Former Municipal Baths

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 10/01/2012

SJ 99 NW 4/9 2/4/75

ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE HENRY SQUARE (south side) Former Municipal Baths

(Formerly listed as Hugh Mason House (formerly listed as The Municipal Baths))

G.V. II*

Municipal swimming baths, now industrial/office units. 1870- 71 and later. By Paull and Robinson. Flemish bond brick with slate roof and stone dressings. Large swimming hall with tower at north east and subsidiary accommodation at east. Italian Romanesque style. 5-bay swimming hall has flat pilasters, a machicolated frieze below the eaves level and 3 round-headed windows with hoodmoulds and glazing bars in the upper storey of each bay. Other elevations are treated similarly. A lean-to against the ground floor has a central entrance feature with 2 arched door openings and numerous small arched lights under dripmoulds. The Lombardic tower has vent openings towards the top between bold machicolations. A similarly detailed chimney rises from the apex of the roof. To the left of the tower another elaborate entrance surround gives access to the lower 2-storey wing which has paired windows on the lower floor and 11 round windows on the first floor. Interior: the swimming pool (at the time said to be the second largest covered bath in Europe) now filled in, is surrounded by paired columns with moulded capitals supporting semi-circular brick arches. Impressive hammer-beam roof. Other fittings, including doors, staircases etc. have survived intact. Apart from being an important early example of a Municipal swimming bath the building is exeptional because of its forceful architectural massing and use of stylistic features.

Listing NGR: SJ9335298687