Shrine To The Blessed Virgin Mary Goyt's Lane

This catholic shrine on Goyts Lane near Buxton was commissioned by Canon Baldwin who was a priest at St Anne's Church in Buxton from 1942 - 1956. It is known as a wayside shrine, which are small shelters placed by the side of a county road or on the top of a hill or mountain. This particular one was hand-built by Brian Foxton, a worker at Buxton Lime Industries, for the local Grimshawe family. He collected the stones for the structure from the nearby streams in the valley and built it into a disused gateway between two old stone posts.

There was considerable damage done in the early 1990s after a vehicle ploughed into it, knocking the entire shrine off its base and destroying the mosaic art work inside. Repairs were made to it and it was reinstated and reconsecrated in the mid 1990s. Restoration work to the interior was carried out by painter Stephen Rose and Stephen very kindly took the time to tell me how he was involved in the restoration process:

"I am a close friend of Oliver Budd (of Budd Mosaics), we were school friends and were at Art College together. His father Kenneth was in advertising after the war and left to start his mosaic workshop in the late 50s early 60s. He soon became one of Britain's foremost Mosaic artists, with major works throughout the country and in Saudi Arabia. Oliver joined the business on leaving art college in the early 1980s and on his father's death in 1995, took over the business and has successfully run it till the present day, taking the craft to new heights.

On leaving art college in the late 80s, I was invited to help on site and occasionally in their workshop and I learnt how to make mosaics. Around about 1992, Ken and Oli asked me if I would like to design and make the face and hands of the Madonna together with the Christ child and plaque. Ken did most of the micro mosaic and Oli and I did the firmament and stars."

Stephen also told me:

"We went up to Buxton in the November to install the mosaic, however the structure was in a poor state and needed quite a bit of repair, which was a tough job as it snowed continually. We managed to get the work done and the prefabricated mosaic installed in 3 days. Around a year later we were invited up to Buxton to attend the blessing of the shrine."

The shrine is made from local sandstone and on top is a slate-roofed stone canopy, containing a recess into which the picture of The Virgin Mary could be placed. The mosaic inside is a gorgeous blue colour and to the left of the main image reads 'Ave Maria' (or hail Mary) and on the right, 'Gratia Plena' (full of grace). There is also an inscription which reads: 'Hail Mary full of grace, mother of Jesus, Queen of the world, Pray for us'. Parishioners visit regularly and maintain the shrine and there were some flowers and dedications placed inside it when the FN team visited in Autumn 2025.

This is a beautiful place to stop for 5 minutes or so and you can admire the rolling hills of the Goyt Valley that are the backdrop to the shrine. There are a number of walks in the area too, and Errwood Reservoir is less than a mile away from the parking spot. If you have time, there is another shrine in the valley, known as St Joseph's Chapel. You can find this here using what3words: ///talents.importers.shine

Huge thanks to Stephen Rose and his wife; Margaret from St Anne's Church in Buxton and archivist John Boland-Lee from the Catholic Diocese of Nottingham Archives for your information.