97-592: The Pavilion Arts Centre was opened in 1889 as the new Entertainment Stage theatre on St John's Road in Buxton , Derbyshire , England. It is part of the Pavilion Gardens complex of buildings in the town's central Conservation Area . It has a main 360-seat theatre, and since 2017 it has been the home of Buxton Cinema. The Pavilion Arts Centre is Buxton's second theatre, located behind the Buxton Opera House which
194-461: A University of Derby campus at the site of the former Devonshire Royal Hospital , as well as the Buxton & Leek College formed by the August 2012 merger of the university with Leek College. Secondary schools include Buxton Community School , at the former College Road site of Buxton College , and St. Thomas More Catholic School . Others include Buxton Junior School, St Anne's Catholic Primary,
291-622: A Grade II* listed public park of Special Historic Interest. Milner's design was a development of Joseph Paxton 's landscape for the Serpentine Walks in the 1830s. The 122-room Palace Hotel , also designed by Currey and built in 1868, is a prominent feature of the Buxton skyline on the hill above the railway station. The town is overlooked by Grin Low hill, 1,441 feet (439 m) above sea level, and by Grinlow Tower (locally also called Solomon's Temple ),
388-522: A charity hospital for the "sick poor" by Henry Currey , architect to the 7th Duke of Devonshire's . Currey had previously worked on St Thomas' Hospital in London. It became known as the Devonshire Royal Hospital in 1934. Later phases of conversion after 1881 were by local architect Robert Rippon Duke , including his design for The Devonshire Dome as the world's largest unsupported dome , with
485-620: A diameter of 144 feet (44 m) – larger than the Pantheon at 141 feet (43 m), St. Peter's Basilica at 138 feet (42 m) in Rome , and St Paul's Cathedral at 112 feet (34 m). The record was surpassed only by space frame domes such as the Georgia Dome (840 feet (260 m)). The building and its surrounding Victorian villas are now part of the University of Derby . Currey also designed
582-551: A few times. Buxton have been competitors in the Conference League . Buxton Raceway was due to hold a floodlit 2019 BriSCA Formula 2 World Final. Buxton's football club, Buxton F.C. , plays at Silverlands and Buxton Cricket Club at the Park Road ground. Other team clubs are Buxton Rugby Union and Buxton Hockey Club. There are also four Hope Valley League football clubs: Buxton Town, Peak Dale and Buxton Christians play at
679-481: A five-bay front with a Tuscan doorway. The Grade I listed Crescent was built in 1780–1784 for the 5th Duke of Devonshire, as part of his effort to turn Buxton into a fashionable spa town. Modelled on Bath's Royal Crescent , it was designed by architect John Carr , together with the neighbouring irregular octagon and colonnade of the Great Stables. These were completed in 1789, but in 1859 were largely converted to
776-495: A population of 1,095,500 at the 2021 census . After Warrington (211,227), the largest settlements are Chester and Crewe . The south and east of the county are primarily rural, while the north is more densely populated and includes the settlements of Runcorn , Widnes , and Ellesmere Port . For local government purposes Cheshire comprises four unitary authority areas: Cheshire East , Cheshire West and Chester , Halton , and Warrington . The county historically included all of
873-679: A spa town for its geothermal spring, which gushes at a steady 28 °C. The spring waters are piped to St Ann's Well , a shrine since medieval times at the foot of The Slopes , opposite the Crescent and near the town centre. The well was called one of the Seven Wonders of the Peak by the philosopher Thomas Hobbes in his 1636 book De Mirabilibus Pecci: Being The Wonders of the Peak in Darby-shire. The Dukes of Devonshire became involved in 1780, when
970-605: A three-week theatre event from the end of July through the first half of August, was held in Buxton from 1994 to 2013; it moved to Harrogate in 2014 but returned to Buxton in 2023. The Opera House offers a year-long programme of drama, concerts, comedy and other events. In September 2010, the Paxton Suite in the Pavilion Gardens reopened as the Pavilion Arts Centre after a £2.5 million reconstruction. Located behind
1067-517: A two-storey granite, crooked, crenelated folly built in 1834 by Solomon Mycock to provide work for local unemployed, and restored in 1996 after lengthy closure. In the other direction, on Corbar Hill , 1,433 feet (437 m) above sea level, is the tall wooden Corbar Cross. Originally given to the Catholic Church by the Duke of Devonshire in 1950 to mark Holy Year, it was replaced in the 1980s. In 2010, during
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#17328587368131164-617: A visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the UK, it was cut down as a protest against a long history of child abuse at the Catholic St Williams School in Market Weighton , Yorkshire. The Buxton ecumenical group Churches Together brought in several benefactors to replace the cross with a smaller one in May 2011. Many pubs and inns in Buxton are listed buildings reflecting the historic character of
1261-590: Is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak , Derbyshire, in the East Midlands region of England. It is England's highest market town , sited at some 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea level. It lies close to Cheshire to the west and Staffordshire to the south, on the edge of the Peak District National Park . In 1974, the municipal borough merged with other nearby boroughs, including Glossop , to form
