| The Devonshire Dome | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Location in Derbyshire | |
| Former names | Devonshire Royal Hospital |
| General information | |
| Location | Buxton,Derbyshire |
| Coordinates | 53°15′36″N1°55′00″W / 53.2600°N 1.9168°W /53.2600; -1.9168 |
| Ordnance Survey | SK0565173672 |
| Construction started | 1780 |
| Completed | 1789 |
| Renovated | 1858,Henry Currey 1881,Robert Rippon Duke 2001-3,University of Derby |
| Renovation cost | £4.7 million (2001–03) |
| Client | William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire |
| Owner | University of Derby |
| Dimensions | |
| Diameter | 44.2 metres (145 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor area | 1,534 square metres (16,510 ft2) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | John Carr |
| Website | |
| Devonshire Dome University of Derby, Buxton Campus | |
TheDevonshire Dome building (previously known as theDevonshire Royal Hospital) is aGrade II* listed[1] 18th-century formerstable block inBuxton,Derbyshire. It was built byJohn Carr of York and extended by architectRobert Rippon Duke,[1] who added what was then the world's largest unsupporteddome, with a diameter of 44.2 metres (145 ft). It is now the site of the Buxton Campus of theUniversity of Derby.
Built between 1780 and 1789, the original building was designed byJohn Carr of York forWilliam Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire. Octagonal in shape, it housed up to 120 horses and the servants of the guests of theCrescent Hotel,[2] built in combination as part of the plan to promote Buxton as a spa town.[3] The interior façade was described as an almost exact copy of The Palace of Christian Kings at theAlhambra in Granada.[4]
In 1859, the Buxton Bath Charity had persuaded the Duke of Devonshire to allow part of the building – by then accommodating nothing like the 110 horses for which it was designed – to be converted to a charity hospital for the use of the ‘sick poor’ coming in for treatment from the ‘Cottonopolis’ ofLancashire andYorkshire. TheDevonshire estate architect,Henry Currey, architect forSt Thomas's Hospital inLondon, converted two thirds of the building into a hospital.[3]
In 1881, the Buxton Bath Charity trustees, under their chairman DrWilliam Henry Robertson, persuadedWilliam Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire to give them the use of the whole building in exchange for providing new stables elsewhere in the town. Local architectRobert Rippon Duke was commissioned to design a 300-bed hospital to rival Bath and Harrogate for charity medical provision. The Cotton Districts Convalescent fund put up £25,000 for the conversion. Thesteel structure was clad inslate, and proposed to be supported by 22 curved steel arms. However, during construction theTay Bridge disaster occurred on 28 December 1879, and so the number of arms was revised upwards.[5]
Included in Rippon Duke's design what was the world's largest unsupported dome with a diameter of 44.2 metres (145 ft); it surpassed that of thePantheon (43 metres/141 ft) andSt Peter's Basilica (42 metres/138 ft) inRome, andSt Paul's Cathedral (34 metres/112 ft). Overtaken by theWest Baden Springs Hotel designed byHarrison Albright in 1902 (59.45 metres/195.0 ft), the record is now routinely surpassed today byspace frame domes, such as theGeorgia Dome (256 metres/840 ft), but the Devonshire is still the largest unsupported dome in the UK.[3] The dome has a floor area of 1,534 square metres (16,510 sq ft).[6]
Further changes were undertaken, with the clock tower (a tribute to the hospital's chairmanDr William Henry Robertson)[7] and lodge completed in 1882, surgical wards in 1897, spa baths in 1913, and the dining room and kitchens in 1921. The building became known as the Devonshire Royal Hospital in 1934.[3] It was the last of the eighthydropathic hospitals in England to close, in 2000.[8]
On 31 January 2001, theUniversity of Derby acquired the Devonshire Dome and associated surrounding buildings. The university received £4.7m from theHeritage Lottery Fund for the restoration and redevelopment project.[3]
Refurbished and reopened in 2003,[3] the main building and its surroundingVictorian era villas are now part of the University of Derby. The Devonshire Dome functioned as a campus of theUniversity of Derby[9] and ofBuxton & Leek College,[10] and as a commercial venue and visitor attraction.[11]
As a university campus, it has been the base for the University of Derby's degree programmes in Outdoor Leadership and Adventure Sports Coaching, Events Management, Hospitality Management, Tourism Management, Professional Culinary Arts and Spa & Wellness Management.[12] In October 2019, the university announced that the dome would cease to be a campus for university courses from 2022, when the Outdoors, Adventure, Spa and Wellness courses will close and the rest of Centre for Contemporary Hospitality and Tourism courses will move to the university's main campus in Derby. The dome continues to be an education campus forBuxton & Leek College.[13]
As a commercial venue, it is frequently used for large weddings,[14] and has hosted celebrity weddings, including that of Hollyoaks starKieron Richardson.[15] Open to the public, the space houses cafés, a restaurant and study spaces, and visitors can observe the swing of aFoucault pendulum during certain times of the year.[2]
On 23 October 2015, the venue played host to Jack Massey's defeat of Gogita Gorgiladze for the vacantWBC Youth Silver Title.[16]
