When we take our guided tours of the town either by foot or on board the Wonder of the Peak we all love taking visitors inside the Devonshire Dome. There is no doubt as to the wow factor of this extraordinary building now home to the University of Derby, Buxton campus.
It was Robert Rippon Duke who provided the domed roof over the open middle of the eighteenth century stable block which we see today and supported the building’s transformation into the Devonshire Royal Hospital. At that time it was the world’s largest unsupported dome at, dependent which book you read, 44 metres (144.4 ft) in diameter to 46.9 metres; a vast construction clad in slate and comprising 22 curved steel arms.
There is a possibility that if Robert Rippon Duke, the architect had not met an engineer at the Palace hotel, who talked to him about the dreadful Tay Bridge disaster, (which sent shock waves through the Victorian engineering profession) that our Dome might have suffered a similar fate! He discovered bolt drifting on the dome ribs and these were strengthened.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHT_Gz2fJuM
The interior of the dome is magnificent and has the added interest of a whisper echoing around the building in a similar fashion to the more famous whispering gallery at St Paul’s in London.
In the early days of the tram tour we had the pleasure of taking an elderly couple inside .The tour guide explained about the acoustics and the couple smiled. The gentleman explained that they were here in Buxton celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. He also explained that he had tried to propose to his now wife at the Whispering Gallery in St Paul’s but was unable to do so on that day as the gallery was closed. He smiled and turning to his wife said “tomorrow I will ask you here.” We trust that she said yes but it is a lovely story and indicative of the fun and stories a journey on the tram engenders.
However back to the dome and those pesky statistics. If you look at Wikipedia it quotes the Dome being 46.9 metres but this would appear to be the size of the whole ground area and not the Dome itself. We can however claim to have held the biggest unsupported dome in the world for about 12 years and some claim that the Buxton Dome is still the biggest in Europe. I am not sure about this and the more I delve into the matter the more confused I become.
Mosta’s church of St Mary in Malta for example has a self-supporting dome measuring 121 ft (37 m) in diameter and is 220 ft (67 m) high. When I was there in October it was claiming to be the third biggest unsupported dome in the world.
I believe the problem with our beloved Dome is that it has suffered from a variety of different measurements over the years which have been misquoted.
e.g. the whole internal diameter of the ground floor is 164 feet almost 50 metres
The maximum diameter of the Dome itself appears to be 145 feet approx 44.2 metres
Now dear readers I have not actually taken a measurement myself but I have cross referenced various sources and the lower number appears to be the most consistent of the measurements. Indeed Colin Wells and Mike Langham quote this figure in their book A History of The Devonshire Royal Hospital at Buxton and given their rigorous research this is good enough for me!
So back to the league tables:
St Paul’s cathedral – 112 feet or 34 metres
Pantheon Rome – 142 feet or 43.2 metres
So we are definitely up there in the big dome league but exactly whether we are big, bigger or biggest is still a matter for debate.
Please do contact us if you have any other information about the size of the Devonshire Dome or if you know of any other domes that are claiming to be bigger!!
Happy New Year
Love from Netta and Discover Buxton team x