IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Dove Holes, BUXTON, SK17 8EY

Walking the Peak District boundary walk.

A gap in the dry stone wall frames a view northwards towards Sparrowpit.

Bennetston Hall is a substantial former Victorian mansion which was built in the late Nineteenth Century by prominent local doctor and property speculator ROG Bennett MD although Bennett himself is not thought to have lived there. The Hall which occupies a dramatic hillside location was originally the home of the writer Mrs Coddington, a descendant of William Coddington, the 17th Century governor of Rhode Island and founder of Newport, Rhode Island. The Coddington family lived in Bennetston Hall for many years until ca 1920. In the 1930's this substantial property became a Youth Hostel and after the Second World War Bennetston Hall has been at various times over the years a private dwelling, a nightclub and a hotel. For decades however, the Hall was at the centre of a long running legal row, ending with the premises at one stage being owned by the Legal Aid Board. Meanwhile the once magnificent Hall fell into a sorry state of neglect and disrepair, being badly damaged by fire in the mid 1980s. Finally in March 2012, the Hall was put up for sale by auction on the instruction of the receivers and was acquired by its present owners (http://www.buxtonadvertiser.co.uk/news/local/hotel-goes-under-hammer-1-4347212 Buxton Advertiser). In 2013, the Peak District National Park Authority’s planning committee approved plans for the hall to be transformed into five apartments and a self-contained cottage (http://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/news/local/new-lease-of-life-for-historic-hall-1-5482383 Derbyshire Times). More information : http://www.bennetstonhall.com/bennetston-hall/bennetston-hall-history/ Bennetston Hall History

Built in the latter years of the 19th century Bennetston Hall was a private residence until the 1930s when it was put to use as a youth hostel, in the years following it was used as a hotel and even a nightclub. In recent years the building as fell into sad state of disrepair, on a happier note in March 2012 the hall was purchased at auction and the new owners have plans to restore Bennetston to its former glory.

Taken from a track approaching Barmoor Farm. Bennetston Hall, built in the 19 C by a Doctor Bennett, a Buxton man and something of a property developer,is on the other side of the A623 on its way up to Sparrowpit.