Buxton Churches

Six churches make up the parish of Buxton with Burbage and King Stern Dale. They are all Anglican churches and seek to serve the people of each community.

Christ Church King Sterndale was founded 160 years ago to serve the villages of King Sterndale, Cowdale and Staden in the parish of Buxton and today, the church welcomes many visitors from Buxton and the surrounding villages who would like to worship in this beautifully historic country church. It is very peaceful and always available for visitors to pray and on Sundays, there is a very relaxed village Anglican worship which takes place. It is a beautifully remote rural church and a little off the beaten track, which sometimes takes some finding, but it lies on the road which joins the hamlet of King Sterndale to the road up to Cowdale.

Christ Church Burbage is located in the heart of the old village, at the junction where Macclesfield Road meets up with St John's Road, near the Duke of York pub. It is a very friendly church which retains much of its village church feel and the main Sunday service is usually a Eucharist service in a style which can best be described as Central Anglican. It is a comparatively modern building in the Norman style with external walls finished with local grit. On the South side is a low tower, which houses the entrance and contains an illuminated clock and appeal of six bells.

St Anne's Buxton is a beautifully historic church and the oldest building in Buxton. Its ornate interior is a wonderful testimony to its Anglo-Catholic traditional past. It is a church which belongs firmly in the Church of England in the 21st century. Today it plays host to a dedicated congregation and on Fridays, it plays host to a lively group of preschool children and their families. Being such a small building, it is sometimes hard to find but it is located off the Bath Road, tucked away behind the Swan Pub.

St James Church, Harpur Hill, is a small committed congregation, which gathers at this 100 year old church building every Sunday to worship God in a quiet, informal and traditional Anglican style. It is built at the head of a family and offers wonderful views over the surrounding hills but it also gets the full force of westerly winds, being higher than the town of Buxton, which is even colder in the winter. The church is light and airy and accommodates 120 people. It stands on the Harpur Hill Road, near the junction with Grin Low Road, near the heart of the community that it serves.

St John's Buxton stands on the age A53 St John's road, at the junction with the Manchester Road, near Buxton's famous opera house. The simple Regency architecture makes it an awe inspiring space and it has some glorious stained glass windows making it more like a small Cathedral than a local church. It has an exceptionally gifted choir and organists, which lead some of the best musical settings ever composed for the mass and the church is dedicated to preserving the best of the traditions of the church of England's history in the 21st century way. There is some limited parking in the church grounds accessed from Manchester Road, but much more pay and display parking can be found in the surrounding streets.

St Mary's Dale Road is a lovely little church, built in the arts and crafts style and is a very nice example of this type of architecture. It stands on Dale Road, between the communities of Higher Buxton and Cote Heath, with a special place in the hearts of those who live locally. The congregation is diverse, from young families to some very active, young at heart pensioners who all share the desire to worship God in a relaxed yet formal style. The church is located between Dale Road and Heath Street, near the junction with London Road. There is some parking in the church grounds accessed from Dale Road but most people park in the surrounding streets and enter through the Heath Street door.