Park Road Baths, Halifax

Park Road public baths stood at the south-east corner of People's Park.

The baths were (possibly) designed on classical and Italianate lines by Sir Joseph Paxton and/or George Henry Stokes, and were built by the Borough Engineer George Wilson Stevenson for the Crossley family.

They were opened by Mayor Thomas Selby Walsh on 20th July 1859, following William Ranger's report on the sanitary conditions in Halifax.

The land was given by Sir Francis Crossley. The building was given to the people of Halifax by the Crossley family.

There was

• A ladies' plunge pool, 23 ft 10 ins long by 16 ft 6 ins wide – this was on the left as you enter the building. There were 5 dressing boxes
• 12 ladies' slipper baths
• A gentlemen's first class bath, 53 ft by 18 ft 9 ins. The depth was 3 ft in the shallow end, increasing to 6 ft at the deep end. There were 17 dressing boxes.

  The gentlemen's baths were to the rear of the building

• A gentlemen's second class bath 57 ft long by 18 ft 9 ins wide There were 16 dressing booths

  In 1893, as more women wanted to go swimming, the ladies' pool was closed and women used the men's second class pool

• 12 gentlemen's slipper baths

There was originally no chemical or mechanical means of cleaning the water, and this was emptied and refilled – every other day – by the bath-keeper who lived in rooms on the first floor of the building. The steam plant and laundry and boiler room were in the basement.

Mixed bathing began in 19??

There was reconstruction work in 1921 – when

• New concrete roofs were built
• 18 new dressing boxes were added
• 13 new slipper baths were added for men
• 28 new slipper baths were added for women
• 21 new slipper baths were built in the former bath-keeper's rooms
• The mezzanine floor where the slipper baths were located was removed

Managers at the baths have included

• Thomas Edward Aked [1874, 1881, 1887]
• Anthony Boulby [1891]
• Samuel Bentley McClelland [1911]

In 1881, it was described as

East of St Marys, Park Road, Halifax

On 9th April 1924, the baths re-opened after reconstruction.

The baths closed for a time in 1944 when the boilers became unsafe.

In 1949, the Education Department took control of the baths, and removed the slipper baths and reconfigured the pools.

In 1974, there were plans to demolish a part of the building to make way for the link road to Burdock Way, but this was stopped following a petition.

The baths closed in July 1990 and were converted in offices.

The building was vandalised. The building was put up for sale in 1995.

In 1997, the building was bought by the Calderdale Community Church for £61,101.

In 2001, the baths were refurbished and converted into the King's Centre

See Halifax Swimming Club and Ogden Reservoir

This & associated entries use material contributed by Ivan Birch

Page Ref: MMP465

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