1358-563: Is a history of interaction between Cheshire and North Wales. The Domesday Book records Cheshire as having two complete Hundreds (Atiscross and Exestan) that later became the principal part of Flintshire . Additionally, another large portion of the Duddestan Hundred later became known as English Maelor (Maelor Saesneg) when it was transferred to North Wales. For this and other reasons, the Welsh language name for Cheshire, Swydd Gaerlleon ,
1455-596: Is a noted employer. Surrounded by the Peak District National Park, it offers a range of cultural events; tourism is a major industry, with over a million visitors to Buxton each year. Buxton is the main centre for overnight accommodation in the Peak District, with over 64 per cent of the park's visitor bed space. The Buxton Mineral Water Company, owned by Nestlé , extracts and bottles mineral waters. The Buxton Advertiser appears weekly. Potters of Buxton
1552-515: Is a popular local bouldering venue with many small outcrops giving problems mainly in the lower grades. These are described in the 2003 guidebook High over Buxton: A Boulderer's Guide . Hoffman Quarry at Harpur Hill , sitting prominently above Buxton, is a local venue for sport climbing . Youth groups include the Kaleidoscope Youth Theatre at the Pavilion Arts Centre, Buxton Squadron Air Cadets , Derbyshire Army Cadet Force and
1649-421: Is almost entirely Triassic sandstone , outcrops of which have long been quarried, notably at Runcorn , providing the distinctive red stone for Liverpool Cathedral and Chester Cathedral . The eastern half of the county is Upper Triassic Mercia Mudstone laid down with large salt deposits which were mined for hundreds of years around Winsford . Separating this area from Lower Triassic Sherwood Sandstone to
1746-583: Is an opera and arts event held in July at the Opera House and other venues. It includes some literary events in the mornings, concerts and recitals in the afternoon, and operas, many rarely performed, in the evenings. The quality of the opera programme has improved in recent years, after decades when, according to critic Rupert Christiansen , the festival featured "work of such mediocre quality that I just longed for someone to put it out of its misery." Running alongside
1843-692: Is at Ellesmere Port. The oil refinery has operated since 1924 and has a capacity of 12 million tonnes per year. Crewe was once the centre of the British railway industry , and remains a major railway junction. The Crewe railway works , built in 1840, employed 20,000 people at its peak, although the workforce is now less than 1,000. Crewe is also the home of Bentley cars. Also within Cheshire are manufacturing plants for Jaguar and Vauxhall Motors in Ellesmere Port. The county also has an aircraft industry, with
1940-565: Is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shropshire to the south; to the west it is bordered by the Welsh counties of Flintshire and Wrexham , and has a short coastline on the Dee Estuary . Warrington is the largest settlement, and the city of Chester is the county town . The county has an area of 905 square miles (2,344 km ) and had
2037-611: Is common. Cheshire West has a fairly large proportion of residents who work in Liverpool and Manchester, while the town of Northwich and area of Cheshire East falls more within Manchester's sphere of influence. All four local education authorities in Cheshire operate only comprehensive state school systems. When Altrincham , Sale and Bebington were moved from Cheshire to Trafford and Merseyside in 1974, they took some former Cheshire selective schools. There are two universities based in
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#17328587368132134-472: Is famous for the production of Cheshire cheese , salt and silk. The county has seen a number of inventions and firsts in its history. A mainly rural county, Cheshire has a high concentration of villages. Agriculture is generally based on the dairy trade, and cattle are the predominant livestock. Land use given to agriculture has fluctuated somewhat, and in 2005 totalled 1558 km over 4,609 holdings. Based on holdings by EC farm type in 2005, 8.51 km
2231-643: Is in the western part of the Peak District, between the Lower Carboniferous limestone of the White Peak to the east and the Upper Carboniferous shale , sandstone and gritstone of the Dark Peak to the west. The early settlement (of which only the parish church of St Anne , built in 1625, remains) was largely made of limestone, while the present buildings of locally quarried sandstone, mostly date from
2328-624: Is part of Liverpool City Region combined authority , which also includes the five metropolitan boroughs of Merseyside . A referendum for a further local government reform connected with an elected regional assembly was planned for 2004, but was abandoned. As part of the local government restructuring in April 2009, Cheshire County Council and the Cheshire districts were abolished and replaced by two new unitary authorities, Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester . The existing unitary authorities of Halton and Warrington were not affected by
2425-713: Is sometimes used. After the Norman conquest of 1066 by William I , dissent and resistance continued for many years after the invasion. In 1069 local resistance in Cheshire was finally put down using draconian measures as part of the Harrying of the North . The ferocity of the campaign against the English populace was enough to end all future resistance. Examples were made of major landowners such as Earl Edwin of Mercia , their properties confiscated and redistributed amongst Norman barons. The earldom
