Harpur Hill

Shire countyRegionCountryEnglandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townBUXTONPostcode districtSK17PoliceDerbyshireFireDerbyshireAmbulanceEast Midlands 53°14′13″N 1°54′14″W / 53.237°N 1.904°W / 53.237; -1.904

Harpur Hill is a small village on the outskirts of Buxton, Derbyshire, England. It is in the Cote Heath ward of the High Peak Borough Council. It has a primary school, a park, a pub, a working men's club and a Methodist church.

From 1938 to 1969, the RAF Maintenance Unit 28 was based at Harpur Hill and it included the RAF Mountain Rescue Team for the Peak District.^[1] RAF Harpur Hill was established as an underground munitions store. Tunnels were dug out to house munitions and ordnance. When the RAF left the tunnels were used as a mushroom farm. When the tunnels closed they were sold to a group of local businessmen and used as a cold store for cheese; a warehouse was built for dry and bonded wines and spirits. A number of local hauliers provided the transport for these goods. One of the hauliers was Lomas Distribution which was bought out by Christian Salvesen and was a major employer in the area; it later sold the site to French transport company Norbert Dentressangle. Many of the bunkers can still be seen in the surrounding hillside.^[2][3]

The Health and Safety Executive Laboratory is not far from Harpur Hill.^[4] From 1916 to 1918 the site housed The Frith Artillery Range.^[2] A railway was constructed with old London Underground Jubilee Line trains which were used to reconstruct the 7 July 2005 London bombings. A red flag is flown at the laboratory when an explosion is imminent.^[3]

Also nearby is Far Hill Quarry, now flooded, where swimming is discouraged by the authorities as unsafe due to the high pH level of the water.^[5]

Harpur Hill is the base of Harpur Club & Harpur Hill FC, and of Buxton Rugby Union Club. The tops of the rugby club's goal posts are the highest in the country.^[6]

• Gibson, Gary. Peak Sport Climbs from Horseshoe to Harpur Hill: mid-grade sport climbing in the Buxton and Matlock area, British Mountaineering Council (2004). ISBN 9780903908726