or garden
Homes built before 1919, by neighbourhoodunder 10%10–25%25–50%50%+
4 of 14neighbourhoods have mostly pre-1919 homes; in the oldest, 87% were built before 1919.
Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.
101 listed buildings by grade
1 Grade I7 Grade II*93 Grade II
Historic England lists buildings in three grades: Grade I for buildings of exceptional interest (about 2.5% of all listed buildings), Grade II* for particularly important buildings of more than special interest (about 5.8%), and Grade II for buildings of special interest (about 91.7%). Listing protects the whole building, inside and out.
Every entry on the National Heritage List for England whose point lies inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary. One list entry can cover a terrace or a group of buildings. Neighbourhood dots: the population-weighted centre of each Census 2021 output area, coloured by its neighbourhood’s (LSOA’s) share of homes built before 1919 (Valuation Office Agency, March 2025).
Grade I
The Grade I listed building in Buxton
Buildings of exceptional interest, about 2.5% of all listed buildings. Every one is photographed. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.
Grade II*
The 7 Grade II* listed buildings in Buxton
Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. Every one is photographed.
II*House · listed 1970Buxton Opera HouseOn the list as The Opera HousePhoto: Dave Pape · Public domain
II*Public · listed 1970Devonshire DomeOn the list as Devonshire Royal HospitalPhoto: Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*Church · listed 1951Church of St AnnePhoto: Douglal · CC BY-SA 4.0
II*Church · listed 1951Church of St John the BaptistPhoto: Charlesdrakew · Public domain
II*Public · listed 1951Old Hall HotelPhoto: Rept0n1x · CC BY-SA 3.0
II*House · listed 19511-6, The SquarePhoto: Kenneth Allen · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*House · listed 199012 Stone Urns and Linking Walls and StepsPhoto: Dave.Dunford · CC BY-SA 4.0
What’s protected
Most of Buxton’s listed buildings are homes
Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.
Houses, terraces & villas53
Public & civic buildings14
Inns, shops & warehouses12
Churches, chapels & priories8
Walls, gates & bridges8
Memorials, crosses & tombs4
Street furniture2
53 entries (52%) are houses, terraces and villas. 8 are churches, chapels and priories.
Buildings are sorted by words in each entry’s name (church, gate, inn, memorial…): the list’s open data has no building type. An entry named only by its address counts as a house.
Grade II
93 Grade II listed buildings
Most listed buildings are in this grade, which covers buildings of special interest. Open any building to read its official list entry.
All 93 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
Bath HouseBuilding to the South East of Devonshire Royal HospitalBuxton HouseCarlisle HouseCavanaleck (Number 195) and Overlaw (Number 197)Cavendish HouseCavendish Shopping ArcadeCherry Tree Farmhouse and Adjoining HouseCheshire Cheese Public House and attached railingsChrist ChurchChurch of Saint Mary the VirginChurch of St PeterClaremontColumbineCranfordDakin Cottage and Attached Garden WallDerby HouseDrinking FountainDrinking Well at Devonshire Royal HospitalEagle Hotel George E Bryant and Sons Limited and Market Place ArcadeElm House and Attached OutbuildingsFairfield VicarageGreen MoorGrosvenor House HotelGrove Hotel and Grove ParadeHartington HotelHawthorne FarmhouseHogshaw Lane ViaductJohn Duncan School Wye HouseLightwood Ridge (Number 199) and Woodlea (Number 201)Limehouse at Ngr Sk 0415 7262Lodge and Gate to Devonshire Royal HospitalLongden Court to rear of number 54 Spring Gardens (number 54 not included)Longford LodgeManor House (Number 9) and Barton House (Number 11)Market CrossNatural Mineral BathsNew InnNumber 24 and the Argyle (Number 25)Number 4 Cavendish CircusNumber 85 and Attached Outbuilding and Garden WallsNumber 87 and Attached Garden WallsNumbers 1, 2 and 3 Grosvenor MansionsNumbers 1, 2 and 3 Old Hall Cottages (Foxes Yard)Numbers 1-4 Milnthorp HomesNumbers 1-6 and Attached Walls, Railings and GatesNumbers 5-8 Milnthorp HomesNumbers 9-12 Milnthorp HomesObelisk at Dog Hole Cottage (Dog Hole Cottage Not Included)Palace HotelPaxton Suite and Attached RailingsPostbox at the Junction with Water StreetPump RoomRoseleigh Hotel (Number 19) and Sherwood (Number 20)Samuel Turner Memorial Drinking FountainSandringham HotelScreen wall to former train shedSeven Ways (Number 1) and Somersby (Number 3)St Anns WellSt Mary's Church War Memorial, BuxtonSun InnThe Central Hall and Attached PromenadeThe ConservatoryThe George Public House and George MansionsThe OctagonalThe Old Club HouseThe Old Court House Shops and RestaurantThe Savoy HotelThe Swan Public HouseThe White Lion and attached stable blockTomb to Philip Heacock 20 metres west of Church of St John the BaptistTombstone to John Kane 20 Metres South of the Church of Saint AnneTown HallWalls and Gates to Milnthorp HomesWar Memorial on the SlopesWestminster Hotel (Number 21) and Eton House (Number 22)Winster PlaceYhelt Cottage1-9, The Quadrant10-28 Spring Gardens14 Cavendish Arcade and 3-6 The Colonnade15 Lamp Standards Along North West Side of Broad Walk16 and 17, Broad Walk2 Bollards Between Numbers 11 and 122A, 2B, And 2-5, Hall Bank2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, and 3 Cavendish Villas, and 3a Broad Walk4 Bollards at North East End of Broad Walk4 Bollards at South West End of Broad Walk5-11, St Peters Road6 Bollards to East of Church of St John the Baptist6, Hall Bank7 Bollards at Junction with Station Road9, Terrace Road
Conservation areas
5 conservation areas cover 23% of Buxton
Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.
Buxton Central 196836 ha
Buxton The Park 198335 ha
Buxton College 198926 ha
Buxton Hardwick 198915 ha
Buxton Fairfield 19949 ha
122 hain conservation areas, of 534 ha inside the built-up area.
The first, Buxton Central, was designated in 1968; the newest, Buxton Fairfield, in 1994. 88 of the 101 listed buildings stand in one.
Historic England’s conservation areas layer, supplied by councils (incomplete in places, so a page fact, never graded). Hectares are the part of each area inside the built-up area.
How the list grew
More than half of Buxton’s listed buildings were added in one year, 1997
The year each building now on the list was first listed.
1997 · 551951 · 131970 · 13
19501960197019801990200020102020
The first 13 entries were listed in 1951, 1 of the 1 Grade I buildings among them. 55 came in 1997. Only 1 has been added in the last 15 years.
Monuments & landscapes
Monuments, parks and gardens
Designations that overlap the town by a tenth of their area or half a hectare.
2 scheduled monuments
Nationally important archaeological sites and monuments, protected by law; work on them needs consent from the Secretary of State, advised by Historic England.
2 registered parks and gardens
Pavilion Gardens, BuxtonGrade II*
The Slopes, BuxtonGrade II
History Grade
Buxton grades A for history
Protected heritage and the age of the town’s homes, against all UK towns.
Protected heritage, for its size and in all (117 points, 58 per 10,000 residents)More than 73% of UK towns
Homes built before 1919 (35%)More than 90% of UK towns
Two measures, each ranked against every UK town of 1,000 or more, with protected heritage counting twice as much as the age of homes. Protected heritage counts each listed building by its grade (Grade I three points, II* two, II one), each scheduled monument and battlefield two, and each registered park or garden by its grade; it is ranked both per 10,000 residents and as a total, so a village with one fine church doesn’t outrank a historic city. The second measure is the share of homes built before 1919, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records. History is a character grade: it describes the town and isn’t part of the overall grade.
Homes by age
35% of Buxton’s homes were built before 1919
Every home by when it was built, from council tax records, against England & Wales (the dark tick).
29%
Before 1900
6.9%
1900–18
4.8%
1919–29
9%
1930s
7.8%
1945–54
7.6%
1955–64
5.9%
1965–72
8.9%
1973–82
3.4%
1983–92
3.9%
1993–99
5.7%
2000–08
2%
2009–15
5.5%
2016–25
BuxtonEngland & Wales
29% of homes are Victorian or older, against 16% across England and Wales. The busiest period since was the 1930s, which added 9% of today’s homes.