2522-629: Is the Buxton Festival Fringe, known as a warm-up for the Edinburgh Fringe . The Buxton Fringe features drama, music, dance, comedy, poetry, art exhibitions and films around the town. In 2018, 181 entrants signed up and comedy and theatre categories were at their largest. The week-long Four Four Time music festival in February brings a variety of rock, pop, folk, blues, jazz and world music . The International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival ,
2619-534: Is the highest market town in England. Buxton's elevation makes it cooler and wetter than surrounding towns, with a daytime temperature typically about 2 °C lower than Manchester. A Met Office weather station has collected climate data for the town since 1867, with digitised data from 1959 available online. In June 1975, the town suffered a freak snowstorm that stopped play during a cricket match. The many visitors to Buxton for its thermal waters, particularly in
2716-424: Is the town's oldest department store, founded in 1860. The Buxton lime industry has shaped the town's development and landscape since its 17th-century beginnings. Buxton Lime Firms (BLF) was formed by 13 quarry owners in 1891. BLF became part of Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) in 1926 and Buxton was the headquarters for I.C.I. Lime Division until the 1970s. Several limestone quarries lie close, including
2813-455: Is the town's principal theatre venue with 900 seats. The two theatres share a programme of events staged by the same organisation. In 2010 the Paxton Suite was redeveloped and opened as the Pavilion Arts Centre with a smaller Studio Theatre as well as the main theatre. The centre is one of the main venues for the annual Buxton Festival and for the town's Fringe Festival. It is the oldest surviving theatre in Buxton. The earliest theatre in Buxton
2910-736: The BAE Systems facility at Woodford Aerodrome , part of BAE System's Military Air Solutions division. The facility designed and constructed Avro Lancaster and Avro Vulcan bombers and the Hawker-Siddeley Nimrod . On the Cheshire border with Flintshire is the Broughton aircraft factory, more recently associated with Airbus . Tourism in Cheshire from within the UK and overseas continues to perform strongly. Over 8 million nights of accommodation (both UK and overseas) and over 2.8 million visits to Cheshire were recorded during 2003. At
3007-656: The Church of England Diocese of Chester follows most closely the pre-1974 county boundary of Cheshire, so it includes all of Wirral , Stockport , and the Cheshire panhandle that included Tintwistle Rural District council area. In terms of Roman Catholic church administration, most of Cheshire falls into the Roman Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury . Cheshire has a diverse economy with significant sectors including agriculture, automotive, bio-technology, chemical, financial services, food and drink, ICT, and tourism. The county
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3104-585: The London Coliseum and the Hackney Empire . Opposite is an original Penfold octagonal post box. The opera house is attached to the Pavilion Gardens, Octagonal Hall (built in 1875) and the smaller Pavilion Arts Centre (previously The Hippodrome and the Playhouse Theatre. ). Buxton Pavilion Gardens , designed by Edward Milner , contain 93,000 m of gardens and ponds and were opened in 1871. These form
3201-984: The Peak District . The River Mersey runs through the north of Cheshire before broadening into its wide estuary; the River Dee forms part of the county's border with Wales, then fully enters England and flows through the city of Chester before re-entering Wales upstream of its estuary. Red Triassic sandstone forms the bedrock of much of the county, and was used in the construction of many of its buildings. The culture of Cheshire has impacted global pop culture by producing actors such as Daniel Craig , Tim Curry , and Pete Postlethwaite ; athletes such as Shauna Coxsey , Tyson Fury , and Paula Radcliffe ; authors such as Lewis Carroll ; comedians such as John Bishop and Ben Miller ; and musicians such as Gary Barlow , Ian Curtis , and Harry Styles . Most places are involved in agriculture and chemistry, leading to Cheshire's reputation for
3298-646: The Royal Forest of the Peak on the Fairfield side of the River Wye. Monastic farms were set up in Fairfield in the 13th century and in the 14th; its royal ownership was reflected in the name of Kyngesbucstones . By 1460, Buxton's spring had been pronounced a holy one dedicated to St Anne, who was canonised in 1382. A chapel had appeared there by 1498. Built on the River Wye , and overlooked by Axe Edge Moor , Buxton became
3395-732: The Sea Cadet Corps , in addition to units of the Scouts & Guide Association. Buxton has three Masonic Lodges and a Royal Arch Chapter, which meets at the Masonic Hall, George Street. Phoenix Lodge of Saint Ann No. 1235 was consecrated in 1865, Buxton Lodge No. 1688 in 1877, and High Peak Lodge No. 1952 in 1881. The Royal Arch Chapter is attached to Phoenix Lodge of Saint Ann, and bears the same name and number, it being consecrated in 1872. Regional TV news comes from Salford-based BBC North West and ITV Granada . Television signals are received from
