My sister and I are lying on slabs like flounders in a fishmonger’s. Instead of a bed of ice, though, we’re stretched out on heated marble. We move between three hot rooms, each resembling little chapels with vaulted ceilings, chatting quietly in the cooler one, applying face and hair masks in the middle one, and simply lying still, sweating, in the hottest one. Later, we will be scrubbed and massaged. In between, we cool off under a rain-mist shower, or retire to a bed in our own private mahogany-panelled booth beneath a glazed dome.
It sounds like a luxury spa, with prices to match. In fact, we’re at a century-old public bathhouse. The City Baths in Newcastle reopened in April after an £8m restoration – and a decade-long campaign. A two‑hour Turkish bath session here costs about £20, which includes a swim in the pool upstairs.
The City Baths is one of the UK’s few surviving Victorian or Victorian-style Turkish baths. It was built in 1927 on the site of an even older bathhouse, the Northumberland Baths, which opened in 1859. Despite being Grade II-listed in 1992, classed as of high architectural significance in 2012, and being well used and loved by the people of Newcastle, the city council closed it in 2013.
The closure was a familiar story. There were once more than 600 Turkish baths in Britain and Ireland. The movement was spearheaded by the Scottish diplomat and politician David Urquhart, who had visited hammams in Turkey and Morocco, and the Irish doctor Richard Barter, a hydrotherapy pioneer. The first Turkish bath opened in Blarney, County Cork, in 1856. London had one by 1860, and they spread across Britain and Ireland over the next 40 years.
Malcolm Shifrin, a historian and the author of Victorian Turkish Baths, explains their importance: “This cultural institution contributed public cleansing facilities when most people had no running water, therapeutic benefits at a time when modern medicine was barely in its infancy, and destressing, relaxation facilities.”
As well as their health benefits, Turkish baths were considered a social good. According to the Friends of the City Baths: “Urquhart saw that working men gained skills when building the baths, and he also saw the value of using bath premises as a meeting place.”
Turkish baths began to decline after the second world war, when more people had access to hot running water and modern medicine. Today, they are an expensive leisure facility for cash-strapped councils to maintain, heat and staff. But as Shifrin points out: “Many of the buildings that housed Victorian Turkish baths have architectural merit.” He highlights the surviving baths in Harrogate, Manchester, Carlisle, Edinburgh and Glasgow as being particularly precious.
Despite their historical significance, by 1990 only 34 original baths were still open. Today, there are 11 in the UK – and of those, three are in private members’ clubs, two are closed for refurbishment and just six are open to the general public. The City Baths is a rare example of a bathhouse that came back from the brink, largely thanks to tireless local campaigning. “It’s absolutely brilliant,” says Shifrin of the reopening, “and thanks to a wonderful group of women who worked freely to keep alive something important in their lives.”
Shifrin first went to a Victorian-style Turkish bath as a teenager in the 1950s, at the original Imperial hotel in Russell Square, London, which was “savagely demolished” in 1967. He has since visited all the surviving baths, including those in private clubs (the Royal Automobile Club in London and the Western Baths Club and Arlington Baths, both in Glasgow).
The reopening of Newcastle’s City Baths was a fillip to campaigners hoping to resurrect other Turkish baths, namely the Carlisle Baths, the Victoria Baths in Manchester and the Govanhill Baths in Glasgow. Shifrin says he is “fairly hopeful” about Carlisle, as it also has an active campaigning group, one of whose leading members, Julie Minns, is now in parliament. Minns was elected as the Labour MP for Carlisle in July and mentioned the baths in her maiden speech.
“Victoria Baths also has a formidable campaigning group, but their problem (and that of the Govanhill baths) is that their Turkish bath is only one part of a large public baths complex, and just repairing roofs and the building’s structure have had to be their first priorities,” Shifrin say. “Both are now open to the public for a variety of activities, but neither has reached that part of their survival to-do list that includes the Turkish baths.”
Another Victorian baths, the Health Hydro in Swindon, which closed in April last year, seems to have the best hope of reopening in the near future. It has government and lottery funding, and work is under way. Its rebirth would be a real cause for celebration.
According to Shifrin: “This is the world’s oldest extant Turkish bath institution, being opened in 1868 by the Great Western Railway’s Medical Fund Society.” Is he hopeful it will reopen next year as planned? “I have learned not to tempt fate,” he replies.
