Georgian building saved by 1 million pounds

First Edition

ONE OF THE most important Georgian buildings in England is to be saved thanks to a pounds 1m grant from English Heritage. The money will repair the former St Ann's Hotel in Buxton, Derbyshire, which forms just over half of the town's historic masterpiece, The Crescent.

The Crescent, a Grade I listed building, was built between 1779 and 1789 by the York architect, John Carr, for the fifth Duke of Devonshire. It was intended to be a leisure complex and lodgings for a new spa intended to rival that at Bath.

The grant - one of the largest made by English Heritage - will ensure that urgent and essential roof and exterior stonework repairs can be done. 'I am delighted that Buxton's 18th-century masterpiece has been saved with our help,' Jennifer Page, English Heritage's chief executive, said.