24 C O N T E X T 1 2 5 : J U LY 2 0 1 2 Chris Balme New life for Cleveland Baths A Heritage Lottery Fund stage one application proposes to use the UK’s oldest surviving public open-air swimming pools for their original purpose and as a visitor attraction. The Cleveland Baths in Bath are the UK’s oldest surviving public open-air swimming pools. They were built in 1815 as a public swimming pool, as a private venture through donations and subscription. The baths are located on the southern bank of the River Avon, terraced into a steep slope at Bathwick, over a mile from the centre of Bath.The principal buildings form a crescent around the P-shaped main pool, with a central two-storey cottage flanked by two lower wings of six changing rooms.Attached to the western range are the now-roofed former ladies pool enclosure andwcs. On the terrace above, to the south east, is a later rectangular upper or children’s pool. Mature trees surround the site, adding to the sense of seclusion and Arcadian charm. The baths closed in 1984. In 2004/5 Bath and North East Somerset Council, the current owner of the site, threatened to dispose of it. The site presents significant physical obstacles to development. It nestles within a residential area, it has a propensity to flood, and there is no vehicle access to the site or any visitor parking. However, research has established a demand for a riverside heritage site that offers outdoor swimming during the summer season. The Cleveland Pools Trust proposals, currently the subject of a Heritage Lottery Fund stage one application, involve re-using the site for outdoor public swimming, and becoming a heritage, education and visitor attraction.The sitewill offer a restored, naturally treated, heated, 25-metre outdoor pool.The swimming pool, a children’s splash pool, and the biological treatment ‘pool’ are all sited within the envelope of the most recent P-shaped incarnation of the main pool.The size and arrangement of the new swimming pool, and its natural treatment,will help make the project financially and ecologically sustainable. The buildings themselves, although plain and unornamented, are a beautifully crafted example of the mason’s art in this city of stone.The pleasing arc of the buildings echo the arc of the pool itself, whose form acknowledges the flow of the captured river water through the site when first built.The interiors are less significant, especially in a city with so many visited buildings.The fabric is poorly preserved, and there are many lost fittings and late 20th century finishes. The site and buildings are extremely sensitive to change. When considering where to find spaces for practicalities such as the plant room, staff room, office, reception,WCs and pool equipment store, it was decided to maximise the use of the existing buildings. Set apart from the main pool and principal buildings in the south east corner of the site, the poor-quality Edwardian upper pool shelter is to be replaced by a catering kitchen and plantroom, and the infilled upper pool will become the site for event marquees. Chris Balme is a director of Ferguson Mann Architects. The proposed new uses for the baths The principal buildings form a crescent around the main pool.
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