Turkish baths in provincial England

Swindon Turkish Baths: Part 2

The new baths

When the Turkish baths moved across the road to Swindon's new Public Baths building in 1906 they were approached through a new entrance in Milton Road which they shared with the slipper baths.

The men’s suite was well laid out and although, over the years, many alterations were made within the building, the structure and appearance of the three hot rooms, originally ranging from 30°F to 190°F, remain virtually unchanged.

The adjoining shampooing room had two marble slabs and a circular needle shower. Shampooing is no longer offered at the baths, though it continued well into the 1990s. In its place are three additional modern showers—and one of the original slabs was for a time on display in the entrance lobby.

The position of the large top-lit cooling-room is also unchanged, though its fireplace, the large clock mounted over it, and the glass-panelled screen on the opposite wall have long since gone.

The men’s baths also include a cold plunge pool and a Russian steam bath. When the pool was built, at 9ft wide, it was twice the width of most of those later provided by local authorities. And when the baths were refurbished, probably at the end of the 1980s, it was split in two lengthwise, and one half is now aerated like a whirlpool. On the downside, the original tiling has been replaced by rather plainer examples of the craft.

There is some doubt as to where the Russian bath was positioned when the baths opened. The original plans show it leading directly off the first hot room. This would have been totally unsuitable as wet and dry areas need to be as far apart as possible. But a 1930 plan shows it positioned directly opposite the plunge pool, where it remains. This would have been totally unsuitable as wet and dry areas need to be as far apart as possible. But a 1930 plan shows it positioned directly opposite the plunge pool, where it remains. What is not known is whether the change was made before the building work started, or later, some time after the baths opened. There were also 12 changing cubicles. These are currently arranged in separated areas for men and women.

The original women’s Turkish baths on the first floor have been closed since at least the mid-1950s, though the door leading into them remains, complete with its coloured glass panel designed, like the heating device in the Taunton Street baths, by the company’s Mr Rice. This beautiful door now leads, rather incongruously, into offices.

The women’s baths were smaller than the men’s, with only two hot rooms. These led off the shampooing room, with its slab, needle shower, wash basin, and drinking fountain. A cooling-room, toilet, and six dressing cubicles completed the suite. The women’s hot rooms—which each had a window overlooking the men’s single-storey cooling-room—were directly above those of the men. This enabled the heated air to be ducted vertically up from the furnace in the basement to the hot rooms above.

After 5 July 1948, when the fund’s medical services were replaced by the NHS, responsibility for the swimming and Turkish baths passed to Swindon Borough Council.

Bathers employed by the GWR became a smaller percentage of the total, many now coming from the old town. Some also came from nearby cities like Bath (where Bartholomew’s Turkish bath had closed) and towns such as Cirencester (where there had never been one). In 1958, a Turkish bath in Swindon cost 6s, including shampoo.

As long as the baths were under the aegis of the GWR’s Medical Fund Society, the bathing procedure and behaviour of the bathers would have been appropriately formal. gradually, the general ambience became more informal. Ray Parry, masseur and attendant between 1955 and 1970, was solely in charge and had a very free hand. When he first arrived, the baths appear to have been much underused, though it has been suggested that the actual number of bathers was higher than shown in the books. Similarly, massages would be provided as required, and these might have been considered perks.

During his time, alterations were made to the cooling-room. Larger cubicles, in which bathers could relax, were added and then, years later, removed again. The original cubicles were really no more than cupboards for depositing bathers’ clothes, but even so,

every fixture was Great Western. Every cubicle had a GW mirror and GW hooks … Heavy carriage locks on the doors. It was all GWR.

The clients were varied, mostly business people, jockeys, bookies—with whom bets could be placed, although off-course betting was not yet legal—farmers, surgeons, parsons, dancers, even ‘titled people’. Parry described the baths during his years there.

…certain days, my first job was to look at the racing calendar—to see if the jockeys were likely to come. Look up the day, to see what races were on today or tomorrow, so if they was near, the jockeys would be in to sweat for the next day … I could knock off about 10lb.

…My main job was—in the Turkish bath—you had to look after people—fix things—introduce people—deter people—bring them together. There was all different groups. They liked to keep separate…Lot of business done there. All the time. All day long. The cubicles had their own beds—They’d spend all day—I used to arrange food from outside—In those days things worked like that. It doesn’t happen now.

After 1974, as a result of a local goverment reorganisation, Swindon's public baths became the resposibility of a newly created Thamesdown Council. But after a further reorganisation in 1997 Thamesdown was replaced by a reborn Swindon Borough Council. The baths, now outsourced and operated as part of the Swindon Health Hydro, are currently (2025) closed for refurbishment. It is hoped to re-open them in 2026.

This page first published online 28 September 2025