Guildford Crescent Baths

Last updated

The Guildford Crescent Baths, originally known as the Corporation Baths, was a public swimming pool building in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. It was demolished in 1985.

Contents

Background

The swimming baths in Guildford Crescent, Cardiff, were originally opened by the Cardiff Baths Company Ltd in April 1862. They included a first class and a second class swimming pools, a Turkish bath with two hot rooms heated by dry air maintained at 110°F and 140°F, [1] a Mikveh and a gymnasium. [2] The building was designed by T. Waring and cost £3,700 to construct. With a capacity of one million gallons of water (4.5 million litres), the facilities were located next to the Bute Docks Feeder canal. [3] The canal was culverted in 1949 and now flows under Churchill Way. [4]

Cardiff Borough Council acquired the baths in 1873. [5] Originally open-air, work began to add a roof to the baths in 1884 and took eight years to complete. The newly roofed and refurbished facilities were officially re-opened by in 1896 by Lady Windsor. [6]

After the Empire Pool was opened in 1958, the Guildford Crescent Baths were given over exclusively for use by children. [6]

The baths finally closed on 31 March 1984, despite a campaign to keep them open, which had gathered more than 10,000 signatures. [6] The building was demolished in 1985 [7] and, in the 2000s, an Ibis hotel was built on the site.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cwmbach</span> Human settlement in Wales

Cwmbach is a village and community near Aberdare, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Cwmbach means 'Little Valley' in Welsh. Cwmbach has a population of 5,117.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glossop Road Baths</span>

Glossop Road Baths is a building in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which originally housed a swimming pool and Victorian Turkish baths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birmingham Baths Committee</span> Former public body in Birmingham, England

The Birmingham Baths Committee was an organisation responsible for the provision and maintenance of public swimming and bathing facilities. Birmingham City Council funded, constructed and ran bathing facilities throughout the city. The movement to develop baths and wash houses in Britain had its impetus with the rapid urbanisation of the Industrial Revolution, which was felt acutely in Birmingham, one of England's powerhouses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City Baths, Melbourne</span> Building in Melbourne, Australia

The City Baths, located at 420 Swanston Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, opened in 1904 as public baths, with swimming pools and bathing facilities. Extensively renovated in the early 1980s, it is now considered one of Melbourne's most architecturally and historically significant buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest Hill Pools</span> London leisure centre

Forest Hill Pools is a leisure centre in Forest Hill, London. After being closed in 2006, it was rebuilt including two pools and a health and fitness suite and reopened in September 2012. It is located close to Forest Hill railway station, Forest Hill Library and Sydenham School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Pump Rooms</span> Historic site in The Parade, Leamington Spa

The Royal Pump Rooms is a cultural centre on the Parade in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England. It was the most famous of several spa baths opened in Leamington between the late-18th and mid-19th centuries. People would travel from throughout the country, and indeed Europe, to benefit from treatments using the town's healing waters. When 'taking the waters' became less fashionable after the mid-19th century the Pump Rooms became Leamington's only surviving spa facility, later also being extended to include the town's public swimming pool. After a major redevelopment in 1997-99 the building now houses Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum, a public library, a Tourist Information Centre, cafe and assembly rooms. It is a Grade II listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">York Hall</span> Multi-purpose indoor arena in London, England

The York Hall, officially known as York Hall Leisure Centre, is a multi-purpose indoor arena and leisure centre in Bethnal Green, London. The building opened in 1929 with a capacity of 1,200 and is now an international boxing venue. The main hall also hosts concerts and other live events and other facilities also include a local gymnasium and a swimming pool.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of Cardiff history</span> Timeline of notable events in the history of Cardiff

The timeline of Cardiff history shows the significant events in the history of Cardiff which transformed it from a small Roman fort into the modern capital city of Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thames Lido</span> Historic open air swimming pool and lido in Reading, UK

The Thames Lido, formerly known as the King's Meadow swimming pool, is an open-air swimming pool or lido located in King's Meadow in Reading, Berkshire. It was first opened to the public in 1903 as the Ladies Swimming Bath and is believed to be the oldest surviving outdoor municipal pool of a similar early Edwardian era. In August 2004, as a result of a campaign, the building was awarded Grade II listed building status. It re-opened in 2017 after three years of restoration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cleveland Pools</span> Oldest public outdoor swimming pool in England

