Buxton is of Anglo-Saxon and Viking origin; it derives from an amalgamation of Old English and Old Norse for a settlement, either named for 'Bucca' or deer.

[4] Buxton Watermill has stood in the village in some form since before the Domesday Book and was last rebuilt in 1754 by the local merchant, William Pepper.

[5] Nearby Dudwick Park is listed building and was built for John Wright, a Quaker banker, in the eighteenth century.

Wright's charitable donations to the village resulted in the construction of what is now Buxton Primary School and an institution for young offenders, where the Rowan House currently stands.

The village's national constituency is Broadland and Fakenham which has been represented by the Conservative Party's Jerome Mayhew MP since 2019.

Buxton's war memorial is a stone Celtic cross located in St. Andrew's Churchyard which has been Grade II listed since 2017 and is shared with Lamas.