Poplar Baths

A campaign to restore the baths won the support of Tower Hamlets Council in 2010 and the construction company Guildmore was appointed to complete the works to create a new leisure centre incorporating a swimming pool, gymnasium and affordable housing on adjacent land.

It was built to provide public wash facilities for the East End's poor as a result of the Baths and Washhouses Act 1846.

An uncovered water tank supplied the baths and was erected above the boiler house with a capacity of 24,000 gallons.

[1] The Baths were rebuilt in 1933 to a design by Harley Heckford and the larger pool was covered over to convert the building into a theatre.

[2] A statue of the local shipowner and philanthropist, Richard Green stands outside the Baths on the A13 East India Dock Road.