Name: Cleveland Pools Location: Bath Current status: Closed Date built: 1815 – 1816 Architect: Believed to be John Pinch the Elder who designed the neighbouring cottages Listed building status: Grade II* Lead organisation: Cleveland Pools Trust
Description
A Bath stone miniature crescent shape incorporating a cottage flanked on each side by six original changing rooms faces on to a large pool built in 1815.
Owned by the local authority since 1900, the pool was closed permanently in 1978 and became a trout farm briefly in the 1980s. The campaign to save the site from sale to potential developers was launched by the community in 2004 when the Cleveland Pools Trust (CPT) was formed, with feasibility funding secured in 2014 leading to the achievement of full funding from 2018 onwards.
Facilities
Main Pool, max 25m x 17m, naturally treated at 24-25 degrees in season.
A Kids Pool, max 9m x 9m, naturally treated at 28 degrees in season, plus a children’s splash area.
Lounging / sun bathing areas. Original Georgian changing rooms restored back to use.
Notable facts
Cleveland is Britain’s only surviving Georgian lido.
Built on the banks of the river Avon after nude bathing in the river was banned in 1801 by the Bathwick Water Act. A subscription scheme was started to raise the money to build an exclusive and secluded pool for the ‘gentlemen of Bath’ with Bath’s smallest crescent of changing rooms. The demand for a separate pool for ladies followed a few years later.
Current plans
The restoration work was completed in September 2023 in time for Heritage Open Days, but flooding challenges since have mean that Cleveland Pools is not currently open. Check the website for the latest information.
CPT are the leaseholders and Fusion Lifestyle were appointed by the trust as operators.
