Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level. It lies close to Cheshire to the west and Staffordshire to the south, on the edge of the Peak District National Park. In 1974, the municipal borough merged with other nearby boroughs, including Glossop, to form the local government district and borough of High Peak.
The town population was 22,115 at the 2011 Census. Sights include Poole's Cavern, a limestone cavern; St Ann's Well, fed by a geothermal spring bottled by Buxton Mineral Water Company; and many historic buildings, including John Carr's restored Buxton Crescent, Henry Currey's Buxton Baths and Frank Matcham's Buxton Opera House. The Devonshire Campus of the University of Derby occupies historic premises. Buxton is twinned with Oignies in France and Bad Nauheim in Germany.
The origins of the name are unclear. It may derive from the Old English for Buck Stone or for Rocking Stone. The town grew in importance in the late 18th century, when it was developed by the Dukes of Devonshire, with a resurgence a century later as Victorians were drawn to the reputed healing properties of its waters.
The first inhabitants of Buxton made homes at Lismore Fields some 6,000 years ago. This Stone Age settlement, a Scheduled Monument, was rediscovered in 1984, with remains of a Mesolithic timber roundhouse and Neolithic longhouses.
The Romans developed a settlement known as Aquae Arnemetiae ("Baths of the grove goddess"). Coins found show the Romans were in Buxton throughout their occupation of Britain.
Batham Gate ("road to the bath town") is a Roman road from Templebrough Roman fort in South Yorkshire to Navio Roman Fort and on to Buxton.
The name Buckestones was first recorded in the 12th century as part of the Peverel family's estate. From 1153 the town was within the Duchy of Lancaster's Crown estate, close to the Royal Forest of the Peak on the Fairfield side of the River Wye.