Swindon Victorian Turkish Baths

In 1948, when the fund's medical services were replaced by the NHS, management of the baths passed to Swindon Borough Council, who later outsourced them.

In addition to housing, the company provided educational, religious, and health facilities,[4] the latter under the aegis of its Medical Fund Society.

In February 1858, its Mechanics’ Institute invited David Urquhart to talk about the baths built by his Manchester Foreign Affairs Committee seven months earlier.

[7] This temporarily killed the proposal, but further discussions were held, most notably in July 1861 when a meeting chaired by William Gooch reconsidered the subject.

[7]: 13 Feb 1864 The baths, now overseen by an elected committee, and managed for them by a Mr West, had to move again in 1868 when The Barracks was converted into a Methodist chapel.

[11] In 1891, the company built a large red brick ‘Queen Anne’ style building in Faringdon road opposite the existing baths.

Designed by local architect, John James Smith, it housed a new dispensary, treatment rooms, and separate swimming pools for men and women.

[12] The men’s Turkish baths were well designed, and although, over the years, alterations were made, the structure and appearance of the three original hot rooms remain virtually unchanged.

The original women’s Turkish baths on the first floor have been closed since at least the mid-1950s, though the door leading into them remains, complete with its coloured glass panel designed by the company’s Mr Rice.