St Matthew's Baths was 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 in 1924 and closed in 1984 and a music venue.

Design, construction and funding

The original brick building cost around £22,770 when it opened in 1924.The pool consisted of a 75x30 ft (22.9x9.1m) 6-lane. It had a balcony for 200 spectators and 21 slipper baths, which were useful for a time when many houses had no bathrooms. The pool was used for recreational swimming, swimming lessons, as a music venue, competitions and even the annual Ipswich Police swimming gala. The pool closed for use in 1984. The building is currently hidden behind a

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

store.

Baths Hall - Music venue and other events

During the winter months a sprung maple floor, which was known to bounce, would cover the pool for concerts and other events It was in heavy demand after the local Public Hall burned down in 1947. In the winter months in late 1958, promoters Nanda and Ron Lesley ran the very successful Ipswich Jazz Club, called Ipswich Bluesville, held on a Monday evening. During this tenure, Ipswich Bluesville hosted the TV show

Ready Steady Go Ready Steady Go may refer to: Television * ''Ready Steady Go!'', a 1963–1966 British music TV programme * Ready Steady Go (Pakistani TV series), a 2017–2020 sitcom * "Ready, Steady, Go!", an episode of the TV series ''Pocoyo'' Music * ''Rea ...

. During the late 1960s up to 1975, notable

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

musicians and rock legends played Bath Halls. Live acts included - *

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

with

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...

, *

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

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Brian Auger Brian Albert Gordon Auger (born 18 July 1939) is an English jazz rock and rock keyboardist who specialises in the Hammond organ. Auger has worked with Rod Stewart, Tony Williams, Jimi Hendrix, John McLaughlin, Sonny Boy Williamson, Eric B ...

* John Baldry *

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* Jethro Tull *

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* Spencer Davies *

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* The Herd *

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Kenny Ball Kenneth Daniel Ball (22 May 1930Larkin C., ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music''. (Muze UK Ltd, 1997), p. 29; ) – 7 March 2013) was an English jazz musician, best known as the bandleader, lead trumpet player and vocalist in Kenny Ball and ...

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* Mike Cotton *

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* Mike Daniels and the Delta Jazz Band * Alan Elsden * Terry Lightfoot *

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opened the night with

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and gig went on to be named "Suffolk's greatest gig" and a poster for the gig taken off the wall that night sold for £2000 in 2014. During the 1960s and 70s, events also ranged from

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, a model engineering exhibition to a table tennis club, keep fit sessions, a hairdressing competitions, the WI AGM,

youth club A youth center or youth centre, often called youth club, is a place where young people can meet and participate in a variety of activities, for example table football, association football (US soccer, UK football), basketball, table tennis, v ...

skiffle Skiffle is a music genre, genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, Country music, country, Bluegrass music, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. ...

group competition, and the News of the World Darts Tournament.

Closure

In the 1970s the Ipswich Corn Exchange became the entertainment centre, so all year round swimming took place at St Matthew's until it was sold to developers after the opening the new

Crown Pools Crown Pools is a swimming venue in Ipswich that opened in 1984. Design and building Crown Pools has a collection of three pools: a 8-lane 25x18m pool (0.9-1.8m deep), a pleasure pool (0-1.75m deep) with a wave machine and a teaching pool (0.75 ...

in 1984.

Recent developments

The Bath Hall's original pool was permanently covered and a first floor created. It re-opened as The Gym Ipswich on the upper level but closed in 2020, due to COVID19 restrictions. In 2021, the Baths Hall was opened again and the ground floor was turned into a new music venue for Ipswich, name
The Baths
It brings music back to the venue full circle and has hosted Pigsx7,

The Orielles The Orielles are an English indie rock band from Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. The band features Sidonie "Sid" B. Hand-Halford on drums, Esmé Dee Hand-Halford on bass and vocals and Henry Carlyle Wade on guitar and vocals. Career Their ...

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This Is The Kit This Is The Kit is the alias of British musician Kate Stables, as well as the band she fronts. Critical attention This Is The Kit were a long-time favourite among various BBC Radio 6 Music DJs, which is where the musician and presenter Guy Garv ...

, Porridge Radio, and

The Orb The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential ...

. The original arches and ceiling windows can still be viewed on the upper floor.

References

External links

The Baths
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Matthew's Baths Buildings and structures in Ipswich Swimming venues in the United Kingdom 1924 establishments in the United Kingdom