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Buxton's Empire Hotel opened on 24 May 1901[1].
It had 300 rooms and there were hydraulic lifts, electric light
and every modern comfort. It had been built on an elevated
site and the "Illustrated London News" thought
it was like "a stately old mansion of the time of Charles
II"[2].
The hotel was in spacious grounds half a mile from the town
centre and it was chosen by the reserve battalion of the 6th
Notts and Derbyshires as their HQ at the beginning of World
War One. On 2nd November 1914 the first company of 184 men
arrived from Chesterfield. During that week a thousand men
were to arrive and be quartered at Buxton whilst they were
undergoing their Army training. Upon their arrival they marched
direct to the hotel, the headquarters for both the officers
and men. The Colonel in charge was Colonel J. Morton Clayton[3].
The hotel was run by Spiers and Pond but had been temporarily
vacant, which is why it was chosen, and the soldiers must have
initially thought their accommodation was relatively good.
Far better than in a tent in a frozen field. There was an up
to date heating installation in the basement and electric plant,
all run by the hotel's permanent staff. The spacious grounds
were tended by the hotel's gardeners[4].
Nevertheless, the hotel was a summer hotel and in severe wintry
weather snow and rain drove in on the west side and the wind
blew up through the floor boards[5].
The soldiers could do some of their drills within the grounds
although most were done on Fairfield Common.
The first recruits to arrive had come from Ashbourne, Buxton,
Chapel en le Frith, Chesterfield, Clay Cross and Staveley.
They were to be joined by men from Matlock, Whaley Bridge and
Wirksworth[4] and
it was the New Mills contingent who provided the Brass Band[5].
Amongst the officers was Lieutenant H. Douglas of Matlock, "the
well known rifle shot". Harry Douglas had been promoted
from the ranks, along with Lieut. Roberts of Hasland[4].
Several Matlock men were destined for early promotion to non-commissioned
ranks, too, and their names were announced in early December:
Matlock Half Company, Pte. W. H. Rylands, to sergeant
Matlock Half Company, Pte. C. F. White, [son of Charles White of Matlock Bath,
the chief political agent for the Liberal party in W. Derbyshire], to corporal
Matlock Half Company, Pte. P. Farnsworth, to corporal
Matlock Half Company, Pte. Walter Richardson, to Lance-corporal
Matlock Half Company, Pte. L. W. Wildgoose, to Lance-corporal
Others were named, but were not of Matlock[6].
The name of Pte. Edgar Harry Barnwell of Henry Avenue, the
son of the watchmaker, had been expected to be included in
the list but he not mentioned[7].
However, a few weeks later he was appointed to staff billets
(Quarternaster's Office) and W. S. F. Lennox of Matlock Bath
was working in the battalion orderly room[8].
On 3 February 1915 they moved to Luton[9].
The Hotel re-opened for the summer season on 15 July 1915.
Buxton's premier hotel had been redecorated[10].
The Empire subsequently served as a discharge depot for Canadian
troops. Sadly for the hotel, it was considered a white elephant
in the inter war years. It had not been occupied since 1921
but in 1927 it was proposed that the hotel should be used for
research and laboratory work[11].
A few years earlier, at an auction in 1922, the reserve price
for the hotel's sale was not reached. Lyons Cafe had considered
it as a rest home for their employees but nothing came of it.
The deeds of the hotel prevented it from being used for trade.
It was still empty in 1932 when it was reputed to be being
considered for a boy's college[12].
From then on things went downhill for the property. In 1949
about 12 bailiffs and 60 policemen set about evicting 17 families,
who were squatting, and had barricaded themselves into
the building[13].
The hotel that had shown so much promise was eventually demolished
in the 1960s.
It is believed that, despite the caption, the above image was
taken after the first war. The grounds and the area immediately
surrounding the building are not as immaculate as they appear
in some of the earlier pictures, both from when it was used
as an hotel and during the Sherwood Foresters' and the Canadians'
time in Buxton.
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The Empire
Hotel is featured in the
Vernon
Lamb Archive elsewhere on the site.
The Archive is a unique Photographic Record of Matlock and
District, 1910-1915, and World War One Soldiers in the 2/6th
Sherwood Foresters, 1914-1915.
Go to the various sections
that show soldiers. |
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