History of the Baths

Much of this information is courtesy of www.poplarbaths.com

The first Poplar Baths building was opened on 17th July 1852. It was designed by Price Pritchard Baly, and cost £10,395. It was paid for by the Poplar ratepayers following the Baths and Wash-Houses Acts of 1846-7.

The building was described as 'of Italian character' and was thought to be 'quite an ornament to the neighbourhood'. Its bathing facilities were divided into two classes, with separate entrances, the first-class occupying the eastern side of the building.

However, because of the unsatisfactory condition of the whole building, and the need to reconstruct and enlarge the bathing facilities, the wash-house section of Poplar Baths was transferred to a new building which was completed in Sophia Street in 1931.

Defects in both the internal design and fittings and of the structure itself became increasingly apparent during the 1920s and it was eventually decided to erect a new building.

In 1929 Harley Heckford, the Borough Engineer and Surveyor, was appointed as the architect. The new building opened in January 1934, at a cost of £124,421, with a further £5,542 expended on enlarging the site. The contractors were A. E. Symes of Stratford East. It was one of the first low cost civic buildings in Britain.

The steel frame of the structure is clad in concrete, the exterior being faced with grey bricks. The decision to erect a symmetrical facade fronting only the main bath hall unbalanced the street frontage, so that the remainder of the building appears to be a later addition, when in fact the whole was a single design.
The large bath hall has a stepped roof with clerestory lights carried by seven elliptical arched ribs which were supported by horizontal beams spanning the length of the hall and held by tie beams at each end.

The architect was praised for the up-to-date internal designs and the decorations, while the exterior was described as 'restrainedly modern'. The local reaction to the building's appearance was much more critical, however, and it was dubbed 'Poplar Gaol'.

The two swimming pools were the predominant features of the new building. The larger one – known as the “first class” baths – was 100ft long and 39½ ft wide, with 23 men's and 21 women's changing cubicles respectively on its eastern and western sides, and a further 14 'collapsible' ones under the platform at the southern end. The smaller one, which until 1966 was known as the “second class” pool, was 64 ½ ft by 25ft, with 31 changing cubicles. On the first and second floors were 86 slipper baths; 44 of them for men and 42 for women, divided equally between the first- and second-class divisions. The basement contained a vapour suite, which included a plunge bath, a lounge with a buffet and a waiting room. Power was generated by two Lancashire boilers, each 28ft long with a diameter of 7 ½ ft, and the boiler room also contained the six filter chambers. The cold water tank had a capacity of 35,000 gallons and was placed on the flat roof of the slipper bath ranges.

In the winter months, it was called the East India Hall; the larger pool was floored over and used for other purposes, while the smaller one remained in use. The hall was designed for conversion as a theatre with a seating capacity of 1400, dance hall, cinema, exhibition room and sports hall, especially for boxing and wrestling programmes.

The office space at 172 East India Dock Road, in the eastern corner of the building has been used by Messrs Windrum, auctioneers and surveyors, the staff of the Borough's electricity undertaking, the Transport and General Workers Union and the Poplar Labour Party. It is today occupied by local charity SPLASH.

Wartime bomb damage forced the closure of the main bath hall, which remained unglazed for several years and was not reopened until 1947. Other reinstatement of war damage was executed in the early 1950s.

In 1985 the foyer ceiling was decorated with three murals, by local artist David Bratby, with the history and function of the baths as their theme.

In the first four years of operation the baths attracted an average of almost 273,000 users each year, in addition to those attending dances and other events in the hall during the winter season. Post-war usage was somewhat less: between 1954 and 1959 they were used by an average of 225,700 bathers each year. The numbers of dances also declined, reflecting a change in the type of demand for events in the East India Hall.

A wider range of sports facilities was provided: in 1956 cricket nets were installed and in the 1960s five-a-side football, indoor bowls and basketball were introduced. The baths ceased to provide for these activities in 1980 when the seasonal conversion of the large pool into a hall was ended, as alternative indoor sports facilities had become available in other buildings.

Usage of the baths continued to decline. Between 1966 and 1970 there was an annual average of 209,324 bathers using all sections, but during the period 1980-4 the comparable figure was 106,431.

The numbers using the slipper baths also fell, to the extent that those on the second floor, which were in poor repair, were removed and the space vacated was converted into a music studio, which was completed in 1984.

The remainder of the warm baths section was closed in 1985 and in the following year the large pool was closed for structural repairs to the roof. It was not reopened and, because of the costs of the necessary repairs to the building, the entire baths services were terminated in 1988.

The building subsequently was adapted as an industrial training centre, with financial support from the London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC).

Despite the building being grade II listed in 2001, none of the alterations made by the LDDC have been rectified. The main pool has been concreted in, and the building is now home to pigeons and the occasional squatters.

The earlier unfavourable opinions of the building have changed markedly, at least in specialist architectural circles, with Piers Gough describing it as 'a stunning building with its Hollywood style interior and beautiful vaulted ceiling'.