During summer 2020, JA Photography completed few phases of photoshoot for this magnificent historical heritage, that was recently launched as part of a 5* luxury hotel by Ensana Group, a health spa brand owned by one of Europe’s largest health spa operators, Danubius Hotels Group. This grade I listed building is located in the heart of Buxton.
Buxton town is situated over a geological fault that separates carboniferous limestone to its south and east in the White Peak from the gritstone to its north and west in the Dark Peak. It is from this fault that mineral rich water rises.
The value of the water source was recognised by the Romans who established one of only two settlements in Britain which were developed entirely around their natural thermal springs. Roman Buxton was known as Aquae Arnemetiae whilst Roman Bath, the other settlement, was known as Aquae Sulis.
In the middle of the 18th century, the 5th Duke of Devonshire saw the commercial opportunity to develop Buxton as a fashionable Georgian spa town.
“On visiting Buxton in 1783, the Duchess of Devonshire wrote to her mother the Countess Spencer, “I never saw anything so magnificent as the Crescent tho’ it must half ruin me – my spirit makes me delight in the Duke doing it
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The Crescent’s first golden age
John Carr of York was appointed to design a complex of six lodging houses and two new hotels. Building work on the Crescent started in 1780 and was completed in 1789. The hotels book-ended the lodging houses with the St Ann’s Hotel in the west end of the building and the Great Hotel in the east end. The Great Hotel was the grander of the two, incorporating a lavishly decorated Ballroom and an adjoining Card Room – together known as the Assembly Rooms where the town’s visitors could gather for balls during the season.
21st Century Buxton Crescent
Buxton Crescent is the reincarnation of two once-upon-a-time, grand and gracious hotels, well known throughout Georgian England as the premier resting place for stylish spa seekers who came from all over the country to bathe in the thermal waters of Buxton.
In a historic setting, Buxton Crescent offers traditional hydrotherapy, luxury spa treatments, lifestyle programmes and healthy cuisine, all the five-star amenities that discerning health travellers look for.
MOVIE | Re-installation of 300 yrs old Chandeliers at Buxton Crescent Assembly Hall.
300 years ago, the Duke William Cavendish, the 5th Duke of Devonshire who, along with his architect, John Carr of York, was embarking on a project to create a fashionable northern Georgian spa town to rival the established spas in the south of England at Bath, Tunbridge Wells and Cheltenham.
“Hanging down below from the Georgian decorated ceiling, are 2 of the most historical chandeliers one could gaze at for awhile. ”
Chandeliers are a statement of style, sophistication and of course affluence. They are opulent and graceful features that bring the best out in a great room such as this. We were humbled to be given the opportunity, to film and witness the process of its re-installation prior to the launch of Ensana Buxton Crescent this autumn. We hope you will enjoy this clip as much as the day we were awed by the chandelier’s magnificent crystal details dating back from 1780.
