The Guildford Crescent Baths, originally known as the Corporation Baths, was a public

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...

building in the centre of

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. It was demolished in 1985.

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 A hammam (), also often called a Turkish bath by Westerners, is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited from the model ...

with two hot rooms heated by dry air maintained at 110°F and 140°F, a

Mikveh A mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvot'', or (Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazic) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for ritual washing in Judaism#Full-body immersion, ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve Tumah and taharah, ...

and a gymnasium. The building was designed by T. Waring and cost £3,700 to construct. With a capacity of one million gallons of water (), the facilities were located next to the

Bute Docks Feeder The Bute Docks Feeder is a canal in Cardiff, Wales, constructed to provide a water source for the Cardiff docks. Background In July 1830 the (11 Geo. 4 & 1 Will. 4. c. cxxxiii) was passed allowing the Marquis of Bute to construct the Bute Ship ...

canal. The canal was culverted in 1949 and now flows under Churchill Way. Cardiff Borough Council acquired the baths in 1873. 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. After the Empire Pool was opened in 1958, the Guildford Crescent Baths were given over exclusively for use by children. The baths finally closed on 31 March 1984, despite a campaign to keep them open, which had gathered more than 10,000 signatures. The building was demolished in 1985 and, in the 2000s, an

Ibis The ibis () (collective plural ibises; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word f ...

hotel was built on the site.

References

External links

* – Television news report shot in the baths, about the decision to close them {{coord, 51.4798, -3.1706, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Demolished buildings and structures in Wales Demolished sports venues in the United Kingdom Sports venues demolished in 1985 Sports venues in Cardiff Swimming venues in Wales