Turkish baths since 1990: losses, and a rebirth

 

When the Victorian Turkish Bath Project started collecting data in 1990, there were at least thirty-four Turkish baths built on the Victorian model still open in the British Isles, though there were no longer any in Ireland where the first one opened in 1856.

In November 1999, when this website first went online, there were only twenty-three Turkish baths remaining, the last one in Wales having closed in 1998, and when this page was last revised, in February 2023, there were only eleven remaining.

This includes one which was closed in 2013, but recently, due to the effort and perseverence of @FriendsCityBath, in conjunction with @Fusion_LS and with the support of @TheCityBaths, Newcastle's 1920s Turkish baths re-opened as part of the refurbished City Baths. Truly a milestone.

However, since then, and despite all the hard work of the local group @FriendsBaths, the beautifully tiled Carlisle Turkish baths, dating from 1909, was closed by the local council in November 2022. So, sadly, the number of Turkish baths remaining open reverts to eleven.

Turkish baths closed since 1990

Closed	Location	When open
1990	GLASGOW: Calder Street (99), Govanhill	1917—1990
1990	SHEFFIELD: Glossop Road / Victoria Street / Convent Walk	1877—1990
1990+	BLACKPOOL: Warley Road, North Promenade	1965—1990+
1993	MANCHESTER: Victoria Baths, High Street, Chorlton-in-Medlock	1906—1993
1995	GLASGOW: Medwyn Street, Whiteinch	1926—1995
1996	ESTON: Normanby Road	1964—1996
1997	STANLEY: High Street	1975—1997
1998	STOCKTON-ON-TEES: Church Road	1969—1998
1998	CARDIFF: Wales Empire Pool	1958—1998
1998	GLOUCESTER: Barton Street	1891—1998
2000	GATESHEAD: Alexandra Road, Gateshead Leisure Centre	1981—2000
2001	EPSOM: East Street	1939—2001
2002	LONDON: Lewisham High Street	1965—2002
2007	WHITLEY BAY, The Links	1974—2007
2008	WORCESTER: Sansome Walk	1860—2008
2008	ABERDEEN: Justice Mill Lane	1940—2008
2008	DUNFERMLINE: Pilmuir Road	1905—2008
2010	NOTTINGHAM: Bath Street	1975—2010
2011	NEWCASTLE-UNDER-LYNE: Marsh Street	1979—2011
2012	ROCHDALE: Entwistle Road	1937—2012
2013	NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE: Northumberland Road (Bath Road)	1928—2013
2013	DONCASTER: Waterdale	1932—2013
2017	BIRMINGHAM: Mason Road, Erdington	1925—2017
2022	CARLISLE: James Street	1909—2022

Turkish baths under threat

Closed	Location	When open
?	SWINDON: Faringdon Road / Milton Road	1905—

Turkish baths re-opened

Closed	Location	When re-opened
2013	NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE: Northumberland Road (Bath Road)	2021—

Currently, of the eleven remaining Turkish baths, one (Swindon) is under threat of closure. The Swindon baths are especially important in the history of Victorian Turkish baths because, taken in conjunction with their earlier premises on the opposite side of Faringdon Road, they are the oldest extant Turkish bath institution in the world, having originally opened in 1868.

And of those remaining, three (two in Glasgow and one in London) are only open to members of the clubs which own them, leaving a grand total of eight Turkish baths currently open to members of the general public in the whole of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.

Of these eight, only the Turkish baths in Harrogate and Edinburgh were built during the reign of Queen Victoria. The baths owned by the two members' clubs in Glasgow were both built during Victoria's reign, while those in London's RAC Club were designed during her reign and built shortly afterwards.

The baths at Nottingham were especially important as they were the last modern interpretation of the Victorian Turkish bath concept to be built in the final quarter of the twentieth century, 128 years after the first Manchester baths opened.

There are only two bright spots on the horizon.

The possibility of eventually re-opening the superb Turkish Baths in the Victoria Baths complex at Manchester, and those at the Govanhill baths in Glasgow.