Fore Street Baths

2012 image

Swimming is Britain's most popular participation sport. Nearly one in five people swim at least once a month, with around 80 million visits to swimming pools recorded every year. But what of the pools themselves? Surprisingly, although public baths have formed a vital part of community life since an 1846 Act of Parliament, their story has never been told in popular form. See our Reading List for details of the book 'Great lengths' which documents it.

The book traces the social and architectural development of indoor public baths and pools, from the earliest subscription baths of the Georgian period to the current generation of leisure pools with their flumes and potted palms.

The golden era of pool design fell between the 1880s and 1914, when over 600 baths were constructed, many of them rich in architectural detail and technological innovation. In Manchester, the magnificent Victoria Baths, completed in 1906 - and in 2003 the winner of BBC Television's popular Restoration series - set new standards for opulence, with three separate First and Second class pools for men and women, Turkish Baths, gorgeous tiling and extensive laundry facilities. Birmingham's Moseley Road Baths (1907), London's Haggerston Baths (1906) and similar establishments in Hull, Nottingham and Glasgow equally reflected the civic pride of their creators, as greater awareness of hygiene and physical fitness brought safe swimming and recreation to the urban masses.

A further burst of activity between the wars saw a new generation of concrete and glass Art Deco baths built in London, Birmingham and Liverpool, as well as Northampton, Wakefield, Rochdale, Crewe and Blackpool. In the 1960s these were joined by classic Modern designs in Coventry, Crystal Palace and Edinburgh.

From here it's a short walk to Martin & Newby, the Meremayd, 'Palmer's Door Mats &c.' and The Unicorn.