3492-614: The University of Derby occupies historic premises. Buxton is twinned with Oignies in France and Bad Nauheim in Germany. The origins of the name are unclear. It may derive from the Old English for Buck Stone or for Rocking Stone . The town grew in importance in the late 18th century, when it was developed by the Dukes of Devonshire , with a resurgence a century later as Victorians were drawn to
3589-525: The William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire used profits from his copper mines to develop it as a spa in the style of Bath . Their ancestor Bess of Hardwick had brought one of her four husbands, the Earl of Shrewsbury , to "take the waters" at Buxton in 1569, shortly after he became the gaoler of Mary, Queen of Scots , and took Mary there in 1573. She called Buxton " La Fontagne de Bogsby ". She stayed at
3686-528: The Winter Hill and the local relay transmitters. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Derby on 96.0FM and Greatest Hits Radio Derbyshire (High Peak) (formerly High Peak Radio) on 106.4FM. The Buxton Advertiser is the town’s weekly local newspaper. Cheshire Cheshire ( / ˈ tʃ ɛ ʃ ər , - ɪər / CHESH -ər, -eer ) is a ceremonial county in North West England . It
3783-701: The Wirral Peninsula and parts of southern Greater Manchester and northern Derbyshire, but excluded Widnes and Warrington. The landscape of the county is dominated by the Cheshire Plain , an area of relatively flat land divided by the Mid-Cheshire Ridge . To the west, Cheshire contains the south of the Wirral Peninsula, and to the east the landscape rises to the Pennines , where the county contains part of
3880-431: The local government district and borough of High Peak. The town population was 22,115 at the 2011 Census. Sights include Poole's Cavern , a limestone cavern; St Ann's Well , fed by a geothermal spring bottled by Buxton Mineral Water Company; and many historic buildings, including John Carr's restored Buxton Crescent , Henry Currey 's Buxton Baths and Frank Matcham 's Buxton Opera House . The Devonshire Campus of
3977-679: The " Matterhorn of Cheshire" thanks to its distinctive steep profile. Cheshire contains portions of two green belt areas surrounding the large conurbations of Merseyside and Greater Manchester (North Cheshire Green Belt, part of the North West Green Belt) and Stoke-on-Trent (South Cheshire Green Belt, part of the Stoke-on-Trent Green Belt), these were first drawn up from the 1950s. Contained primarily within Cheshire East and Chester West & Chester, with small portions along
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4074-497: The " Tunstead Superquarry ", the largest producer of high-purity industrial limestone in Europe, employing 400. The quarrying sector also provides jobs in limestone processing and distribution. Other industrial employers include the Health & Safety Laboratory , which engages in health and safety research and incident investigations and maintains over 350 staff locally. The town hosts
4171-427: The 18th and 19th centuries, led to several new buildings to provide hospitality facilities. The Old Hall Hotel is one of the town's oldest buildings. It was owned by George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury , who with his wife, Bess of Hardwick, acted as the "gaolers" of Mary, Queen of Scots, who came to Buxton several times to take the waters, her final visit being in 1584. The present building dates from 1670, and has
4268-501: The 2011 Census. The population for 2021 is forecast to be 708,000. In 2001, the population density of Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester was 32 people per km , lower than the North West average of 42 people/km and the England and Wales average of 38 people/km . Ellesmere Port and Neston had a greater urban density than the rest of the county with 92 people/km . In 2001, ethnic white groups accounted for 98% (662,794) of
4365-491: The A53 Buxton to Leek road, is a motor sports circuit set up in 1974, hosting banger and stock car racing, as well as drifting events. It was home to the speedway team Buxton High Edge Hitmen in the mid-1990s before the team moved to a custom-built track to the north of the original one. The original track at High Edge Raceway was among the longest and trickiest in the UK. The new track is more conventional, and has been improved
4462-517: The Devils (1969). In 1979 it was renamed again as The Paxton Suite. The Pavilion Arts Centre is a Grade-II listed building. It was designed for the Buxton Gardens Company by local architect William Radford Bryden and was built of millstone grit stone by James Salt. The large shaped gables feature theatrical masks of comedy and tragedy. Bryden also designed the nearby Old Clubhouse (originally
4559-468: The Devonshire Hospital and Buxton Bath Charity, built in 1879 and accidentally lost for the latter part of the 20th century during construction work, before being found and restored in 1994. When the railways arrived in Buxton in 1863, Buxton railway station had been designed by Joseph Paxton , previously gardener and architect to William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire. Paxton also contributed
4656-604: The Fairfield Centre and Blazing Rag at the Kents Bank Recreation Ground. Buxton has two 18-hole golf courses. Cavendish Golf Club ranked among the top 100 in England. It was designed by the renowned Alister MacKenzie and dates from 1925. At Fairfield is Buxton & High Peak Golf Club . Founded in 1887 on the site of Buxton Racecourse , it is the oldest in Derbyshire. The hillside round Solomon's Temple
