Local History

The Cartoons of Private Jones

15th June 2018 by

We’ve recently catalogued a collection of postcards featuring cartoons in and around the Devonshire Royal Hospital, Buxton. A short description on the back notes that:

The drawings used on these Cards are by Private Jones (Welsh Fusiliers), a patient at the Devonshire Hospital, Buxton

The postcards are dated 1917, and seem to feature the signature of Private Jones, possibly ‘E L’, or ‘F L’ Jones. Many soldiers cane to Buxton during the first world war and it seems Private Jones documented his experience through these sketches and cartoons.

We’d love to know more about Private Jones, or even his stay in Buxton. Do you know anything about him? Perhaps you fancy a little research? Let us know! Scroll down to the bottom of this page to contribute.

Buxton Museum and Art Gallery – CC BY-NC 4.0

A Short History of Chatsworth House

31st May 2018 by

Chatsworth House, 1836, T. Allom. [DERSR: 40229]

If you turn to face the low wall, you should be able to see one of the sides of Chatsworth house peering over the top. The house has gone through many changes since the first house was built on the site by Bess of Hardwick and her second husband William Cavendish in 1549. They bought the manor for a sum of £600 which in today’s money is around £165,000. The construction of the original house began in 1552, but the only surviving and complete structure from this period is the Hunting Lodge on the top of the hill.

Cavendish died 1557, and after another marriage which ended in her husband dying in 1565, Bess married for a fourth and final time to George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury. When he was appointed the custodian of Mary, Queen of Scots by Elizabeth I, between the years 1569 – 1584, Chatsworth also served to keep Mary a prisoner. Her rooms on the east side of the house are still called the Queen of Scots Apartments today, even though the rooms themselves are much changed.

Chatsworth Hunting Tower

30th May 2018 by

‘The Hunting Tower at Chatsworth’, date and artist unknown. [DERSR: 41428]

Completed in 1582 for Bess of Hardwick and designed by the Elizabethan architect Robert Smythson, the unique Chatsworth Hunting Tower stands 400 feet above the House and on the edge of Stand Wood. It is the most impressive survivor from the period and an incredible example of Elizabethan architecture.

Built either as a banqueting house or a summerhouse, the Hunting Tower was also used by the ladies to watch the hounds whilst hunting, as the name suggests. It also gives views of the deer park. The Tower’s panoramic views are breath-taking and look out onto the park designed by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown for the 4^th Duke during the mid 1700s.

Buxton Map, 1898

30th May 2018 by

Map of Buxton, John Bartholomew & Co., 1898. [DERSB: 2016.96]

This detailed and coloured map of Buxton was created in 1898 by John Bartholomew of the long running map publishers, Bartholomew & Co., first established in 1832. The company is still running today as ‘Collins Bartholomew’ and is owned by the well-known Harper Collins publishers.

Although slightly difficult to see from this image alone, the map of Buxton shown is very detailed and shows notes of elevation in feet, and the train line. You can even see the walks and footpaths mapped out in Corbar Woods and through the park.

The map shows recognisable landmarks of Buxton that we still have today like the Devonshire Dome and the Crescent. However, can you spot things which aren’t here anymore or haven’t been built yet? The iconic Buxton Opera House is missing from the map as it wasn’t built until 1903. The map also depicts the two platforms on the station, one of which is no longer standing. Maps like these are a window into Buxton’s past.

[Read more…] about Buxton Map, 1898

Winnats Pass: A Tropical and Haunting Road

29th May 2018 by

‘Vale of the Winnets, Derbyshire’, T. Allom, c. 1830. [DERSR: 41551]

Look up the hill, you can see the winding and narrow road of Winnats Pass. This deep route runs between the two towering pinnacles of limestone on either side. The wind swirls and it’s no wonder that there is the legend of the pass being haunted by murdered two lovers.

When you head through Winnats Pass, it is difficult to imagine that this once would have been at the bottom of a tropical ocean. There are fossilised sea creatures in the limestone rocks which date back to 350 million years ago when this would have been a coral reef, the deep ravine forming when a large underground cave system collapsed. This cave system was created after melting glaciers wore away at the rock, allowing streams of water between the cracks as the limestone dissolved. These deepened the cracks and fissures, opening them up to create large caverns with thin roofs. When these collapsed, they formed steep sided valleys like the one here at Winnats Pass.

Views of Haddon Hall

25th May 2018 by

Exterior etching of Haddon Hall from the mid-nineteenth century by Samuel Reyner. [DERSR: 41316]

Ahead of you, up the track, lies Haddon Hall. The house is considered one of the best preserved examples of a Tudor hall. It has appeared in the films ‘The Princess Bride’ and the 2005 adaption of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ along with other productions.

The hall has long been popular, featuring in a series of engravings and prints from the 18th and 19th centuries.

Etching of the Drawing Room. Date unknown. [DERSR: 41258]

The origins of the hall date to the eleventh century where it was occupied by William Peverel, possibly an illegitimate son of William the Conqueror, before passing to the ownership of the Avenells during the reign of Richard I. It was then occupied by the Vernon family in the 1200s where it remained until a scandal around the youngest daughter of Sir George Vernon who eloped with Sir John Manners (the second son of the first Earl of Rutland). Dorothy Vernon and John Manners then began the Manners family at Haddon Hall.

[Read more…] about Views of Haddon Hall

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