St James' Baths/St James’ Pool and Health Club:
Visited with @UrbandonedTeam, @little_ boy_explores and a non-member.
History compiled from: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1403445
St James' Baths, or St James' Pool and Health Club was a leisure facility that opened in 1932 and contained swimming, slipper, Turkish and Russian baths. The pool was the first public swimming bath in England to be fitted with underwater lighting through the provision of twenty-four powerful electric lights along the sides of the pool. The intention was to prevent unperceived accidents, and coloured screens could be placed in front of the lights to give coloured effects. Come the winter months, the pool hall had a sprung floor placed over the the top of the pool allowing up to 1500 people fit into the hall and use the space for concerts and viewing of projected media. A projector room lay bare and empty at one end of the hall and I personally thought this was a strange combo to find in a swimming baths but unique none the less! Anyways, what's special is The Beatles played a gig here during the early 1960s!
Below the large pool space and down into the basement lead you to find the Turkish baths. These consisted of a lounge or cooling room, three hot rooms, a masseur's room, and a Russian steam bath. Adjoining the Turkish baths suite was a Sun Ray room, where 'the Public can enjoy the health giving properties of Sun Ray lamps, even during the dullest weather.' The Russian bath retains the original mosaic tiled floor, but the walls have been re-tiled. The masseur's room has been converted into a shower room with modern tiled floor and walls.
The photos below shows the pool hall within its earlier days, final days and how it would have looked set up as a concert hall:
The Explore:
After a previous success, we headed across town to arrive at St James'. A one-sided effort (so to say) allowed us to all successfully gain access to the baths. We entered into pitch black and stayed there for a couple of hours exploring every inch and taking some photos. This was just another place on the list ticked off we had shot with zero natural light and we are looking forward to see some daylight while exploring very shortly! After spending a good amount of time inside the property, we decided to exit and got caught in a huge hail storm and all wished we stayed in a little longer. Despite that, the day was very successful and have more reports from sites within the local area coming soon.
From the outside.
Then starting off inside with the main attraction, the pool.
The next two shots have some "interesting" focussing going on so I do apologise...
Arched landing area that leads out onto the balcony area around the pool.
Two once identical staircases leading to the above arched landing areas, however one has decayed heavily compared to the other..
Now onto the lobby/entrance.
I only got one/two shots of one of the two changing rooms, but both changing rooms were almost identical in terms of looks.
A potential admin/worker area? Again showing a lot more decay.
There are a few parts of the site missing from my photos sadly such as the turkish baths part. I was too engrossed in shooting the pool that I think I just forgot. However, I hope this gives you a good overview of the site. If you wish, feel free to check out our video on the site below:
Thanks for looking!
Visited with @UrbandonedTeam, @little_ boy_explores and a non-member.
History compiled from: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1403445
St James' Baths, or St James' Pool and Health Club was a leisure facility that opened in 1932 and contained swimming, slipper, Turkish and Russian baths. The pool was the first public swimming bath in England to be fitted with underwater lighting through the provision of twenty-four powerful electric lights along the sides of the pool. The intention was to prevent unperceived accidents, and coloured screens could be placed in front of the lights to give coloured effects. Come the winter months, the pool hall had a sprung floor placed over the the top of the pool allowing up to 1500 people fit into the hall and use the space for concerts and viewing of projected media. A projector room lay bare and empty at one end of the hall and I personally thought this was a strange combo to find in a swimming baths but unique none the less! Anyways, what's special is The Beatles played a gig here during the early 1960s!
Below the large pool space and down into the basement lead you to find the Turkish baths. These consisted of a lounge or cooling room, three hot rooms, a masseur's room, and a Russian steam bath. Adjoining the Turkish baths suite was a Sun Ray room, where 'the Public can enjoy the health giving properties of Sun Ray lamps, even during the dullest weather.' The Russian bath retains the original mosaic tiled floor, but the walls have been re-tiled. The masseur's room has been converted into a shower room with modern tiled floor and walls.
The photos below shows the pool hall within its earlier days, final days and how it would have looked set up as a concert hall:
The Explore:
After a previous success, we headed across town to arrive at St James'. A one-sided effort (so to say) allowed us to all successfully gain access to the baths. We entered into pitch black and stayed there for a couple of hours exploring every inch and taking some photos. This was just another place on the list ticked off we had shot with zero natural light and we are looking forward to see some daylight while exploring very shortly! After spending a good amount of time inside the property, we decided to exit and got caught in a huge hail storm and all wished we stayed in a little longer. Despite that, the day was very successful and have more reports from sites within the local area coming soon.
From the outside.
Then starting off inside with the main attraction, the pool.
The next two shots have some "interesting" focussing going on so I do apologise...
Arched landing area that leads out onto the balcony area around the pool.
Two once identical staircases leading to the above arched landing areas, however one has decayed heavily compared to the other..
Now onto the lobby/entrance.
I only got one/two shots of one of the two changing rooms, but both changing rooms were almost identical in terms of looks.
A potential admin/worker area? Again showing a lot more decay.
There are a few parts of the site missing from my photos sadly such as the turkish baths part. I was too engrossed in shooting the pool that I think I just forgot. However, I hope this gives you a good overview of the site. If you wish, feel free to check out our video on the site below:
Thanks for looking!
