Bath and Buxton - two Crescents

Two cresents, one in the south west of England, the other in the East Midlands, both built during the 18th century, both of architectural and historical interest, but there the similarity ends. 

Between 1767 and 1774, the architect John Wood built the Crescent in Bath shown in the top postcard.  It didn't achieve "Royal" status until the end of the century when Prince Frederick, son of George III, lived there.  It is now known as The Royal Crescent.

It was designed as a façade of 30 dwellings but in fact sections of the façade were sold off to individuals who built their own houses behind.   As a result the back view is very different. It is referred to as "Queen Anne fronts and Mary-Anne backs.

The second picture is The Crescent in Buxton which was built about 10 years later and modelled on the crescent in Bath.  Both are Grade I listed buildings but Buxton hasn't fared nearly so well as Bath.  The hotel that occupied one end closed in the 1980s because the cost of repairs was too high.  Later major structural problems were discovered and by 1992 the whole building lay empty.  It is still unoccupied.

So sad.  I spent my honeymoon in Buxton.

The Silk Mill, Derby

Lombe's Silk Mill, when it opened in 1721, brought to England technology developed in Italy which enabled silk to be thrown on machines driven by water power.  Extensively rebuilt in 1910 after a fire, the Silk Mill now houses Derby's Museum of Industry and History.

The Derwent Valley Mills World heritage Site was inscribed by UNESCO in 2001.  It was the birthplace of the factory system - where water power was first successfully harnessed for textile production.

Chatsworth

Postmarked Buxton, dated 10 August 2006.

Chatsworth and the River Derwent from the west, 1828, by William Cowen (1791 - 1864)
Devonshire Collection, Chatsworth, Derbyshire.
Chatsworth, home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire.

Chatsworth House has been voted the UK's favourite country house several times and the gardens are famous. Although building of this mansion was started in 1553, the estate has a history going back to Anglo-Saxon days.

The house featured in the film version of Pride and Prejudice as Pemberley, Mr Darcy's home.