The Gibson Street Baths have been placed on the Victorian Society's Top 10 Endangered Buildings List for 2025. The Gibson Street Baths have been placed on the list by the charity which

campaigns for Victorian and Edwardian built heritage. Gibson Street Baths, opened in 1907, was the fourth such facility built in Newcastle under the 1846 Public Baths and Wash-houses Act and

is now one of just three pre-1914 swimming baths still standing in Tyne-and-Wear, alongside Wallsend and Byker. Owned by Newcastle City Council, the building now stands empty but local

authority bosses say they are looking to put it on the market again soon. The Victorian Society’s President Griff Rhys Jones said: "I have lost count of the number of public bath houses

welfare and an illustration of Victorian-Edwardian values at their best." KEEP UP TO DATE WITH ALL THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS AND TOP STORIES FROM THE NORTH EAST WITH OUR FREE NEWSLETTER

The rapid, unplanned growth of towns and cities during the Industrial Revolution left little provision for public hygiene. With disease widespread, the 1846 Public Baths and Wash-houses Act

-prompted by a campaign led by the Bishop of London - became the first legislation empowering local authorities to build public bathing facilities, funded via the Poor Rate. In Newcastle,

an 1845 report highlighted the issue: with river access curtailed by development along the Tyne, working-class people were left without suitable or private places to bathe. Existing baths in

the city’s upper parts were inaccessible to the poor. Recommendations included creating affordable or free public baths near steam engines to provide hot water in winter. The Gibson Street

Baths were constructed at a cost of £28,000, Alderman Holmes described it as “the most complete set of baths for their size in England.” The opening ceremony was marked by a performance from

Olympic swimmer Arthur 'Jack' Jarvis, and the baths provided both slipper baths and laundry facilities. Men and women entered through separate doors, and the interior boasts

exquisite tiling. The men’s entrance hall features four remarkable panels: two signed by the celebrated Dorset tile-makers Carter & Co, depicting mermaids, and two others showing a water

polo match and a diver in striped swimwear - extraordinary works praised by architectural historian Lynn Pearson as without parallel, even in Britain’s grandest historic baths. A fifth

panel lists the 15 members of the Baths & Wash Houses Committee, as well as the architect and builders, beneath Newcastle’s coat of arms. During WWII, the baths’ reservoir served the

National Fire Service. In later decades, as private bathrooms and washing machines became widespread, demand for municipal facilities declined, and Gibson Street Baths was eventually adapted

for badminton. Newcastle City Council put it up for sale in 2016. The move sparked strong public opposition, with local residents campaigning to preserve the baths for community use. Their

efforts led to the building being listed as an Asset of Community Value. Though campaigners developed plans for reuse, they couldn’t finalise them within the short six-month window allowed.

The site then lingered on the market for two years; in 2018, a potential developer emerged, but no sale was completed. Today, the baths stand empty, visited only occasionally by urban

explorers, while the building visibly deteriorates. The Victorian Society is urging Newcastle City Council to seek a sensitive new use for this much-loved historic building. Given the

absence of a buyer, the Society recommends renewed collaboration with the community - offering support and extended time to develop a viable reuse proposal that preserves this valuable part

of the city’s social and architectural heritage. A Newcastle City Council spokesperson said: “Gibson Street Baths became vacant in 2016 after it ceased as a badminton club. As we lacked the

significant funding required and the expertise to refurbish it, we put it on the market a year later. “We received several bids, and a preferred bidder was chosen but unfortunately was

unable to access the funds needed to bring it back into use. It is currently wind and watertight albeit in poor condition. “We have had numerous discussions over the years to bring the

property back into use particularly with the Tyne & Wear Building Preservation Trust however due to funding issues none of these have come to fruition yet. “We recognise this is an

historically important building and want to see it saved and brought back into use and so will look to market it again in the near future.” JOIN OUR BREAKING NEWS AND TOP STORIES WHATSAPP

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