Buxton Museum and Art Gallery

17/06/2026

17/06/2026

Aww, you guys .....

17/06/2026

This picture, dated 1919, is titled Combs Lake although today we know it as Combs Reservoir, on the outskirts of Chapel-en-le-Frith in the High Peak.

The reservoir was built in 1797 to feed the Peak Forest Canal in Whaley Bridge, which was completed in 1805.

16/06/2026

We're pleased to lend one of our artefacts to the Barbican Centre in London for their new exhibition: Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica. For more information, check our latest update, pinned to the top of our page and Wordpress page.

16/06/2026

We love this photograph- but was it taken outside Buxton Town Hall?

It's RSPCA's flag day - 16th June- sometime during WW1. I wonder how successful these children were in raising money for the cause?

15/06/2026

A horse-drawn fire engine from 1916 is our throwback photograph today. The location of the fire is noted as being West Street, Higher Buxton. It looks a little like West Road today.

Notes on the reverse name the driver as J. Wilkinson, and although some of the details are no longer legible, there is reference to somebody being under contract to the Urban District Council to supply horses at all times.
🐎🚒🔥

14/06/2026

This fascinating view of the Quadrant in Buxton, in a photograph taken between 1882 and 1900, shows just how much (and how little!) has changed.

Spot the Turner Memorial, the elegant thermal baths with their roofed colonnades, and the iconic Devonshire Dome with the Robertson clocktower. The spire of the Devonshire Park Chapel (now demolished) is just visible in the centre of the picture.

13/06/2026

What was found at Arbor Low?

An abundance of flints- including this 'oblique flint arrow head'.

It's around 4500 years old. Although this style of flint had been knapped for thousands of years it's the sophistication that dates this to neolithic times.

12/06/2026

Today marks the birth in 1819 of Charles Kingsley, author of The Water Babies.

Our photograph, taken around 1948, captures a charming carnival parade float decorated with flower garlands, giant swans, and a banner reading "The Water Babies." Children are dressed as swans, water lilies, and frogs, bringing Kingsley’s classic story to life.

🦢🐸🦢

11/06/2026

What's going on with Buxton Museum and Art Gallery? The Spring 2026 Official Update has just dropped 👇

https://shorturl.at/QUgVh