Broomhill Pool is a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

lido Lido may refer to: Geography * Lido (Belgrade), a river beach on the Danube in Belgrade, Serbia * Venice Lido, an 11-kilometre-long barrier island in the Venetian Lagoon, Venice, Italy * Ruislip Lido, a reservoir and artificial beach in Ruisl ...

on Sherrington Road in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, England.

Status

Broomhill Pool opened on 30 April 1938 and closed in the autumn of 2002. The pool is the deepest lido in Britain (jointly with

Hilsea Lido Hilsea Lido is a freshwater Lido (swimming pool), lido at Hilsea, Portsmouth, England, which opened in 1935. Portsmouth City Council is currently renovating Hilsea Lido as part of the Hilsea Lines project in the north of the city. The aim of th ...

) at 15ft deep. At 55 yards x 20 yards and 8 lanes wide, the pool volume is 464,000 gallons/2.1 million litres of water. The lido was built in 1938 for £17,000 by the County-Borough of Ipswich. It was designed by E. McLauchlan, the County-Borough Engineer and Surveyor. Broomhill Pool became a Grade II listed building on 23 August 2001. The lido is built within Broomhill Park. It is close to Broomhill Library which was built in 1942 as a WW2 bomb-proof decontamination unit. Broomhill Library was Grade II listed in 2012. English Heritage highlighted the "Group value: the relationship between the former gas decontamination centre and the adjacent Broomhill lido holds important group value; the style of the decontamination centre was designed to mirror the facade of the adjacent Broomhill Lido (listed at Grade II), and both were designed by Borough Engineer E. McLauchlan". Broomhill Pool is a founding member of Historic Pools of Britain "Established in 2015, Historic Pools of Britain is the first body ever to represent historic swimming pools in this country. These unique indoor and outdoor pools make a significant contribution to the social and architectural history of Britain and play a hugely important role in our communities" Janet Smith wrote, in her definitive book "Liquid Assets" (Published 2005): “Broomhill may lack the national profile accorded to Saltdean, Tinside or Penzance, but it is arguably their equal in architectural significance”.

Proposed restoration

The Broomhill Pool Trust is a registered charity (No.1102659) which aims to restore Broomhill Pool; the last remaining Olympic length, grade II listed lido in Suffolk & Norfolk for full public use. In December 2017, Fusion Lifestyle secured

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

ing stage 2 full grant of £3.4m. Fusion will invest over £2m. In August 2018 Ipswich Borough Council increased their commitment to £1.5m to secure the scheme. The £7.25m restoration commenced in 2020 and the pool was due to reopen in 2021, however this was delayed and the project now faced a shortfall in funding. In January 2024, a funding deal was finally struck between stakeholders

Ipswich Borough Council Ipswich Borough Council is the local authority for Ipswich, a non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Suffolk, England. It is the second tier of a two-tier system, fulfilling functions such as refuse ...

National Lottery Heritage Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

and Fusion Lifestyle. The restoration is now looking toward completion in 2026. On the 12th December 2024, the restoration project's plans were approved by Ipswich Borough Council's planning department.

References

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External links

The Broomhill Pool Trust

Historic Pools of Britain

Youtube Broomhill Pool 1947 and 2001 footage
* https://web.archive.org/web/20160317123721/https://www.hlf.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/press-releases/major-national-lottery-grant-restore-and-reopen-ipswich%E2%80%99s-grade Grade II listed buildings in Ipswich Lidos 1938 establishments in England Swimming venues in the United Kingdom