The Victorian Baths

Following a £25 million refurbishment the old Victorian baths are now a state of the art sports centre.

Public baths were conceived  in the mid 1800's with the aim of providing washing facilities to the poor who didn't have them in their own homes.  There was even legislation that gave local authorities the power to commission public baths in their boroughs with the aim of "promoting the health and cleanliness of the working classes, and as a necessary consequence, improve their social condition and raise their moral tone, thereby, tendering them more accessible to and better fitted to receive religious and secular training.”