4753-446: The First World War . Granville Military Hospital was set up at the Buxton Hydropathic Hotel, with the Palace Hotel annexed. The author Vera Brittain trained as a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse at the Devonshire Hospital in 1915. The Royal Engineers based in Buxton used the Pavilion Gardens' lakes for training to build pontoon bridges. Prisoner of war camps at Ladmanlow and Peak Dale were established in 1917 to supply workers for
4850-459: The Grade II listed Buxton Baths , comprising the Natural Mineral Baths to the west of The Crescent and Buxton Thermal Baths to the east, which opened in 1854 on the site of the original Roman baths, together with the 1884 Pump Room opposite. The Thermal Baths, closed in 1963 and at risk of demolition, were restored and converted into a shopping arcade by conservation architects Derek Latham and Company. Architectural artist Brian Clarke contributed to
4947-490: The Opera House and a summer school at The Playhouse theatre. The Playhouse had its own resident reparatory company, which included Sir Nigel Hawthorne . The Literary and Dramatic Societies of local schools Buxton College and Cavendish Grammar School staged annual performances of either Shakespeare , such as Hamlet (1966), Coriolanus (1968) and Macbeth (1970), or modern works, such as Bertold Brecht 's Life of Galileo (1967) and Dylan Thomas 's The Doctor &
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#17328587368135044-574: The Opera House, it includes a 369-seat auditorium. The stage area can be converted into a separate 93-seat studio theatre. Buxton Museum and Art Gallery holds local artefacts, geological and archaeological samples (including the William Boyd Dawkins collection) and 19th and 20th-century paintings, with work by Brangwyn , Chagall , Chahine and their contemporaries. There are also displays by local and regional artists and other events. The Pavilion Gardens hold regular arts, crafts, antiques and jewellery fairs. Buxton's Well Dressing Festival in
5141-402: The Romans were in Buxton throughout their occupation of Britain. Batham Gate ("road to the bath town") is a Roman road from Templebrough Roman fort in South Yorkshire to Navio Roman Fort and on to Buxton. The name Buckestones was first recorded in the 12th century as part of the Peverel family's estate . From 1153 the town was within the Duchy of Lancaster's Crown estate, close to
5238-470: The Union Club), Solomon's Temple and the remodelling of the Thermal Baths in the 1880s. When Buxton Cinema opened in 2017, it marked the end of three decades for the town without a cinema and a return to the original cinema venue in the town. Buxton's first cinema was The Hippodrome in 1903. The Picture House was then built in 1916 on Spring Gardens (on the site of the demolished Victoria Arcade and Swedish Gymnasium). Buxton Opera House opened in 1903 and it
5335-470: The barons of Kinderton, Halton, Malbank, Mold, Shipbrook, Dunham-Massey, and the honour of Chester itself. Feudal baronies or baronies by tenure were granted by the Earl as forms of feudal land tenure within the palatinate in a similar way to which the king granted English feudal baronies within England proper. An example is the barony of Halton. One of Hugh d'Avranche's barons has been identified as Robert Nicholls, Baron of Halton and Montebourg. In 1182,
5432-631: The borders of the Halton and Warrington districts, towns and cities such as Chester, Macclesfield, Alsager, Congleton, Northwich, Ellesmere Port, Knutsford, Warrington, Poynton, Disley, Neston, Wilmslow, Runcorn, and Widnes are either surrounded wholly, partially enveloped by, or on the fringes of the belts. The North Cheshire Green Belt is contiguous with the Peak District Park boundary inside Cheshire. The ceremonial county borders Merseyside , Greater Manchester , Derbyshire , Staffordshire and Shropshire in England along with Flintshire and Wrexham in Wales, arranged by compass directions as shown in
5529-460: The building housed the Buxton Micrarium Exhibition, an interactive display with 50 remote-controlled microscopes. The building was refurbished as part of the National Lottery -funded Buxton Crescent and Thermal Spa re-development. Beside it, added in 1940, is St Ann's Well . In October 2020 Ensana reopened the Crescent as a 5-star spa hotel, after a 17-year refurbishment. Nearby stands the imposing monument to Samuel Turner (1805–1878), treasurer of
5626-513: The change. Cheshire has no county-wide elected local council, but it does have a Lord Lieutenant under the Lieutenancies Act 1997 and a High Sheriff under the Sheriffs Act 1887 . Local government functions apart from the Police and Fire/Rescue services are carried out by four smaller unitary authorities: Cheshire East , Cheshire West and Chester , Halton , and Warrington . All four unitary authority areas have borough status . Policing and fire and rescue services are still provided across
5723-410: The county as a whole. The Cheshire Fire Authority consist of members of the four councils, while governance of Cheshire Constabulary is performed by the elected Cheshire Police and Crime Commissioner . Winsford is a major administrative hub for Cheshire with the Police and Fire & Rescue Headquarters based in the town as well as a majority of Cheshire West and Chester Council. It was also home to
5820-434: The county, the University of Chester and the Chester campus of The University of Law . The Crewe campus of Manchester Metropolitan University was scheduled to close in 2019. Cheshire has produced musicians such as Joy Division members Ian Curtis and Stephen Morris , One Direction member Harry Styles , the members of The 1975 , Take That member Gary Barlow , The Cult member Ian Astbury , Catfish and
