Campaigners hope former baths can be brought back into community use

A former swimming pool has remained empty and unused for the last five years since a charity was granted the lease of the historic building with plans to turn it back into a swimming pool.

But Fusion, who run locations including Shepton Mallet Lido and Wells Sport & Fitness, have recently pulled out of restoring and managing Jacob’s Wells Baths.

There is now a fear that Bristol City Council will sell the building on Jacob’s Wells Road to developers. Local campaigners, however, still hope that it can be saved for community use.

Built in the Victorian Queen Anne Revival style, the Hotwells Public Baths opened in 1889 in what was then a very deprived part of Bristol.

It contained six first class and 18 second class men’s warm baths, six women’s warm baths all of one class, waiting rooms, attendants’ rooms, an office and a storeroom, a towel washing room, boiler room and smithy, plus a 80ft long and 35ft wide swimming pool which the Western Daily Press said was “considered to be one of the finest in the kingdom”.

The facilities eventually closed in 1977 due to cost-cutting – with the council eyeing up a site on land next to the SS Great Britain for a swimming pool that was never built – and between 1980 and 2016, the site was Bristol Community Dance Centre.

A report in the Western Daily Press said that Jacob’s Wells Baths was “considered to be one of the finest in the kingdom”. – image: Bristol Archives

Trinity CEO Emma Harvey is one of the campaigners hoping that Jacob’s Wells Baths can be brought into community use.

She said: “Jacob’s Wells Baths is an asset owned by us and Bristol is a city that has demonstrated it can take complex heritage assets and transform them into viable community and cultural hubs.

“What we need now is for the people of this city to come together and say we want one last chance at reimagining this building, to protect it as a shared civic space for future generations.

“Once it’s gone, it’s gone; we just need to believe for a change that there is an alternative to this ‘sold from under you’ narrative.”

Jacob’s Wells Baths – photo: Martin Booth

Jacob’s Wells Community Hub campaigner Heather Anne said that “every community deserves a community space – a secular space where everyone is an equal. Our central area is devoid of a flourishing community centre.”

She said: “Jacob’s Wells Baths was successfully repurposed and used as a dance and performance space for several decades. The building is now very cold and damp. It needs and deserves some tender loving care…

“Fusion was offering to renovate not only the building but to expand the space so that it could be used for a variety of uses. This was more than the community expected in my opinion.

“The council could approach the other people / groups who put in proposals for the baths building. One has proved that they can renovate a derelict heritage building.”

Anne added: “I am keen for a local community space that is intergenerational in its approach. I am someone who would build a skateboard park in every locality if I could make those decisions.”

Contact Gonzo vs Bristol at Jacob’s Wells Baths as part of Mayfest 2018 – photo: Paul Blakemore

Fusion said that it is “with regret” that they have withdrawn from the Jacob’s Wells Baths project.

“This decision has not been reached lightly,” a Fusion spokesperson told Bristol24/7.

“However, the impacts of the pandemic on the leisure industry, the energy crisis and rising costs of materials have had a significant impact on the financing of the project, which means it can no longer proceed.”

Bristol City Council have now taken back possession of the building.

A council spokesperson said: “Contractors are working on site to ensure it remains secure while we consider the options available to us and next steps. It remains our ambition to see this Grade II Listed building restored and back in active use for the benefit of Bristol.”

Main photo: Martin Booth

Read next:

• Behind the scenes: Jacob’s Wells Road Baths
• Vision for the future of historic former baths
• Jacob’s Wells Baths set to become a swimming pool again

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