YORK ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST BUXTON CRESCENT AND SPA, THE CRESCENT, BUXTON, DERBYSHIRE STATEMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE by Martin Stockwell Revised by Glyn Davies REPORT NUMBER 2011/57 REVISED 2014 VERSION 2 YORK ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST York Archaeological Trust undertakes a wide range of urban and rural archaeological consultancies, surveys, evaluations, assessments and excavations for commercial, academic and charitable clients. It can manage projects, provide professional advice and monitor archaeological works to ensure high quality, cost effective archaeology. Its staff have a considerable depth and variety of professional experience and an international reputation for research, development and maximising the public, educational and commercial benefits of archaeology. Based in York its services are available throughout Britain and beyond. © 2011 York Archaeological Trust for Excavation and Research Limited Registered Office: 47 Aldwark, York, UK, YO1 7BX Phone: +44 (0)1904 663000 Fax: +44 (0)1904 663024 Email: [email protected] Internet: http://www.yorkarchaeology.co.uk York Archaeological Trust is a Registered Charity No. 509060 A Company Limited by Guarantee Without Share Capital Registered in England No. 1430801 CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1 2. LOCATION, GEOLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY ................................................................... 3 3. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ........................................................................................... 4 4. CONSTRUCTION AREAS WITH ARCHAEOLOGICAL POTENTIAL .............................. 10 5. THE YELLOW BASEMENT .............................................................................................. 11 6. THE CRESCENT BUILDING ............................................................................................ 25 7. THE CRESCENT EXTERIOR FORECOURT .................................................................... 31 8. THE CRESCENT EXTERIOR REAR ................................................................................ 44 9 SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................... 48 FIGURES Cover: The Crescent in its heyday 1. Site location 2. Trench location 3. Test pit locations inside building during enabling works 4. Plan of archaeological features observed externally during the enabling works 5. Plan 60029979/210 6. Plan 60029979/208 7. Trial pit D location 8. Trial pit D section 9. Trial pit E location 10. Trial pit E plan 11. Trial pit E section 12. Trial pit I location 13. Trial pit I plan 14 Plan of archaeological features in the yellow basement excavations 15. 1852 Joseph Paxton plan 16. 1878 OS map 17. Ground floor Plan showing lift pit pair locations inside the building 18. Trial pit G location 19. Trial pit G plan 20. Trial pit G section 21. Trial pit J location 22. Trial pit J plan 23. Trial pit J section facing NW 24. Plan 60029979/401 25. Plan 600299979/411 26. Plan 60029979/412 27. Trial pit Q location 28. Plan 60029979/408 proposed services in front of the crescent 29 Plan 60029979/409 proposed services in front of the crescent 30 Plan 60029979/402 showing location of water management chambers 31 Plan showing the location of the laundry extension 32 Plan 60029979/410 proposed services top the rear of the crescent Plates 1. Trial pit D 2. Trial pit E 3. Trial pit E 4. Trial pit I 5. Trial pit G 6. Trial pit Q 7. Trial pit Q 8. Trench W 9. Trench W 10. Trench 10 Buxton Crescent and Spa, The Crescent, Buxton, Derbyshire 1. INTRODUCTION The Crescent in Buxton is a large semi-circular building, built in the late 18 th century and located in the centre of Buxton (NGR SK 0578 7356) (Figure 1), which has been empty for many years. The site is currently undergoing redevelopment and there are two phases of development activities: • Enabling works • Construction and refurbishment works The programme of enabling works has been completed and construction and refurbishment works are now to be undertaken. The site includes: The Crescent, Natural Baths, Pump Room, a part basement of the Old Hall Hotel and land to the rear of The Crescent formerly occupied by single-storey service buildings, now demolished. The nature of the works in each area varies considerably and in cases such as the Old Hall Hotel Basement no excavation below ground level is planned due to the proximity of the Nestle Covered Pool. This document was originally drafted prior to the enabling works. It was produced to assess the archaeological significance of any remains within the site which might be affected by the development works. Evidence from archaeological evaluation and historical