Valuation Office Agency, council tax stock of properties by build period, 31 March 2025, for the neighbourhoods (LSOAs) that make up the town, split by where their residents live. Homes with no recorded build period (228 here) are left out; 1939–44 is not a period in the data.
Born here
9 notable people born in Buxton before 1900
Their lives on one timeline, earliest first.
Orlando Jewitt
William Shipton
George Kitchen
Arthur Marsden
Ernest Bannister
Fred Smith
Ted Worrall
Jack Mellor
Henry Jordan
175017751800182518501875190019251950
HJ
Henry Jordan1898–1981 · English cricketer (1898-1981)
EB
Ernest Bannister1883– · Association football player (1883-?)
Orlando Jewitt1799–1869 · British artist (1799-1869)
WS
William Shipton1861–1941 · English cricketer (1861-1941)
AM
Arthur Marsden1880–1916 · English cricketer (1880-1916)
FS
Fred Smith1887–1957 · English footballer (1887-1957)
GK
George Kitchen1876–1969 · English footballer (1876-1969)
JM
Jack Mellor1896– · Footballer (1896-?)
Everyone born in Buxton → Birthplaces from Wikidata; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.
Towns its size
Buxton has the 104th most Grade I buildings of 469 towns its size
Places of 12,000–32,000 people outside London, by Grade I listed buildings.
Buxton1
#130 of 469for listed buildings per resident (50 per 10,000). Bridport, Whitby and Lewes lead.
103 have more. The typical town its size has 0.
Neighbours
Listed buildings in the places around Buxton
| Town | People | Listed | Grade I | History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buxton | 20,048 | 101 | 1 | A |
| Harpur Hill | 1,121 | 1 | 0 | D |
| Dove Holes | 1,156 | 1 | 0 | C |
| Chapel-en-le-Frith | 7,235 | 27 | 0 | B |
| Tideswell | 1,554 | 26 | 1 | A |
| Chinley | 1,913 | 3 | 0 | C+ |
| Whaley Bridge | 4,618 | 16 | 0 | B+ |
| Furness Vale | 1,069 | 2 | 0 | C+ |
In brief
Buxton in brief
Old houses are part of Buxton’s character: 35% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town. In all there are 101 listed buildings, 1 of them Grade I, including Buxton Crescent. Only 103 of the 469 towns nearest its size have more Grade I buildings. Its older streets lie in 5 conservation areas, the first designated in 1968.
Most entries on the list, 52%, are houses, terraces and villas. Of the 9 people born here before 1900, the best known include Henry Jordan (1898), Ernest Bannister (1883) and Orlando Jewitt (1799). The big year was 1997, when 55 of the 101 went on the list. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: per resident it sits near the middle of UK towns; and it also has 2 scheduled monuments.
Questions about Buxton’s history
How many listed buildings are there in Buxton?
Historic England lists 101 buildings inside Buxton’s built-up area: 1 Grade I, 7 Grade II* and 93 Grade II.
What are the Grade I listed buildings in Buxton?
One: The Crescent.
Are there scheduled monuments in Buxton?
Yes, 2 scheduled monuments, including Grin Low Lime Works and Lismore Fields Mesolithic and Neolithic settlement.
How many conservation areas are there in Buxton?
5, covering about 122 hectares of the town. The largest are Buxton Central and Buxton The Park.
When were Buxton’s buildings listed?
The first in 1951; the most, 55, in 1997.
Are there old photos of Buxton?
Yes: 8 public-domain photos and postcards from 1766 to 1930, all on this page.
Who was born in Buxton?
Among people born before 1900: Henry Jordan (1898), Ernest Bannister (1883), Orlando Jewitt (1799), William Shipton (1861) and Arthur Marsden (1880).
How old are the homes in Buxton?
35% of homes were built before 1919 and 49% before 1940, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records (March 2025).
© Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. The National Heritage List for England is the official, up-to-date register of all nationally protected historic buildings and sites in England; check an entry on Historic England’s website before relying on it.
Sources: Historic England, National Heritage List for England (listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, battlefields, World Heritage Sites), October 2026, inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary · Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties by build period (31 March 2025) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only · Historic England conservation areas (supplied by local planning authorities; October 2026). All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.