Elsewhere, several significant buildings that once housed Turkish baths still stand, even though the baths themselves have long since closed. However, they, too, are under threat. “Too many have been demolished, or will be diminished in stature,” says Shifrin. He gives the example of the “spectacular” baths building in Bishopsgate, London. “It is to be virtually hidden by an overhanging office block towering above it, solely to provide a few extra feet of space for greedy developers in an area already overflowing with empty offices.
“It is essential that the few remaining Victorian and Victorian-style Turkish baths are preserved, preferably as operational baths, as a reminder of something intrinsically good that Britain gave to the world in the Victorian era.”
Newcastle residents seem to agree. On our visit to the City Baths, there was a steady stream of bathers, from a lone woman reading, to couples and small groups of friends. One woman told us that she comes three times a week. Staff say they have met many older people who came to the bath decades ago as children, and are delighted it has reopened.
Historical significance, architectural splendour and luxury at leisure-centre prices – surely Britain’s last Turkish baths are worth treasuring?
A two-hour Turkish bath, sauna and swim session at the City Baths (city‑baths.co.uk) is £21.50. Accommodation was provided by NewcastleGateshead Initiative and travel was provided by LNER on behalf of newcastlegateshead.com
10 more British Turkish baths. Here are five to visit now …
Turkish Baths, Harrogate
These Moorish-style baths opened in 1897, and were restored in 2018. They feature Islamic-inspired arches and screens, glazed bricks, arabesque painted ceilings and terrazzo floors. There are guided history tours on Wednesday mornings (8.30am, £4 for 45 minutes).
From £27 for two hours, turkishbathsharrogate.co.uk
Mounts Baths, Northampton
The city’s art deco baths opened in 1936 and feature three Victorian-style hot rooms. The Northampton Sun Group, a local naturist organisation, runs skinny-dipping nights here every Sunday (5.30pm-8pm, £10, nsgswim.org.uk).
£8.55 for entry to the health suite (sauna, steam room and Turkish hot rooms), trilogyactive.co.uk
Porchester Spa, London
This spa in Bayswater, north of Hyde Park, was built in 1929 and reopened in 2020 after an £800,000 refurbishment. It has three hot rooms, two steam rooms, a sauna and a plunge pool.
From £9.81 for local residents, £29.70 for non-residents, everyonespa.com
Portobello Swim Centre, Edinburgh
The only remaining public Turkish bath in Scotland was built in 1898, right on the beach in Portobello, Edinburgh’s seaside suburb. It has three hot rooms, a steam room and a plunge pool.
£9.60, edinburghleisure.co.uk
Ironmonger Row Baths, London
This bathhouse opened in Old Street in 1931, with the Turkish baths added in 1938. Extensive renovations (in 2010‑12, and after a fire in 2022) mean the modern-day luxury spa is unrecognisable from the 1930s baths, but it still has three hot rooms, plus saunas, steam rooms and a plunge pool.
From £40 for two hours, spaexperience.org.uk
And five to (hopefully) visit in the near future
Victoria Baths, Manchester
This historic swimming pool and Turkish baths opened in 1906 and closed in 1993. Since then, the Manchester Victoria Baths Trust has partly reopened the building for tours and events such as exhibitions and festivals. It aims to repair the entire building and bring it fully back into public use – including the Turkish baths.
Free entry, £9 for a guided tour, open Wednesdays 11am-3pm, from April to September; it also hosts events from March to November. Donate at victoriabaths.org.uk
Govanhill Baths, Glasgow
This bathhouse opened in 1917 and closed, after a five-month occupation in protest, in 2001. The Govanhill Baths Community Trust completed the external refurbishment in August 2023 and aims to reopen the baths in 2026 as a wellbeing centre.
Donate at govanhillbaths.com
Carlisle Baths
Carlisle Baths and Washhouse opened in 1884, with the Turkish baths added in 1909. It was closed in November 2022, and the Friends of Carlisle Victorian and Turkish Baths are campaigning to reopen it.
Donate at carlislebaths.co.uk
Be Well the Spa, London
York Hall Leisure Centre in Bethnal Green opened in 1929 with Turkish baths in the basement. The baths were refurbished and reopened as a day spa in 2007. The spa closed again for renovations in May, and is due to reopen by the end of the year.
be-well.org.uk
Health Hydro, Swindon
The GWR Medical Fund Baths and Dispensary opened in 1891, with the Turkish baths added in 1904-05. A report in May found that “no similar buildings are known of” anywhere in the world. The Health Hydro, as it is now known, has been closed since April 2023 for a £6.5m revamp. No reopening date has yet been announced.
better.org.uk