5917-417: The distinction on Richard's fall in 1399. Through the Local Government Act 1972 , which came into effect on 1 April 1974, some areas in the north became part of the metropolitan counties of Greater Manchester and Merseyside . Stockport (previously a county borough), Altrincham , Hyde , Dukinfield and Stalybridge in the north-east became part of Greater Manchester. Much of the Wirral Peninsula in
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#17328587368136014-444: The earldom forfeit and gave the title to Hugh d'Avranches (nicknamed Hugh Lupus, or "wolf"). Because of Cheshire's strategic location on the Welsh Marches , the Earl had complete autonomous powers to rule on behalf of the king in the county palatine. Cheshire in the Domesday Book (1086) is recorded as a much larger county than it is today. It included two hundreds , Atiscross and Exestan, that later became part of North Wales . At
6111-400: The earlier 20th century, Buxton had a resurgence in the 1950s and 1970s. The Playhouse Theatre kept a repertory company and pop concerts were held at the Octagon (including the Beatles in 1963). The Opera House re-opened in 1979 with the launch of the Buxton Festival, and the town was being used as a base for exploring the Peak District. Although outside the National Park boundary, Buxton
6208-432: The energy and water sector and there was also a significant reduction in the manufacturing sector. The largest growth during this period was in the other services and distribution, hotels and retail sectors. Cheshire is considered to be an affluent county. However, towns such as Crewe and Winsford have significant deprivation. The county's proximity to the cities of Manchester and Liverpool means counter urbanisation
6305-411: The former Vale Royal Borough Council and Cheshire County Council. Devolution talks for the county are scheduled for Autumn 2024. From 1 April 1974 the area under the control of the county council was divided into eight local government districts; Chester , Congleton , Crewe and Nantwich , Ellesmere Port and Neston , Halton , Macclesfield , Vale Royal and Warrington . Halton (which includes
6402-487: The greatest: Harper Hill School with excellent teachers, Buxton Infant School, John Duncan School, Fairfield Infant & Nursery, Burbage Primary, Dove Holes CE Primary, Fairfield Endowed Junior, Peak Dale Primary, Leek College, Old Sams Farm Independent School, Hollinsclough CE Primary, Flash CE Primary, Earl Sterndale CE Primary, Peak Forest CE Primary and Combs Infant School. Above the town are two small speedway stadiums. Buxton Raceway (formerly High Edge Raceway), off
6499-407: The historic county of Cheshire was Black Hill (582 m (1,909 ft)) near Crowden in the Cheshire Panhandle, a long eastern projection of the county which formerly stretched along the northern side of Longdendale and on the border with the West Riding of Yorkshire . Black Hill is now the highest point in the ceremonial county of West Yorkshire . Within the current ceremonial county and
6596-468: The judicial review it lost in October 2007. The appeal was dismissed on 4 March 2008. A plain of glacial till and other glacio-fluvial sediments extends across much of Cheshire, separating the hills of North Wales and the Pennines . Known as the Cheshire Plain , it was formed following the retreat of a Quaternary ice sheet which left the area dotted with kettle holes , those which hold water being referred to as meres . The bedrock of this region
6693-425: The land north of the Mersey became administered as part of the new county of Lancashire , resolving any uncertainty about the county in which the land "Inter Ripam et Mersam" was. Over the years, the ten hundreds consolidated and changed names to leave just seven—Broxton, Bucklow, Eddisbury, Macclesfield, Nantwich, Northwich and Wirral. In 1397 the county had lands in the march of Wales added to its territory, and
6790-484: The late 18th century. At the south edge of the town, the River Wye has carved an extensive limestone cavern known as Poole's Cavern . More than 330 yards (300 metres) of its chambers are open to the public. It contains Derbyshire's largest stalactite and some unique "poached egg" stalagmites . Its name recalls a local highwayman. Buxton has an oceanic climate with short, mild summers and long, cool winters. At about 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea level, Buxton
6887-410: The layout of the Park Road circular estate. He is perhaps known best for his design of the Crystal Palace in London. Buxton Town Hall , designed by William Pollard, was completed in 1889. Buxton Opera House, designed by Frank Matcham in 1903, is the highest opera-house site in the country. Matcham, a theatre architect, was responsible for several London theatres, including the London Palladium ,
6984-474: The local limestone quarries. RAF Harpur Hill became an underground bomb-storage facility during World War II and the country's largest munitions dump. It was also the base for the Peak District section of the RAF Mountain Rescue Service . Prisoner of war camps for Italians and Germans were set up on Lismore Road, off Macclesfield Road and at Dove Holes. After a decline as a spa resort in
7081-820: The north-west, including the county boroughs of Birkenhead and Wallasey, joined Merseyside as the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral . At the same time the Tintwistle Rural District was transferred to Derbyshire . The area of south Lancashire not included within either the Merseyside or Greater Manchester counties, including Widnes and the county borough of Warrington , was added to the new non-metropolitan county of Cheshire. Halton and Warrington became unitary authorities independent of Cheshire County Council on 1 April 1998, but remain part of Cheshire for ceremonial purposes and also for fire and policing. Halton
