Corbar Hill

About Corbar Hill

Rising steeply above the spa town of Buxton, this sandstone hill offers a woodland approach through ancient beech and oak trees. The summit, marked by a prominent wooden cross and trig pillar, provides an excellent vantage point over the town’s Victorian architecture and the gritstone edges of Combs Moss to the north.

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Did You Know?

• •The summit is crowned by the six-metre-high Corbar Cross. Originally gifted by the Duke of Devonshire in 1950 to mark the Holy Year, the original was famously painted pink as a prank in the 1990s and later cut down by protesters in 2010 before being replaced with the current oak structure.
• •Much of the ascent follows the 'Victorian Swiss Walks,' a series of paths designed by Joseph Paxton. Paxton, the architect behind the Crystal Palace in London, intended these routes to provide spa visitors with gentle exercise and curated views of the town’s fine buildings.
• •The lower slopes are home to Corbar Woods, Buxton's oldest woodland. It contains rare archaeological evidence of 'white coal' pits, where dried coppiced branches were once used to create the high-intensity heat required for lead smelting.
• •The hill's geology provided the physical fabric of the town below; Nithen Quarry, located on the hillside, was the primary source of the high-quality sandstone used to construct Buxton Town Hall in the 1890s.
• •From the summit trig pillar, the view south offers a clear perspective of Buxton's landmarks, including the massive Devonshire Dome and the Crescent, while looking north provides a direct line of sight to the dark gritstone escarpment of Black Edge.
• •Designating the woodland paths as 'Swiss Walks' was a clever bit of Victorian marketing, designed to convince visiting spa-goers that a stroll through a Derbyshire wood was every bit as refined and bracing as a trip to the Alps.