Britain's surviving Victorian-style Turkish baths

Map of 7 locations in United Kingdom

Malcolm Shifrin's Victorian Turkish Baths project counts eleven Victorian and Victorian-style hot-air baths still open anywhere in the British Isles, out of several hundred built after the type arrived from Ireland in the 1850s. These are the survivors you can still get into, plus one large municipal complex whose hot rooms are shut while its trust works through the roof, and the dates, restorations and operators attached to each are the ones the baths' own records and the press carry.

Places in this collection

  • Victoria Baths — The Hathersage Road complex opened in 1906 with a Turkish baths suite inside it and closed in 1993. The Manchester Victoria Baths Trust has…
  • Ironmonger Row Baths — The bathhouse opened off Old Street in 1931 and the Turkish baths followed in 1938. Renovations in 2010-12 and again after a fire in 2022 h…
  • Mounts Baths — Northampton's art deco baths on Upper Mounts opened in 1936 and carry three Victorian-style hot rooms, which is what keeps a 1930s building…
  • Turkish Baths Harrogate — Opened in 1897 in the Moorish style and restored in 2018, with Islamic-inspired arches and screens, glazed brickwork, arabesque painted cei…
  • City Baths — The Northumberland Road baths opened in 1927 on the site of the Northumberland Baths of 1859, and closed to the public in 2014. The Grade I…
  • Health Hydro — The Great Western Railway Medical Fund Society built these baths on Milton Road in 1891 to architect JJ Smith's design, funded by subscript…
  • Portobello Swim Centre — Built in 1898 on the beach at Portobello, this is the only remaining public Turkish bath in Scotland: three hot rooms, a steam room and a p…

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