Devonshire Royal Hospital Devonshire Royal Hospital The Devonshire Royal Hospital building (now popularly known as the Devonshire Dome) is a Grade II* listed 18th-century former stable block in Buxton, Derbyshire. It was built by John Carr of York and extended by architect Robert Rippon Duke, who added what was then the world's largest unsupported dome, with a diameter of . It is now the site of the Devonshire campus of the University of Derby. Built between 1780 and 1789, the original building was designed by John Carr of York for William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire. Octagonal in shape, it housed up to
Devonshire Royal Hospital floor area of . Further changes were undertaken, with the clock tower and lodge completed in 1882, surgical wards in 1897, spa baths in 1913, and the dining room and kitchens in 1921. The building became known as the Devonshire Royal Hospital in 1934. It was the last of the eight hydropathic hospitals in England to close, in 2000. On 31 January 2001, the University of Derby acquired the Devonshire Royal Hospital. The University received £4.7m Heritage Lottery Fund backing for the restoration and redevelopment project. Refurbished and reopened in 2003, the main building and its surrounding Victorian era villas