Bakewell Book and a motte and bailey castle was constructed in the 12th century. A market was established in 1254, and Bakewell developed as a trading centre. The Grade I listed five-arched bridge over the River Wye was constructed in the 13th century, and is one of the few surviving remnants of this earlier period. A chalybeate spring was discovered, and a bath house built in 1697. This led to an 18th-century bid to develop Bakewell as a spa town, in the manner of Buxton. The construction of the Lumford Mill by Richard Arkwright in 1777 was followed by the rebuilding
Bakewell of the largest covered agricultural shows in the UK, and attracts around 65,000 visitors. It takes place on the first Wednesday and Thursday in August at the Bakewell Showground. The Little Royal show was founded by Wootten Burkinshaw Thomas in 1819. August also has the Bakewell Arts Festival — a music and theatre event that started in 1997. The Peak Literary Festival is held in the spring and autumn of each year. The spring festival starts on the last Friday in May and the autumn on the last Friday in October. Carnival week, culminating in a procession through the town,