7178-413: The population, and 10,994 (2%) in ethnic groups other than white. Of the 2% in non-white ethnic groups: In the 2001 Census, 81% of the population (542,413) identified themselves as Christian; 124,677 (19%) did not identify with any religion or did not answer the question; 5,665 (1%) identified themselves as belonging to other major world religions; and 1,033 belonged to other religions. The boundary of
7275-575: The production of chemicals, Cheshire cheese , salt, and silk. Cheshire's name was originally derived from an early name for Chester, and was first recorded as Legeceasterscir in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , meaning "the shire of the city of legions". Although the name first appears in 980, it is thought that the county was created by Edward the Elder around 920. In the Domesday Book , Chester
7372-413: The proposal to split two-tier Cheshire into two would proceed. Cheshire County Council leader Paul Findlow, who attempted High Court legal action against the proposal, claimed that splitting Cheshire would only disrupt excellent services while increasing living costs for all. On 31 January 2008 The Standard , Cheshire and district's newspaper, announced that the legal action had been dropped. Members against
7469-570: The proposal were advised that they may be unable to persuade the court that the decision of Hazel Blears was "manifestly absurd". The Cheshire West and Chester unitary authority covers the area formerly occupied by the City of Chester and the boroughs of Ellesmere Port and Neston and Vale Royal; Cheshire East now covers the area formerly occupied by the boroughs of Congleton, Crewe and Nantwich, and Macclesfield. The changes were implemented on 1 April 2009. Congleton Borough Council pursued an appeal against
7566-518: The refurbishment; his scheme, designed in 1984 and completed in 1987, was for a landmark modern artwork, a barrel-vaulted modern stained glass ceiling to enclose the former baths — at the time the largest stained glass window in the British Isles — creating an atrial space for what became the Cavendish Arcade. Visitors could "take the waters" at The Pump Room until 1981. Between 1981 and 1995
7663-406: The reputed healing properties of its waters. The first inhabitants of Buxton made homes at Lismore Fields some 6,000 years ago. This Stone Age settlement, a Scheduled Monument , was rediscovered in 1984, with remains of a Mesolithic timber roundhouse and Neolithic longhouses. The Romans developed a settlement known as Aquae Arnemetiae ("Baths of the grove goddess"). Coins found show
7760-489: The site of the Old Hall Hotel , where Earl of Shrewsbury had built a lodging for visitors. According to John Jones of Derby, author of Buxtone's Bathes Benefyte (1572), the visitors to Shrewsbury's "goodly house" enjoyed a game of table bowls known as trou madame . The area features in the works of W. H. Auden , Jane Austen and Emily Brontë . Buxton's profile was boosted by a recommendation from Erasmus Darwin of
7857-472: The start of 2003, there were 22,020 VAT-registered enterprises in Cheshire, an increase of 7% since 1998, many in the business services (31.9%) and wholesale/retail (21.7%) sectors. Between 2002 and 2003 the number of businesses grew in four sectors: public administration and other services (6.0%), hotels and restaurants (5.1%), construction (1.7%), and business services (1.0%). The county saw the largest proportional reduction between 2001 and 2002 in employment in
7954-594: The table. below. Cheshire also forms part of the North West England region. In July 2022, beavers bred in Cheshire for the first time in 400 years, following a reintroduction scheme. Based on the Census of 2001, the overall population of Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester is 673,781, of which 51.3% of the population were male and 48.7% were female. Of those aged between 0–14 years, 51.5% were male and 48.4% were female; and of those aged over 75 years, 62.9% were female and 37.1% were male. This increased to 699,735 at
8051-565: The time of the Domesday Book, it also included as part of Duddestan Hundred the area of land later known as English Maelor (which used to be a detached part of Flintshire ) in Wales. The area between the Mersey and Ribble (referred to in the Domesday Book as "Inter Ripam et Mersam") formed part of the returns for Cheshire. Although this has been interpreted to mean that at that time south Lancashire
8148-634: The town, although many buildings have been demolished. Lost buildings of Buxton include grand spa hotels, the Midland Railway station, the Picture House cinema and Cavendish Girls' Grammar School. Cultural events include the annual Buxton Festival , festivals and performances at the Buxton Opera House, and shows running at other venues alongside them. Buxton Museum and Art Gallery offers year-round exhibitions. Buxton Festival, founded in 1979,
8245-602: The towns of Runcorn and Widnes ) and Warrington became unitary authorities in 1998. The remaining districts and the county were abolished as part of local government restructuring on 1 April 2009. The Halton and Warrington boroughs were not affected by the 2009 restructuring. On 25 July 2007, the Secretary of State Hazel Blears announced she was 'minded' to split Cheshire into two new unitary authorities, Cheshire West and Chester , and Cheshire East . She confirmed she had not changed her mind on 19 December 2007 and therefore
