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Mary Queen of Scots
The Old Hall Hotel in Buxton was built by the Earl of Shrewsbury in 1550, and replaced a much earlier building. It is situated over a natural spring, the warm mineral waters of which were the reason for Buxton's origin. This was the site of the Roman Baths ("Aqua Arnemetiae") thought to have been named after the Celtic goddess Arnemetiae. The Celts considered this spring as a sacred shrine, possibly a thousand years or more before the Roman occupation. Historians believe that there has been a building on this very site since time immemorial to offer food, shelter and a place of worship for travellers, in what must have then been a very hostile landscape. A more recent visitor to Buxton in 1573 was the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots. She had apartments in the present building for a number of summers as a house prisoner under the ever watchful eyes of Queen Elizabeth I and the Earl and Countess of Shrewsbury (Bess of Hardwick).
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