The Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) is delighted at news of the award of £4.7m by the Heritage Lottery Fund to the Cleveland Pools Trust. This will facilitate the restoration of the oldest surviving open-air swimming pool in the UK, dating from 1815, and the oldest surviving Georgian baths in the UK and Western Europe. The site comprises a crescent-shaped pool with a surrounding range of buildings, originally changing rooms and the superintendent’s house, and were listed as Grade II at the time of the Trust’s inception.
The Trust was established in 2005, assisted by set up advice from the AHF, and a project we have been supporting ever since. AHF helped to fund an options appraisal in 2006, and as part of this work the building’s listing was upgraded to Grade II*, allowing the site to be placed on the Historic England national ‘at risk’ register, raising the profile of its plight. A further grant was provided in 2015 so that a project organiser could be employed to help develop funding applications.
Chair of the Cleveland Pools trustees, Paul Simons, said: “After 14 years’ hard work the Trust’s efforts have finally succeeded in guaranteeing the future of this unique place and community asset. The Trust is most grateful to the Heritage Lottery Fund for its support and belief in the scheme. Our thanks also go to the many hundreds of volunteers who have worked tirelessly to get us to this point, and the thousands of others who have expressed their support for the scheme over the years.”
More about Cleveland Pools Trust