Devonshire Royal Hospital
Encyclopedia
The Devonshire Royal Hospital building (now popularly known as the Devonshire Dome) is a Grade II* listed 18th-century former stable block
located in Buxton
, Derbyshire
. It was added to by architect Robert Rippon Duke
, with what was then the world's largest unsupported dome
, with a diameter of 44.2 metres (145 ft). It is now the site of the Devonshire campus of the University of Derby
.
. An octagonal building, it housed up to 110 horses and the servants of the guests of the Crescent Hotel, built in combination as part of the plan to promote Buxton as a spa town.
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’ of Lancashire
and Yorkshire
. The Devonshire estate
architect, Henry Currey, architect for St Thomas’s Hospital
in London
, converted two thirds of the building into a hospital.
In 1881, the Buxton Bath Charity trustees under their chairman Dr William Henry Robertson, persuaded William 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 architect Robert 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. The steel
structure was clad in slate
, and proposed to be supported by 22 curved steel arms. However, during construction the Tay Bridge disaster
occurred on 28 December 1879, and so the number of arms was revised upwards. Railway engineer Mr Footner advised that the designers of the Tay Rail Bridge
had not taken into account the stresses of lateral wind and storms.
Further changes were undertaken, with the clock tower 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.
The Devonshire Royal was the last of the eight hydropathic hospitals in England to close when it closed in 2000.
On 31 January 2001, the University of Derby acquired the Devonshire Royal Hospital. The University received £4.7m Heritage Lottery Fund
backing for the restoration and redevelopment project.
43 metres (141.1 ft) and St Peter's Basilica
42 metres (137.8 ft) in Rome
, and St Paul's Cathedral
34 metres (111.5 ft). Overtaken by the West Baden Springs Hotel
designed by Harrison Albright
in 1902 (59.45 metres (195 ft)), the record is now routinely surpassed today by space frame
domes, such as the Georgia Dome
256 metres (839.9 ft); but the Devonshire it is still the largest unsupported dome in the UK. The dome provides 16511 cubic feet (467.5 m³) of space,
villas are now part of the University of Derby. It is being used routinely as a wedding venue, and exhibition space. Open to the public, the space houses cafés, shops, restaurants and study spaces, and visitors can observe the swing of a Foucault pendulum
during certain times of the year. The original spa
of the hydropathic hospital has been reopened as a commercial spa centre, offering a range of treatments and as a training venue for spa management and therapists.
Stable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...
located in 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"...
, 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...
. It was added to by architect Robert Rippon Duke
Robert Rippon Duke
Robert Rippon Duke was a famous architect who designed the Octagon and remodeled the Devonshire Hospital in Buxton, Derbyshire. The Octagon was first opened to the public in 1876...
, with what was then the world's largest unsupported dome
Dome
A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
, with a diameter of 44.2 metres (145 ft). It is now the site of the Devonshire campus of the University of Derby
University of Derby
The University of Derby is a university in the city of Derby, England. The main site is on Kedleston Road, Allestree in the north-west of Derby close to the A38 opposite Markeaton Park...
.
History
Built between 1780 and 1789, it was designed by John Carr of York for William Cavendish, 5th Duke of DevonshireWilliam Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire
William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire, KG was a British aristocrat and politician. He was the eldest son of the William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire by his wife the heiress Lady Charlotte Boyle, suo jure Baroness Clifford of Lanesborough, who brought in considerable money and estates to...
. An octagonal building, it housed up to 110 horses and the servants of the guests of the Crescent Hotel, built in combination as part of the plan to promote Buxton as a spa town.
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’ of Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
and Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
. The Devonshire estate
Chatsworth House
Chatsworth House is a stately home in North Derbyshire, England, northeast of Bakewell and west of Chesterfield . It is the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, and has been home to his family, the Cavendish family, since Bess of Hardwick settled at Chatsworth in 1549.Standing on the east bank of the...
architect, Henry Currey, architect for St Thomas’s Hospital
St Thomas' Hospital
St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS hospital in London, England. It is administratively a part of Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. It has provided health care freely or under charitable auspices since the 12th century and was originally located in Southwark.St Thomas' Hospital is accessible...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, converted two thirds of the building into a hospital.
In 1881, the Buxton Bath Charity trustees under their chairman Dr William Henry Robertson, persuaded William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire
William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire
William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire KG, PC , styled as Lord Cavendish of Keighley between 1831 and 1834 and known as The Earl of Burlington between 1834 and 1858, was a British landowner, benefactor and politician.-Background and education:Cavendish was the son of William Cavendish, eldest...
to give them the use of the whole building in exchange for providing new stables elsewhere in the town. Local architect Robert Rippon Duke
Robert Rippon Duke
Robert Rippon Duke was a famous architect who designed the Octagon and remodeled the Devonshire Hospital in Buxton, Derbyshire. The Octagon was first opened to the public in 1876...
