Buxton Opera House Derbyshire

Buxton Opera House, Derbyshire

Buxton Opera House & Pavilion Arts Centre on Water Street in Buxton is a 902-seat opera venue. It hosts the annual Buxton Festival (in July) and the Gilbert & Sullivan Festival (in late July & August usually). It also puts on pantomime, music concerts, comedy and other performances throughout the year. The grand building dates from 1903.

The complex includes both the adjacent Victorian Pavilion and the 360-seat Pavilion Arts Centre cinema.

History

Frank Matcham, who also designed the London Palladium and the London Coliseum, was responsible for the Buxton Opera House which opened in 1903. It operated until 1927 as a theater when it was turned into a cinema first for silent movies and then later for “talkies.”

Fully restored in the 1970s and again in the late 1990s and the noughties, the venue is now a successful theater presenting hundreds of performances every year.

Nearby

Other attractions in Buxton include The Crescent (now fully restored to its former glory), Pavilion Gardens, St Ann’s Well and the Old Hall Hotel where Mary Queen of Scots was a famous guest. A recommended local pub is the Miltons Head.

A recommended second hand bookshop on the High Street is Scrivener’s Books & Bookbinding.

Within easy reach of Buxton by car are Blue John Cavern (20 minutes) and the pleasant village of Eyam, 25 minutes on the A623. Chatsworth House is a 30-minute drive west also on the A623. Sheffield is a 50-minute drive on the A57 or A625 and A6. Derby is under an hour by car on the A515.

The venue dates from 1903

Access – Getting There

Water Street
Buxton
SK17 6XN
Tel:
01298 72190
www: buxtonoperahouse.org.uk

Visitors can enjoy refreshments in the Devonshire Lounge or the Dress Circle Bar. There are also bars in the Stalls and Upper Circle selling drinks and ice cream as well as a small selection of sweet and savoury snacks.

The town of Buxton in Derbyshire is on the A6 south of Stockport. There are trains to Buxton from Piccadilly Station in Manchester. The 199 bus connects Buxton to Manchester Airport.