Buxton, United Kingdom

Although outside the National Park boundary, Buxton 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 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 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.

Buxton's economy covers tourism, retail, quarrying, scientific research, light industry and mineral water bottling. The University of Derby 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 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 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.

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, 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 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, 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 town hosts 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, Harper Hill School, 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.