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. The steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
structure was clad in slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
, and proposed to be supported by 22 curved steel arms. However, during construction the Tay Bridge disaster
Tay Bridge disaster
The Tay Bridge disaster occurred on 28 December 1879, when the first Tay Rail Bridge, which crossed the Firth of Tay between Dundee and Wormit in Scotland, collapsed during a violent storm while a train was passing over it. The bridge was designed by the noted railway engineer Sir Thomas Bouch,...
occurred on 28 December 1879, and so the number of arms was revised upwards. Railway engineer Mr Footner advised that the designers of the Tay Rail Bridge
Tay Rail Bridge
The Tay Bridge is a railway bridge approximately two and a quarter miles long that spans the Firth of Tay in Scotland, between the city of Dundee and the suburb of Wormit in Fife ....
had not taken into account the stresses of lateral wind and storms.
Further changes were undertaken, with the clock tower 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.
The Devonshire Royal was the last of the eight hydropathic hospitals in England to close when it closed in 2000.
On 31 January 2001, the University of Derby acquired the Devonshire Royal Hospital. The University received £4.7m Heritage Lottery Fund
Heritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...
backing for the restoration and redevelopment project.
Dimensions
Included in his design what was the world's largest unsupported dome with a diameter of 44.2 metres (145 ft); beating the PantheonPantheon, Rome
The Pantheon ,Rarely Pantheum. This appears in Pliny's Natural History in describing this edifice: Agrippae Pantheum decoravit Diogenes Atheniensis; in columnis templi eius Caryatides probantur inter pauca operum, sicut in fastigio posita signa, sed propter altitudinem loci minus celebrata.from ,...
43 metres (141.1 ft) and St Peter's Basilica
St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian as ' and commonly known as Saint Peter's Basilica, is a Late Renaissance church located within the Vatican City. Saint Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world...
42 metres (137.8 ft) in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, and St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
34 metres (111.5 ft). Overtaken by the West Baden Springs Hotel
West Baden Springs Hotel
The West Baden Springs Hotel is a historic landmark hotel in the town of West Baden Springs in Orange County, Indiana, United States, known for its vast domed atrium. It is currently part of the French Lick Resort...
designed by Harrison Albright
Harrison Albright
Harrison Albright was an American architect best known for his innovative design of the West Baden Springs Hotel in Orange County, Indiana, which boasted the largest free-spanning dome in the world at the time of its construction.- Biography :Born in the Ogontz neighborhood of North Philadelphia,...
in 1902 (59.45 metres (195 ft)), the record is now routinely surpassed today by space frame
Space frame
A space frame or space structure is a truss-like, lightweight rigid structure constructed from interlocking struts in a geometric pattern. Space frames can be used to span large areas with few interior supports...
domes, such as the Georgia Dome
Georgia Dome
The Georgia Dome is a domed stadium located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, between downtown to the east and Vine City to the west. It is primarily the home stadium for the NFL Atlanta Falcons and the NCAA Division I FCS Georgia State Panthers football team. It is owned and operated by the...
256 metres (839.9 ft); but the Devonshire it is still the largest unsupported dome in the UK. The dome provides 16511 cubic feet (467.5 m³) of space,
Today
Refurbished and reopened in 2003, the main building and its surrounding Victorian eraVictorian 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...
villas are now part of the University of Derby. It is being used routinely as a wedding venue, and exhibition space. Open to the public, the space houses cafés, shops, restaurants and study spaces, and visitors can observe the swing of a Foucault pendulum
Foucault pendulum
The Foucault pendulum , or Foucault's pendulum, named after the French physicist Léon Foucault, is a simple device conceived as an experiment to demonstrate the rotation of the Earth. While it had long been known that the Earth rotated, the introduction of the Foucault pendulum in 1851 was the...
during certain times of the year. The original spa
Spa
The term spa is associated with water treatment which is also known as balneotherapy. Spa towns or spa resorts typically offer various health treatments. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters goes back to prehistoric times. Such practices have been popular worldwide, but are...
of the hydropathic hospital has been reopened as a commercial spa centre, offering a range of treatments and as a training venue for spa management and therapists.
External links
- University of Derby, Buxton
- The Dome Events at the University of DerbyUniversity of DerbyThe University of Derby is a university in the city of Derby, England. The main site is on Kedleston Road, Allestree in the north-west of Derby close to the A38 opposite Markeaton Park...
- The Devonshire Spa