Buxton Museum & Art Gallery
Encyclopedia
Buxton Museum and Art Gallery focuses its collection on history
, geology
and archaeology
.
The museum is located at Terrace Road, Buxton
, England. The museum opens every day but Mondays. Admission is free.
Amongst the minerals are blue john, local specimens, and cave deposits. In 2006, the Buxton Museum purchased a rare collection of decorative Ashford Black Marble
wares, together with tools used to work the stone collection left by John Michael Tomlinson. Other collections relating to Derbyshire
, also managed from Buxton Museum and Art Gallery, include a Derbyshire Police Collection.
The Museum's exhibition galleries include the Boyd Dawkins Study and the ‘Wonders of the Peak’ gallery. Dawkins bequeathed to the Museum a complete Victorian study containing his furniture, scientific instruments, Oriental ware and fossil collection. The ‘Wonders of the Peak’ gallery explores Peak District history from the Big Bang
to the Victorian era
. Items include a bear in its Ice Age cave; a hyaena above a Devensian bone hole; a Neolithic burial chamber and remains of a Roman soldier.
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
and archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
.
The museum is located at Terrace Road, Buxton
Buxton
Buxton is a spa town in Derbyshire, England. It has the highest elevation of any market town in England. Located close to the county boundary with Cheshire to the west and Staffordshire to the south, Buxton is described as "the gateway to the Peak District National Park"...
, England. The museum opens every day but Mondays. Admission is free.
Permanent collections
The museum's permanent collections include:- CarboniferousCarboniferousThe Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Permian Period, about 299.0 ± 0.8 Mya . The name is derived from the Latin word for coal, carbo. Carboniferous means "coal-bearing"...
limestone fossil record of the Peak DistrictPeak DistrictThe Peak District is an upland area in central and northern England, lying mainly in northern Derbyshire, but also covering parts of Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, and South and West Yorkshire....
collected between 1900 and 1950; - PliocenePlioceneThe Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...
mammal evidence from caves and quarries throughout the Peak District; - The archives of archaeologist Sir William Boyd DawkinsWilliam Boyd DawkinsProfessor Sir William Boyd Dawkins, FRS, KBE was a British geologist and archaeologist. He was a member of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, Curator of the Manchester Museum and Professor of Geology at Owens College, Manchester. He is noted for his research on fossils and the antiquity of man...
and geologist Dr John Wilfred (J.W.) Jackson, geologists associated with the county and with Manchester Museum; - Randolph Douglas 'House of Wonders' collection from Castleton which includes a large collection of locks and keys and some unusual HoudiniHarry HoudiniHarry Houdini was a Hungarian-born American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer noted for his sensational escape acts...
material; - A Buxton photographic collection, a collection of local social history and ephemera, and a collection of Houdini materials;
- A fine artFine artFine art or the fine arts encompass art forms developed primarily for aesthetics and/or concept rather than practical application. Art is often a synonym for fine art, as employed in the term "art gallery"....
collection dominated by 19th and 20th century works in watercolours, oils and prints, including works by Sir Frank BrangwynFrank BrangwynSir Frank William Brangwyn RA RWS RBA was an Anglo-Welsh artist, painter, water colourist, virtuoso engraver and illustrator, and progressive designer.- Biography :...
, Marc ChagallMarc ChagallMarc Chagall Art critic Robert Hughes referred to Chagall as "the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century."According to art historian Michael J...
and Edgar Chahine.
Amongst the minerals are blue john, local specimens, and cave deposits. In 2006, the Buxton Museum purchased a rare collection of decorative Ashford Black Marble
Ashford Black Marble
Ashford Black Marble is the name given to a dark limestone, quarried from mines near Ashford-in-the-Water, in Derbyshire, England. Once cut, turned and polished, its shiny black surface is highly decorative. Ashford Black Marble is a very fine-grained sedimentary rock, and is not a true marble in...
wares, together with tools used to work the stone collection left by John Michael Tomlinson. Other collections relating to Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
, also managed from Buxton Museum and Art Gallery, include a Derbyshire Police Collection.
The Museum's exhibition galleries include the Boyd Dawkins Study and the ‘Wonders of the Peak’ gallery. Dawkins bequeathed to the Museum a complete Victorian study containing his furniture, scientific instruments, Oriental ware and fossil collection. The ‘Wonders of the Peak’ gallery explores Peak District history from the Big Bang
Big Bang
The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological model that explains the early development of the Universe. According to the Big Bang theory, the Universe was once in an extremely hot and dense state which expanded rapidly. This rapid expansion caused the young Universe to cool and resulted in...
to the Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
. Items include a bear in its Ice Age cave; a hyaena above a Devensian bone hole; a Neolithic burial chamber and remains of a Roman soldier.