Fore Street Swimming Pool (formerly known as Fore Street Baths) is a swimming venue 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, ...

that opened on 4 March 1894.

Design, construction and funding

It was designed by Ipswich born architect Thomas Cotmen and built by local philanthropist and builder T. Parkington & Sons Builders. Inside the

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

stone facade, brick building and slate and glass roof the pool measuring 25x7 yards with 5 lanes (originally 6) and had a number of communal baths. There were wooden changing cubicles with stairs going to a viewing are around the pool. The modern changing cubicles on each side of the pool are now present and a first-floor communal changing area where the old boiler used to be located.The build was funded by the Corporation of Ipswich (to a sum of £3100) along with a donation of the land plus £1200 from

Felix Thornley Cobbold Felix Thornley Cobbold (8 September 1841 – 6 December 1909) was a British banker, barrister and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party politician. He was a member of the Ipswich Cobbold family, Cobbold brewing family but not a brewer himself. Life ...

. It was originally opened by Ipswich Mayor Samuel Richard Anness.

Background

The poorly built homes for the families of hundreds of workers at the expanding Ipswich engineering companies had no bathrooms, or in many cases running water. The Baths and Washhouses Act 1846 was created to encourage the construction of indoor pools and Fore Street Baths was one of 600 built between 1880 and1914 in Britain.

Restoration and current use

Fore Street Swimming Pool was fully refurbished in 2001 and is now used for recreational swimming, swimming lessons,

Octopush Underwater hockey (UWH), also known as Octopush in the United Kingdom, is a globally played limited-contact sport in which two teams compete to manoeuvre a puck across the bottom of a swimming pool into the opposing team's goal by propelling ...

scuba diving Scuba diving is a Diving mode, mode of underwater diving whereby divers use Scuba set, breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scub ...

snorkelling Snorkeling ( British and Commonwealth English spelling: snorkelling) is the practice of swimming face down on or through a body of water while breathing the ambient air through a shaped tube called a snorkel, usually with swimming goggles or a ...

and

life support Life support comprises the treatments and techniques performed in an emergency in order to support life after the failure of one or more vital organs. Healthcare providers and emergency medical technicians are generally certified to perform bas ...

lessons.

Status

Fore Street Swimming Pool is the second oldest operating pool in England.

References

External links

Ipswich Life Saving Club

Fore Street Swimming Pool

Ipswich Octopush Club

Ipswich Sub Aqua Club

Ipswich Swim Academy
{{coord, 52.05375, 1.16083, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Swimming venues in the United Kingdom 1894 establishments in England Buildings and structures in Ipswich