Turkish Suite, The Pools

The Turkish Suite, The Pools

Turkish baths built in 1909 by County Surveyor WC Marks. Constructed by William Johnstone of Carlisle with an interior tiled decorative scheme by Minton and Hollins of Stoke. All other work was carried out by local firms. This suite forms an extension to the existing public swimming baths on James Street; other parts of the James Street Baths are not of special interest.

The building is constructed of red brick with slate roofs. The interior features glazed tiles and faience decorative scheme with terrazzo flooring and marble bench tops.

The suite comprises a series of interlinked rooms with basements attached to the south-east side of the pre-existing public swimming baths. The west part consists of a single-storey entrance block providing an access corridor and attendant's room with former waiting areas. This gives access to the main block forming a double-height cooling room, which leads to a single-storey block housing access to the plunge bath flanked by the shower room and Russian vapour bath. The shampooing room is housed in a two-storey block, beyond which are similar blocks containing the three warm rooms.

The west elevation, originally the only side visible from outside, is now obscured by a later two-storey block with hipped slate roof which incorporates the original access corridor, now entered through a plain entrance with a modern door from James Street. The south elevation comprises a double-height, single-bay square building with a pyramidal roof containing four large thermal windows with mullioned frames and four rectangular roof lights; a decorative lantern surmounts the apex of the roof. A small two-storey toilet block with hipped roof projects to the left, with the attendant's room, also hipped, to the rear. To the right are separate but linked plain L-shaped two-storey blocks with pitched roofs.

The entrance block comprises an access corridor with original doors, glazed fan and margin lights, and the attendant's room (now incorporating a former corridor with provision for waiting and lockers), with a corner fire breast, original store cupboard and plain cornicing. A horse-shoe arched entrance in the north-east corner has a moulded architrave and an upper fan light of decorative stained glass, which leads to the main cooling room. This is the centrepiece of the scheme and is complete with its original stepped plunge bath entered through a horse-shoe arched opening, flanked by rectangular doors, all with surrounds of alternating green and yellow tile. The plunge bath is of concrete construction faced with white glazed bricks. Flanking the north and south walls are sets of five double and single changing rooms separated by polished wooden screens with art nouveau stained glass panels in their upper parts. Extensive use is made of fine tiling and glazed faience work with shades of pale green, pale blue and buff glazes; paired tiles of art nouveau design are also incorporated at intervals. The flooring throughout is of terrazzo paving. This scheme, combined with horse-shoe arches carried on decorative columns with ornamental capitals, creates a strong Oriental atmosphere.

The first Turkish baths built in the British Isles was in 1857 in Blarney, County Cork, and the first in England was in London in 1860. Subsequently many hundreds were constructed, often as part of publicly funded swimming facilities, although only around 20 examples remain in England today.

Plans for Turkish baths in Carlisle occurred as early as 1884 when the existing public swimming baths were opened. The idea was resurrected in 1901 and agreed in 1902, although it was a further six years before plans were finally approved. The Turkish baths opened on 20 September 1909 in a purpose-built extension to the existing public baths building at a cost of £2,500. The internal tiling and glazed faience work was carried out by Minton and Hollins Company of Stoke, one of the leaders in tile manufacture. The opening was celebrated in the local newspapers with descriptions of a public inspection, although there was no formal opening ceremony. Entry cost between one and two shillings depending on the time and day of the week, and bathing was expected to take approximately 1.5 hours. The Turkish baths remain open and in use to the present time.