For thousands of years, rainwater has filtered through the limestone beneath the Peak District before rising again beneath Buxton, naturally warmed to around 27.5°C.

People have been drawn to the spring for centuries. The Romans established a settlement here known as Aquae Arnemetiae ("the waters of the goddess of the grove") and later the waters became associated with St Anne and medieval pilgrimage.

By the eighteenth century, water had transformed Buxton into a fashionable spa. The fifth Duke of Devonshire set out to rival Bath, commissioning John Carr's magnificent Crescent, while baths, hotels and gardens grew around the spring. Visitors came to drink the mineral water, bathe, walk and linger.

That history remains visible today. The Victorian Pump Room stands beside the Crescent, the old thermal baths survive within the Cavendish Arcade, and at St Anne's Well, Buxton's warm mineral water still rises beneath the town.

Buxton is a reminder of something Britain once understood very well: a spring could shape an entire town.

Britain has its own long history of gathering around water.

Discover more of the springs, spa towns and bathing traditions that shape Yū