3.0 Site history
Poplar vestry was one of the first in London to
implement the Baths and Wash-Houses Act 1846-47
which resulted in the present site in East India Dock
Road being acquired in 1850 and two years later a
modest building containing a bathing facility was
opened to the public. Increased demand led to an
extensive overhaul of the facilities and structure, first in
the 1880s and again at the turn of the century.
However, the building deteriorated, persuading the
then London Borough of Poplar to build a larger
structure on an expanded site.
The idea for a new baths building goes back to the mid
1920s, a period when a more leisure orientated
concept of baths was becoming popular, as opposed to
the previous 'sanitary' rationale. The existing contract
drawings for the new baths are dated 1931 and
following a brief delay attributable to the national
financial crisis of 1931, the building was erected in
1932-4 to the designs of Horley Heckford, Borough
Engineer, and RW Stanton, Chief Assistant.
Section through Poplar Baths - click to enlarge
An article published in the Architect and Building news
in 1934 stated that "Poplar Borough, Council may
certainly, claim to possess one of the finest and best
equipped baths of comparable purpose in the country"
(January 19 1934, p 103).
The baths were noted for the innovative
socio-economic ideals that fuelled its conception, i.e. creating
local employment opportunities, whilst also promoting
healthy living.
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The front elevation is a monumental tripartite
composition of three stepped brick masses, with stone
plinth and cornice and stone surrounds to a steel
centrepiece. The exterior architecture displays two
distinct parts, namely the main swimming bath block on
the east, and the section containing offices and the
smaller swimming bath to the west. However the
relationship between the two sections is considered to
be poorly resolved.
The bathhouse comprised two swimming pools,
positioned parallel to each other; one of 100 ft length,
the other 65.5 ft length, with ample accommodation
fitted around them. The bathhouse also included
turkish baths in the basement, men's slipper baths on
the first floor women's slipper baths on the second
floor, a large boiler to the rear and the main pool had
amphitheatre seating at the sides and a spectators'
gallery. The spectators' gallery was positioned above
the entrance, with a committee room above it with
views over the main pool. These arrangements all
essentially survive, however, the two swimming pools
have now been filled with concrete.
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The smaller pool is a simple toplit structure. The larger
pool is much grander in design, with a high roof of
stepped section with clerestory lights carried by a run
of elliptical conecrete arches, creating the most imposing
part of the building and was an innovative method for
bringing natural light into the baths.
The elliptical arch marked an important and dramatic
stage in the design of the British bathhouse, introducing
an ambitious level of internal architecture, previously
only applied to the entrance and front of a swimming
pool complex, The style derives most directly from
Easton and Robertson's Royal Horticultural Hall built
in 1927-8, but with the one crucial difference being that
the arches of Poplar Baths were not carried out in
reinforced concrete, whereas the Royal Agricultural
Hall was. The Royal Agricultural Hall, which is now
listed grade II*, provided the model for many municipal
baths in the late 1920s and 1930s.
The internal decorations, including mosaic floors, tile
work, windows and other sundry features of the
building were also noted for their consistency and
charm.
The original design enabled the bath to be floored over
in winter months to provide a flexible community
space use for sporting matches, theatricals, public
meetings and exhibitions. Closed after bomb damage
during the second World War, the hall was reinstated in
the 1950s. A wider range of sports facilities were
installed during the 1960s, but these moved to other
sites in the 1980s.
The number of people using the baths steadily declined
over this period and in 1985 they were closed.
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