Wylie's Baths is a heritage-listed tidal swimming pool located near Coogee Beach, in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

[3] The Baths were added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 14 November 2003[4] and are also classified by the National Trust of Australia.

[11] By the mid nineteenth century the traditional owners of this land had typically either moved inland in search of food and shelter, or had died as the result of European disease or confrontation with British colonisers.

Thus it is thought that the Wylie's Baths location may have been a special place for women's business, possibly associated with birthing, although more research needs to be done to confirm this.

[4] One of the earliest land grants in this area was made in 1824 to Captain Francis Marsh, who received 4.9 hectares (12 acres) bounded by the present Botany and High Streets, Alison and Belmore Roads.

The village was isolated from Sydney by swamps and sandhills, and although a horse-bus was operated by a man named Grice from the late 1850s, the journey was more a test of nerves than a pleasure jaunt.

The wealthy lived elegantly in large houses built when Pearce promoted Randwick and Coogee as a fashionable area.

An even poorer group were the immigrants who existed on the periphery of Randwick in a place called Irishtown, in the area now known as The Spot, around the junction of St.Paul's Street and Perouse Road.

Later amusements included the Coogee Pleasure Pier built in 1928 (demolished in 1933), the shark net installed in 1929 (removed in 1939) and floodlights for night surfing.

Fred Cavill arrived in Sydney in 1879 and, with his sons, managed a number of harbourside pools (for example, Lavender Bay) and helped to popularise competitive and long-distance swimming.

The Women's Baths were built in 1886 and since 1922 have been managed by the Randwick Coogee Ladies Amateur Swimming Club, formed by Rose McIver and Mina Wylie.

Night bathing and picnicking became popular when Wylie erected three lamp posts along the northern edge and also strung lights across the pool.

Renford swam the English Channel 19 times, was a Papal Knight and is featured in the NSW Hall of Champions at the State Sports Centre.

Other swimmers of note associated with Wylie's Baths include Fanny Durack, Bob Parry and Paul Gately.

The northern end of the boardwalk past the men's change room led to an open sitting area which became a popular picnic spot with views over Coogee Beach.

While the nature and style of the new work was clearly modern, it paid attention to the genius loci of the baths, adding a new layer to its history.

[4] Wylie's Baths is located on the rocks at the southern end of Coogee Beach with an entrance off Neptune Street via Grant Reserve.

[4] The extensive restoration by Allen Jack+Cottier in 1995 was praised by the RAIA for its sensitivity in recovering of the original essence of the baths while upgrading and modernising the facilities.

[4] As at 29 October 2004, Wylie's Baths is of State significance as one of NSW's oldest, most intact and best-known ocean swimming pools.

[4] Wylie's Baths is a well-known Sydney landmark, clearly visible from Coogee Beach and making use of its spectacular ocean setting.

It is a good example of vernacular architecture and an ingenious design solution to the problem of providing amenities on a steep cliff face.

Recent restoration of the baths by Allen Jack and Cottier in 1995 won the RAIA Greenway Medal for Conservation and was praised for its sensitivity in preserving the integrity of the original swimming pool complex.

It is thought that the location for Wylie's Baths may be, or may be near a place that was special to Aboriginal women's business, possibly associated with birthing, although more research needs to be done to confirm this.

She, with Rose McIver, formed the Randwick Coogee Ladies Amateur Swimming Club which has managed the Women's Baths just north of Wylie's since 1922.

Wylie's Baths, located on the rocks at the southern end of Coogee Beach, makes use of a dramatic ocean setting.

[4] The baths, despite recent extensive conservation, survive as possibly the last intact example of a turn-of-the-century ocean swimming complex, complete with timber boardwalk, change rooms, kiosk and store.

It offers an ingenious design solution to the problem of providing amenities on a steep cliff face site and represents a good example of vernacular architecture.

[4] Wylie's Baths is also held in high regard by the wider Sydney Community as a landmark and for its historical significance as an ocean pool.

[4] The pool and the unusual timber boardwalk, despite various modifications over time, have potential to yield further information on turn-of-the-century vernacular construction techniques and as such are of technical and research significance.

[4] The size and height of the timber boardwalk at Wylie's Baths is possibly unique amongst Sydney ocean and harbour pools.