8342-479: The unitary authority of Cheshire East the highest point is Shining Tor on the Derbyshire/Cheshire border between Macclesfield and Buxton , at 559 metres (1,834 ft) above sea level. After Shining Tor, the next highest point in Cheshire is Shutlingsloe , at 506 metres (1,660 ft) above sea level. Shutlingsloe lies just to the south of Macclesfield Forest and is sometimes humorously referred to as
8439-420: The waters there and at Matlock , addressed to Josiah Wedgwood I. The Wedgwood family often visited Buxton and commended the area to their friends. Two of Charles Darwin 's half-cousins, Edward Levett Darwin and Reginald Darwin, settled there. The arrival of the railway in 1863 stimulated growth: the population of 1,800 in 1861 exceeded 6,000 by 1881. Buxton held a base for British and Canadian troops in
8536-633: The week up to the second Saturday in July has been running in its current form since 1840, to mark the provision of fresh water to the high point of the town's marketplace. As well as the dressing of the wells, it includes a carnival procession and a funfair on the marketplace. Well dressing is an ancient custom unique to the Peak District and Derbyshire and thought to date back to Roman and Celtic times, when communities would dress wells to give thanks for supplies of fresh water. Buxton's economy covers tourism, retail, quarrying, scientific research, light industry and mineral water bottling. The University of Derby
8633-594: The west is a prominent sandstone ridge known as the Mid Cheshire Ridge . A 55-kilometre (34 mi) footpath, the Sandstone Trail , follows this ridge from Frodsham to Whitchurch passing Delamere Forest , Beeston Castle and earlier Iron Age forts. The western fringes of the Peak District - the southernmost extent of the Pennine range - form the eastern part of the county. The highest point (county top) in
8730-629: Was allocated to dairy farming, with another 11.78 km allocated to cattle and sheep. The chemical industry in Cheshire was founded in Roman times, with the mining of salt in Winsford, Middlewich and Northwich. Salt is still mined in the area by British Salt . The salt mining has led to a continued chemical industry around Northwich, with Brunner Mond based in the town. Other chemical companies, including Ineos (formerly ICI ), have plants at Runcorn . The Essar Refinery (formerly Shell Stanlow Refinery )
8827-411: Was converted to a cinema in 1927 which closed in 1976. In 1937 The Picture House was remodelled as the art deco Spa Cinema, running until its closure in the 1960s. It was then used as a bingo hall but reopened as a cinema in 1976 after the Opera House cinema had closed. It was closed in 1986 and demolished in 1987. The Job Centre building and a supermarket now stand on the site. Buxton Buxton
8924-925: Was demolished in 1854, performances were held variously at the Assembly Room, the Courthouse and the Independent Chapel. In 1889 the Entertainment Stage was opened by actor John Toole . It was also known as the New Theatre. When the Buxton Opera House theatre was opened in 1903, the New Theatre was modified to show silent movies and changed its name to the Hippodrome. In 1932 it reverted to a performance theatre and became The Playhouse. An annual festival ran from 1937 to 1942, in conjunction with Lilian Baylis 's theatre company from London's Old Vic Theatre , with plays at
9021-545: Was in a thatched house on Spring Gardens, which staged performances from c.1784 to c.1829 at the foot of Hardwick Street (replaced by Milligan's Drapery and Milliner's shop and where the Argos store is now). From 1830 to 1854 the theatre moved to the end of the Broad Walk, in the old hall stables opposite the Old Hall Hotel at the foot of Hall Bank. In 1833 the world-famous violinist Niccolo Paganini performed there. After this theatre
9118-548: Was part of Cheshire, more exhaustive research indicates that the boundary between Cheshire and what was to become Lancashire remained the River Mersey . With minor variations in spelling across sources, the complete list of hundreds of Cheshire at this time are: Atiscross, Bochelau, Chester, Dudestan, Exestan, Hamestan, Middlewich, Riseton, Roelau, Tunendune, Warmundestrou and Wilaveston. There were 8 feudal baronies in Chester,
9215-447: Was promoted to the rank of principality. This was because of the support the men of the county had given to King Richard II, in particular by his standing armed force of about 500 men called the "Cheshire Guard". As a result, the King's title was changed to "King of England and France, Lord of Ireland, and Prince of Chester". No other English county has been honoured in this way, although it lost
9312-413: Was recorded as having the name Cestrescir (Chestershire), derived from the name for Chester at the time. Through the next few centuries a series of changes that occurred in the English language, which have included simplifications and elision , has resulted in the name Cheshire. Because of the historically close links with the land bordering Cheshire to the west, which became modern Wales , there
9409-463: Was sufficiently independent from the kingdom of England that the 13th-century Magna Carta did not apply to the shire of Chester , so the earl wrote up his own Chester Charter at the petition of his barons. William I made Cheshire a county palatine and gave Gerbod the Fleming the new title of Earl of Chester . When Gerbod returned to Normandy in about 1070, the king used his absence to declare
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