A mill was present in Buxton at the time of the Domesday book in 1085. It was rebuilt by Mr Wm Pepper a merchant of Buxton in 1772. It was a clever design as it was worked partly by the river Bure passing under its wheels and partly by a canal brought from Oxnead which turned an overshot wheel. In 1836 a man named Andrews came from Cutfield and worked the mill. The present family of Rust are related to him. In 1845 Mr Cooke was the miller. In 1871 John Cambling was a corn merchant and his brother Horace Gambling the miller of Buxton. Shreeve was miller in 1890 and Benjamin Ling followed him. Joseph Parker was there from 1916-1921 when WmC.Duffield took over. It continued to work as a water mill until 1953. After this it continued trading as a mill until 1970 when it was sold by the Duffields. Roger Ferris turned into a craft centre and picture gallery. It was converted to a restaurant in 1988 and called Boleyns restaurant. It was destroyed by fire in 1991 but was restored to its original 18th century design and reopened within 2 years. It was converted to a hotel in 1998. Since then it has been developed into flats which are currently for sale.


There are some more pictures of the Mill in the Events/1912 Flood section.
More information on the Mill can be found at norfolkmills.co.uk

It has now vanished but was situated in the field between the Old School House in Back Lane and the Beck. 2 pear trees which stood there marked its spot and Mr Bob Catchpole (90) remembers playing in them early in the last century:

In 1480 Robert Childerhouse, Clerk, gave 3 roods of land in Buxton on which in 1487 a Gildhall was built for the support of the Guilds and poor of the parish. The land was freehold, held by Levishaw Manor for the rent of 10d per annum which was released in 1536 by Thomas Abbys who was then Lord of the Manor. It housed the various gilds in Buxton.

There were 3 gilds, the Gild of St Andrews which was probably the most important, and those of St Mary and St John the Baptist. It is difficult to understand exactly what part these Gilds played in the life of the village. The nearest thing to them today maybe the Friendly societies and Trades Unions. There was no doubt they were connected with the trades practised in Buxton. One may surmise that at least one was a Weaver's Gild. But they were also religious bodies and these had their chaplains and priests whose duties were to look after the members and to say prayers for the souls of the brothers and sisters of the Gilds. The north and South chapels at the east end of the aisles of the church were Gild chapels, St Mary and St John the Baptist. In the Hall were held Gild meetings and Gild property was stored there. It was probably the centre of life in the village.
A footpath ran from Brook Street past the Guildhall to the Church. It was stopped up at around the turn of the last century.


This has now disappeared but was situated on the Coltishall Rd in the clump of trees on the left as you leave Buxton, before reaching the turn to the Heath.. Before 1800 there was a building there called the House of Industry. In 1836 9 parishes ( Buxton,Brampton, Burgh, Oxnead, Skeyton, Swanton Abbot, Stratton,Hevingham & Marsham) got together and enlarged it to accommodate 400 people at two shillings and a half penny a head per week. They had 2 doctors and 2 chaplains and some of the inmates lived to be over ninety. It was turned into cottages early in the last century and these were inhabited until the 1950's but they too have disappeared.


There were various malt houses and hop gardens in Buxton. One stood in the field opposite Belle Vue in Mill Street (see map). It was close to the river and wherries could bring the barley to it. Belle Vue used to have a bell at the front to call the workers to meals. There were others in both Buxton and Lammas supplying malt to the brewing industry.



This used to be in the grounds of Dudwick Lodge and housed a circular saw. It is still possible to see the holes in the wall on the left just before the cattle grid leading in to Dudwick Park where the steam came out. It later moved to the other end of Brook Street next to the Beck and the house called Brook House has been built on its site, It was the last remaining part of the Old Hall buildings in Dudwick Park and was still working as a saw mill in the late 1940's.


This site was originally a Common and known as "Scotland". It was enclosed under the Enclosure Act of 1809 but a piece was preserved for the Parish as a sand pit but this is now planted up with trees. When building began on the Heath human bones were dug up and "urns in the shape of bells were found all lying with their mouths downward". Under them was a layer of red earth covering an oral cavity 4 feet by 5 in size and filled with charcoal (White's History of Norfolk) The urns were buried mouth down when they were full and were not to receive any more family ashes from that family. See also under Chapels & Churches. It may be mentioned here that there is a part of Hevingham parish known as Buxton Heath. This was probably part of the ancient Manor of Buxton.



This is the name by which a group of old cottages to the east of Brook St was known.The cottages ran through Brook St and east towards the present Levishaw Close. They must have been built at the time of the Battle of Heligoland in 1704.


Here are a some pictures of various streets in Buxton, which did not fit in any other category!