Dulwich Public Baths (also Dulwich Leisure Centre) is a swimming pool and gym operated by Southwark Council in

East Dulwich East Dulwich is an area of South (London sub region), South East London, England in the London Borough of Southwark. It forms the eastern part of Dulwich, with Peckham to the east and Camberwell to the north. East Dulwich is home to the Dog Kenn ...

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

. It opened in 1892, and is London's oldest public baths to have remained in continuous operation. The baths are listed Grade II on the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...

Description

The original sign of "Dulwich Public Baths" is on the front of the building though there has been significant, if sympathetic, redevelopment inside. There are two original entrances on the front separating men and women. The entrance is raised using steps up to the main doors to provide a high basement where a laundry was originally in operation. The main pool was boarded over in 1982 (now the main gym area) leaving the second pool still in operation.

History

The Baths opened to the public on 25 June 1892. Dulwich was the first baths of seven baths designed by Spalding & Cross. The foundation stone was put in place in September 1891 but due to various delays including changes to drainage plans and a union dispute over the quality of lime being used in the concrete, on analysis found to be up to standard, the opening was not until well into the following year. Charges were 6d for a 1st class swim and 2d for 2nd class (class being the choice between the main and second pools) with charges for schools varying between 3d to 1d depending on the agreement with each school. The basic swimming charge was to stay at 6d until 1957. The Baths were available for hire for various functions including dances, indoor sports and functions.

First World War

The baths were closed in 1914 for hospital and

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

work during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The War Refugees Committee were allowed to use it for housing Belgian refugees. In 1915 the baths briefly return to public use but were then allocated for use of the Camberwell Gun Brigades (33rd Divisional Artillery). The Brigade vacated in July 1915 and the baths then were used for troop accommodation and housed two brigades of the Territorial Artillery from September 1915. Public swimming resumed in 1917. The baths were used as an unofficial shelter throughout the frequent air raids of 1917 and the Council installed red and green lights to show "take cover" and "all clear" in addition to the sirens.

Inter-war period

In 1937 two rinks for indoor bowling were introduced. Players were charged 6d an hour, or a rink could be reserved for 4s an hour.

Second World War

War preparations in 1938–39 before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

included laying floors over both swimming pools for use as First Aid posts and medical stores and equipment were brought in. The fuel shortage in late 1939 led to the pool being closed over winter. In 1940 the pools were again planned to close for the winter but the Auxiliary Fire Service asked for the pool to be kept full for use when dealing with air raid damage. The Council decided to keep the pools open as a result and adapted the pools for Fire Brigade pumps. A shortage of towels during war-time with an increase in wastage, suspected to be partly due to theft, led to a 5s deposit per towel.

Post war

On 13 March 1946, the Council decided to allow

mixed bathing Mixed is the past tense of ''mix''. Mixed may refer to: * Mixed (United Kingdom ethnicity category), an ethnicity category that has been used by the United Kingdom's Office for National Statistics since the 2001 Census Music * ''Mixed'' (album) ...

in all the Borough's pools. From 1945, the dances resumed with a number of popular bands playing at the Baths including the Ted Heath Band and Bert Gutsall and his Orchestra. The Baths'

grand piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

was replaced in 1949 with a second hand Welmar boudoir grand. In 1950, the Council promoted official 'Carnival' dances for Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve, and

St Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (), is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patron saint of Ireland. Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Chris ...

, with numbers limited to 550 at a function.

Modern refurbishment

In the 1990s, the Friends of Dulwich Baths lobbied Southwark Council for repairs and £250,000 was invested in various re-developments including removing the women's slipper baths. In 2007, a full renovation plan of £5 million was agreed with Fusion taking over operation of the building as a leisure complex. From May 2009, the £6.2 million redevelopment (revised budget) started on site necessitating the closure of the pool and a temporary gym. The refurbishment finally completed 25 June 2011 having taken 5 years from start to finish. The formal reopening event was attended by local MP

Tessa Jowell Tessa Jane Helen Douglas Jowell, Baroness Jowell, (; 17 September 1947 – 12 May 2018) was a Labour Party (UK), British Labour Party politician and life peer who served as the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) f ...

and East Dulwich councillor James Barber. The gym was fully renovated in December 2024 as part of a £2 million borough-wide redevelopment of Southwark council-owned gyms and leisure facilities. The move followed insourcing of the gyms by

Southwark Council Southwark London Borough Council, also known as Southwark Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Southwark in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour major ...

in June 2023, ending the management of the centre by Everyone Active after bailing out the company during the

Covid-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Footnotes

References

* *

External links

*{{commons category-inline 1892 establishments in England 1892 in London Listed sports venues in England

Public Baths Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other cr ...

Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Southwark Grade II listed sports and recreation buildings History of the London Borough of Southwark Public baths in the United Kingdom Swimming venues in London Tourist attractions in the London Borough of Southwark