Annex
Note by English Heritage
LISTED PUBLIC
SWIMMING POOLS
AND LIDOS
IN GREATER
LONDON AT
RISK: CURRENT
POSITION AS
AT AUGUST
2001
Across Greater London some 20 public swimming
pools and two public lidos are statutorily listed by the Secretary
of State of being of special architectural or historic interest.
Of these some seven pools and one lido are closed,
with uncertain futures; the majority included on English Heritage's
Register of Buidings at Risk in Greater London:
| Brentford | Clifdon Road, Brentford (L.B. Hounslow)
|
| Haggerston | Whiston Road, Haggerston, E2 (L.B. Hackney)
|
| Hornsey Road* | Hornsey Road, Hornsey, N7/19 (L.B. Islington)
|
| Manor Place | Manor Place, Walworth, SE (L.B. Southwark)
|
| Marshall Street | Marshall Street, Soho, W1 (City of Westminster)
|
| Poplar | East India Dock Road, Poplar, E14 (L.B. Tower Hamlets)
|
| Tottenham | Town Hall Approach, Tottenham, N15 (L.B. Haringey) and
|
| Uxbridge Lido | Park Road, Uxbridge (L.B. Hillingdon)
|
In addition and importantly, the future of the grade II[4]
listed pools complex at the National Recreation Centre at Crystal
Palace (L.B. Bromley) remains uncertain.
Of these seven pools, some have been closed as a result of
cost-cutting by the relevant local authority (due to the alleged
costs of repair, maintenance and operation) and not replaced,
such as Marshall Street; whilst others have been closed and replaced
by new "leisure" facilities located in another (but
often less accessible) part of the Borough, as at Brentford.
In addition to the case for closure based on the alleged
costs of repair, maintenance and operation (as at Marshall Street),
local authorities have frequently argued that the relevant pools
no longer meet current public leisure needs. In a number of cases,
the relevant buildings only contain one, rectangular swimming
pool (with the inevitable conflict between lane-exercise-swimmers,
leisure swimmers and users of diving boards); and offers no specific
facilities for children, such as slides, wave-machines and "beaches",
nor directly related "health" and ancillary facilities
such as jacuzzis, spas, "Turkish" Baths, gymnasia or
cafés. However, the areas occupied by former "slipper"
baths offer scope for conversion to such ancillary purposes.
In some cases, existing "conventional" pools have
been successfully updated and enhanced as at The Pools in the
Park in the Old Deer Park, Richmond, where as a result of the
"listing" of the complex and strenuous and effective
pressure from the local community, the local authority (the London
Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames Council) was persuaded to set
aside proposals for the demolition and redevelopment of the Civic
Trust Award-swimming 1960s pools complex and to pursue instead
an alternative, conservation-based scheme with a private sector
partner that has retained and improved the 33m and 25m indoor
pools and the 25m outdoor pool, and supplemented the original
facilities with extensive, new, health and leisure facilities.
It is hoped that a similar, conservation-based approach to
development might lead to the successful re-opening of the listed
Uxbridge Lido in the L.B. of Hillingdon.
9 August 2001
4
The 1950s pool is not specifically listed, but shares in the
listed status of the Edwardian frontage buildings. The demolition
of the pool has been accepted in principle by the English Heritage,
but no formal approval has been granted. Back
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