Cleveland Pools located in Hampton Row, Bath, Somerset, England is a semi-circular lido built to designs by John Pinch the Elder in 1815. It is believed to be the oldest public outdoor swimming pool in the UK. It is a Grade II* listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oasis Sports Centre, London</span> Leisure centre in Holborn, London

Oasis Sports Centre is a leisure centre in Holborn, London, operated by Better on behalf of the London Borough of Camden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camberwell Public Baths</span>

Camberwell Public Baths opened in 1892 and has been in continuous operation as publicly funded community baths and more recently as a public leisure centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wales Empire Pool</span> Former swimming pool in Cardiff, Wales

The Wales Empire Pool, known locally as the Empire Pool, was an international standard swimming pool building, located in Cardiff, Wales from 1958 until it was demolished in 1998. It was a centrepiece for the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buxton Baths</span> Listed buildings in Derbyshire, England

The Buxton Baths using natural thermal spring water are in Buxton, Derbyshire, England. The baths date back to Roman times and were the basis for developing Buxton as a Georgian and Victorian spa town. The present buildings of the Thermal Baths and the Natural Mineral Baths were opened in the 1850s. They are positioned either side of the Buxton Crescent at the foot of The Slopes in the town's Central Conservation Area. They are both Grade II listed buildings designed by Henry Currey, architect for the 7th Duke of Devonshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victorian Turkish baths</span> Type of bath in which the bather sweats freely in hot dry air, then washes

The Victorian Turkish bath is a type of bath in which the bather sweats freely in hot dry air, is then washed, often massaged, and has a cold wash or shower. It can also mean, especially when used in the plural, an establishment where such a bath is available.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ripon Spa Baths</span> Grade II listed building in Ripon, North Yorkshire

The Ripon Spa Baths are a grade II listed building in Ripon, North Yorkshire, England. It was built between 1904–05 as a spa but failed to compete with the larger facilities at nearby Harrogate. In 1936 a new pool was constructed to the rear and the facility converted to a swimming baths. The building is noted for its ornate terracotta-clad frontage and received listed building protection in 1980. Harrogate Borough Council proposed selling the building for housing development in 2008 on the grounds that it required significant structural repair. The sale was cancelled but in 2021 the council made a new proposal to sell the structure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waterworld, Wrexham</span> Leisure centre in Wrexham, Wales

Waterworld, formerly the Wrexham Swimming Baths, is a leisure centre in Wrexham, North Wales. Known for its hyperbolic paraboloid roof, the only roof of its type in Wales, the centre houses a set of swimming pools and a gym. The centre was opened in 1967, with a major refurbishment occurring in the 1990s, being re-opened by Elizabeth II in March 1998 under its current name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bute Docks Feeder</span> Canal in Cardiff, Wales

The Bute Docks Feeder is a canal in Cardiff, Wales, constructed to provide a water source for the Cardiff docks.

References

  1. 'A visit to the Turkish baths'. Star of Gwent. (31 May 1862) p.8
  2. "Corporation Baths, Guildford Crescent, Cardiff (415047)". Coflein. RCAHMW . Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  3. Simon Graham Allen (September 1998), The Provision of Public Baths and Wash Houses in Cardiff and Their Effect on Public Health and Hygiene 1846-1901 (Masters dissertation), School of Graduate and Continuing Education, Faculty of Education and Sport, University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, p. 62 via Bathsandwashhouses.co.uk
  4. Lewis, Ffion (12 June 2021). "Cardiff's canal quarter - how it looked in the past, what's there now and the exciting future". Wales Online .
  5. B. W. Row, F. G. Squire (1974), Cardiff 1889-1974 - The Story of the County Borough, The Corporation of Cardiff, City Hall, Cardiff, p. 21
  6. 1 2 3 Thomas Deacon (28 January 2019). "How campaigners first fought to save Cardiff's Guildford Crescent in the 1980s". Wales Online . Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  7. Dan O'Neill (13 March 2007). "Memories of all the happy days at Guildford Crescent Baars". South Wales Echo . Retrieved 26 May 2019.

51°28′47″N3°10′14″W / 51.4798°N 3.1706°W / 51.4798; -3.1706