History
In its former life as the Devonshire Royal Hospital, the site housed the United Kingdom’s busiest hospital specialising in hydrotherapies. In fact, these water treatments gave rise to its transformation from the Great Stables, serving the Duke of Devonshire’s Crescent, into a hospital serving the entire town.
Full use of the vast stables declined just as trustees of the Bath Charity, including respected physicians now living and working in Buxton, identified the need for a hospital close to the Baths where ill and immobile visitors to the spa could stay. In the mid nineteenth century, the sixth Duke consented to the conversion of the Stables to a hospital, but patients still had to make their way down the hill to receive treatment at the Baths.
The Devonshire’s own hydrotherapy baths were added in 1913-14. This low building at the front has now been renovated and refurbished to create the wonderful new hydrotherapy spa – the latest stage of the University’s award-winning conversion project.
