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Ironmonger Row Baths ~ A testament to the promotion of cleanliness and self improvement amongst the working classes
With a growing urban population during the nineteenth century living in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, pressure from establishment figures,
including the Bishop of London, to build public bathing houses for the labouring classes, culminated in the Government’s ‘Public Baths and Wash Houses Act’ of 1846.
A report of the Committee appointed to promote the establishment of Baths and Washhouses, clearly demonstrates the link believed to exist between cleanliness and self-improvement:
“To promote the health and cleanliness of the working classes, and as a necessary consequence, improve their social condition and raise their moral tone; thereby rendering them more accessible to and better fitted to receive religious and secular training.”
The Act gave local authorities the power to build public baths in their boroughs, but it did not require them to do so. Despite severe overcrowding in the southern and eastern part of Finsbury by the middle of the nineteenth century, the Borough Council only appointed a Baths & Washhouses Committee in 1900. Their remit was to explore how the Act could be adopted, but took the Council a further 29 years to approve a scheme.
Early in 1929 the Council purchased land for £6,500 for the planned two-phase construction of Ironmonger Row Baths. Architects Alfred Cross and Kenneth Cross were commissioned and their scheme adopted by the Council on 7th March 1929. Seven months later, on 11th October, the full Council resolved to accept the Borough Engineer’s tender of £53,200, which specified the use of direct labour, rather than accept the lowest of the 12 competitive tenders, priced at £48,426. Records show how emotive this debate was, with the Labour Councillors arguing for the need to provide jobs for local unemployed.
Following representation by the Finsbury Rate Payers Association to the Ministry of Health, against the additional £4,774 and subsequent Ministerial Inquiry, the Minister agreed to sanction the loan, providing the lowest competitive tender was accepted. Finsbury Councillors accepted the ruling and the job was appointed to Messrs. Allen Fairhead and Sons of Enfield for £48,426. Given a pint of beer in 1930 cost around 6d compared to £2.90 at today’s prices, a new building would be in the region of c.£5.5 million.
Phase one, comprising a public laundry, together with mangling and ironing rooms and two floors, each of 40 slipper baths, was opened in June 1931. ‘Slipper baths’ were so-called due to their shape and were separated on different floors for use by women and men.
Bathing was also differentiated by 1st and 2nd class tickets, with the former in 1931 costing 6d and the latter 3d, based on whether the recipient wanted one or two towels.
A washing trough could be hired for 1½d
which included the use of the irons.
Phase two, which opened in October 1938, re-enforced the Council’s commitment to provide personal cleanliness for all: “providing modern baths in the Borough, easy of access to the inhabitants and within easy reach of even the most slender purse” and included a 100 ft. length main pool and a Childrens’ Pool “wherein the rising generation can be taught to swim under ideal conditions and in perfect safety” (Chair of the Establishment Committee).
It also included a Turkish Baths suite with 3 hot rooms, a vapour room and a cooling room.
The main pool was home to Highgate Diving Club due to the 12 foot deep end being the deepest in the capital, until Crystal Palace opened in 1964.
In 1960, based on a scheme designed by the Baths Superintendant, at a cost of £18,000, the old washhouses area was converted to a municipal self-service laundry, offering washing machines, dryers and ironing machines, which survived through to 2010 when the building was closed. A refurbishment scheme followed in the 1980’s at a cost of £1.5m, which resulted in some minor internal modifications and renewal of plant.
The Turkish Baths remained as one of only three public facilities in London and attracted a loyal user group who would come not only for the health benefits, but for the chat and egalitarian atmosphere. The laundry was a place where local people met and chatted whilst waiting for their laundry wash. A key attraction was the 1960’s flat ironers, where a bed sheet could be ironed in a few seconds!
The Baths were listed Grade II in 2006, and in 2009 Islington Council took the decision to proceed with a £14.3m refurbishment, designed to inject another 50-years of life into what was a much loved and much used public facility. The total project cost is around £16m of which £4m came from EC1 New Deal for Communities, who viewed this project as an integral part of their regeneration strategy and a key legacy for people in the area.
Project Manager on the Baths, Gill Macquarie, says the re-furbishment is a misnomer: “The design by Tim Ronalds Architects actually seeks to re-configure the 1931 and 1938 buildings, by simplifying the maze of corridors and rooms, to create integrated space, fit for 21st century service”. The project is complex and has posed many structural and logistical challenges to date.
The design brief prepared by Synergy, incorporated the Council’s key objectives for the project as agreed with the Head of Leisure Services, these being:
- To re-provide a centre designed to engage local people so as to improve their health and well-being;
- To minimise operating costs over the next 30 years, through the renewal of all mechanical and electrical services and the design of a sustainable building;
- To restore and preserve the Grade II listed building and retain original features of architectural and historic interest;
- To facilitate ease of operation and maintenance and ensure that the annual ‘down-time’ is minimised and revenue optimised;
- To improve accessibility throughout the building, bringing additional areas into public use
The scope of works includes:
- Retention of 100 foot long pool but conversion to deck level;
- Provision of new teaching pool, increased in size by 28%, with movable floor;
- Refurbishment of the historic viewing gallery;
- Innovative provision of small submersible lifts in each pool to allow quick and easy access to the water, for disabled people or people who are less mobile;
- Increased accessibility with lift access to all floors and improved disabled changing. IRB will meet the ‘Inclusive Fitness Initiative’ (IFI) gold standard;
- Improved changing facilities, including new dry changing rooms;
100% increase in the size of the historic Turkish Baths, which will offer the traditional hot rooms, steam rooms, saunas, relaxation areas and treatment rooms;
- Creation of two new fitness studios and a gym;
- Re-installation of a public laundry, offering modern equipment;
- A permanent historical exhibition of the original slipper baths, to celebrate the original function of IRB as a “baths and washhouses establishment”
- Moving the main entrance from Ironmonger Row to opposite St.Luke’s Gardens
Ironmonger Row Baths was closed in June 2010. In the following 9 months, Wates Construction Limited oversaw asbestos removal, strip-out of old services, phase one demolition and a range of site surveys and investigations, designed to inform both the design team and the contractor about potential risks.
The Archaeology team on site unearthed some interesting finds including ceramic building material, pottery, shell and bone, much of which is dated late medieval and early post medieval (1480 – 1600). The most exciting find is a small, rare and expensive glazed Penn floor tile dated pre 1390. The finds point to the home of a wealthy family on the site, but historians are so far stumped as to who or what that might have been.
The site originally belonged to the ancient Ironmongers Guild which dates back to 1463 and their records show various houses dotted around the area. The find remains a mystery but one the Archaeology team hope to solve.
The main contract started in April 2011, with completion scheduled for July 2012. We will be following the progress of this fascinating project and will report on project risks and site logistics, accessibility and sustainability, and finally its completion in future newsletters.
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