research was used to assess the significance of any archaeological remains and to identify the potential impact of development on these remains. Since this document was originally drafted, there have been changes to the redevelopment scheme. This document has been revised in light of these changes. Revisions are highlighted to aid identification of changes to the document. The site sites on the interface between two different geological types with a complex of natural springs emerging across the area. This geological context requires a comprehensive understanding of the building, its foundations and the sites archaeological potential and significance. A project design was drawn up in 2007 by the original contractors, the University of Manchester Archaeology Unit (UMAU), for exploratory trenches to be excavated under archaeological conditions. These were designed to answer specific engineering questions and to assess and evaluate any archaeological remains encountered in that process. In addition two evaluation trenches to test for archaeological remains were included in the design which represents Phase 3 of the ground investigations. Between 26 th May and 24 th June 2009 York Archaeological Trust (YAT) excavated a series of fifteen trial pits and two evaluation trenches (Figure 2). The purpose of the excavations was to investigate the form and nature of the footings of the existing buildings, to determine the presence and significance of any archaeological remains and to facilitate an inspection of the deposits, bedrock and hydrology underlying the footprint of the proposed development. York Archaeological Trust report 2011/57 Report prepared 15/08/1, Revised 23/9/2014 1 Buxton Crescent and Spa, The Crescent, Buxton, Derbyshire Figure 1 Site location Figure 2 Evaluation trench location York Archaeological Trust report 2011/57 Report prepared 15/08/1, Revised 23/9/2014 2 Buxton Crescent and Spa, The Crescent, Buxton, Derbyshire The buildings in question were The Crescent (Trial pits F,G,J,S,U and V), St Anne’s dining room (Trial pits D and E), The Square (Trial pit R), The Old Courthouse (Trial pit H) and the Natural Baths (Trial pit T). A further trial pit (I) was excavated to investigate the nature and levels of the culverted River Wye (Trial pit I). The location of these excavations, their proposed depths and archaeological potential were informed by previous engineering investigations particularly sets of borehole and probehole data (AECOM 2008) and a geophysical survey (Searle and Ballard 2005). Flooding within the basement required the relocation of Trail pits U and F. In order to investigate the source of this flooding and the footings for the adjacent internal walls two further trial pits (AA and AB) were opened up. 2. LOCATION, GEOLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY Buxton is located in the Derbyshire Dales at approximately 300m above sea level and falls into two parts; the older town known as Higher Buxton lies on a plateau to the south centred on the market place overlooking the more recent Lower Buxton sited around the curving valley of the River Wye to the north. Surrounding the town beyond the 19 th century plantings are the bleak rolling heather moorlands typical of the area. The Crescent lies in Lower Buxton on the south side of the river which at that point currently lies within a culvert. To the west lie the Pavilion Gardens, leisure gardens laid out in the 18 th and 19 th century including glass house, ponds, woodland plantings and a serpentine walk. To the south is the Slopes, formerly known as The Terraces, a landscaped park on the steep slope overlooking The Crescent where a geometric design of paths was laid out to display the building to its best advantage. To the east lies spring gardens a shopping street and to the north the rising valley side dominated by the grand stable block and the Grand Hotel. The two core areas are surrounded by 19 th and 20 th century sprawl. The underlying bedrock geology is formed from steeply sloping Carboniferous Limestone to the South and Millstone Grit Series rocks to the north with the boundary between the two running approximately beneath the site of The Crescent. Overlying the Millstone Grits is a deposit of Namurian shale. Capping the shale and filling the base of the valley is a dark organic alluvial silt which may be the result of a blockage downstream forming a lake to develop (Searle and Ballard 2005, 2). There are at least nine thermal springs rising within the valley along with several cold springs. The thermal water that rises in Buxton as spring water comes from deep within the earths crust and emerges under hydrostatic pressure, geothermally heated to a constant temperature of 27.5 degrees centigrade. The water percolates through the limestone until it hits