Situated in the St Petersfield conservation area which is undergoing development, this Grade II listed former municipal swimming baths was built in 1870 at a cost of £16,000.
Once home to 2 pools, with sixty percent of the building occupied by the main bath @ 100ft long and 40ft wide and mainly used by male bathers.
There was also a smaller pool in the eastern section of the building measuring 27ft long and 15ft wide, solely for the use of female bathers.
The building also housed a number of private bathrooms and Turkish baths.
Between November and March each year, the main pool was covered over with a wooden floor, built on wooden supports placed on the bottom of the pool.
The room was then used as a skating rink, concert hall and meeting room.
The skating rink measured 116 by 50 feet with a raised stage area at one end.
When chairs were set out, the ground floor and the spacious gallery could seat more than 4,000 people.
The building was closed when the newer baths were opened in the 1970's.
It is now derelict but has been purchased by a developer for commercial use.
Work has been completed to weatherproof the building - however there has been a lack of progress, due to the current economic climate.
Heritage Works are currently would like to explore whether the Trust's involvement could be of assistance.
Having eluded me for a while now since they did a better job of re-sealing the place I'd kind of forgotton about this one.
Just last week I recieved a heads up from Thenew Mendoza that it was potentially do-able again, but was sadly I was away and unable to make it.
After seeing that a few others had made it in and a couple of excellent reports pop up, I just knew I need to see this one quick before it becomes sealed again.
Being that Mendo is too lazy to explore these days I decided to go for a quick mooch after work one evening and check it out for him :D
(But seriously cheers, without whom I very much doubt anyone would have given it a second look)
Main Doors - Ornate Victorian Brickwork
Old archive pic
And how it looks today
Old signage
View from the gallery
Between the pool & Turkish baths etc
Inside the 120ft chimney - I was expecting this to be real grim, but actually wasn't too bad, just the usual soot & pidgeon p00p, no big deal.
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