Entrance facade of former bath house, Central Promenade, Newcastle, Ballaghbeg, Co Down

Entrance facade of former bath house, Central Promenade, Newcastle, County Down

This is the rebuilt and relocated front façade of a former bath house, now serving as the gate screen to an outdoor swimming complex. The original bath house was constructed around 1834, probably to designs by Thomas Duff, as part of the 3rd Earl Annesley's efforts to develop Newcastle as a watering place. It was positioned next to The Annesley Arms hotel, which had been built shortly before. The building operated as a bathing establishment into the early 1900s, advertised in 1839 as 'a splendid suite of baths alike distinguished for their architectural beauty and interior neatness'. Contemporary advertisements emphasise that the facility provided salt water baths refreshed with each tide and offered separate bathing facilities for the 'trades and working classes' alongside those for upper class patrons. When the baths closed around 1930, Newcastle Urban District Council took over the building for use as offices. It was abandoned during the early 1970s and severely damaged by bombing. The building was demolished around 1985, but the material from the front façade and portico colonnade was salvaged and reassembled to front the Tropicana swimming complex, which was subsequently built on the site.

The façade consists of two single-storey rectangular end blocks, or wings, connected by a colonnade. The front façade of the blocks is constructed in granite ashlar and appears to be a faithful rebuilding of the original bath house façade. Each block features a single centrally located window with a panel beneath. The colonnade, which originally fronted a portico, also appears to be a faithful rebuild, comprising six Doric columns supporting a parapet. Modern railings and gates now span between the columns, and PVC lettering has been attached to the parapet. Large portions of the north and south façades of both end blocks are also in granite ashlar. The south block features a single window on its south façade, and the north block has a single window on its north façade. These façades appear to be faithful rebuilds, but beyond this point to the east, where the blocks link to what appear to be changing room facilities, is modern construction. The sheeted hipped roofs capping the blocks are modern; the original roofs were slate-covered.

A 1971 survey describes the original bath house as a single-storey building with a basement storey exposed to the sea. The façade was constructed in ashlar granite rising to a square cornice and small parapet. Entrances were surmounted by six-pane fanlights contained within a Doric hexastyle in antis portico, flanked on either side by square projections, with one window in front. The main façade continued for a further long bay on each side. Windows featured plain trabeated granite dressings, with full glazing in some instances margined and sashed, and in others casement. The rear and sides were rendered with granite dressings and included two shallow projections at the rear corresponding to longer projections on the façade.

The swimming complex itself is located on the east side of Central Promenade, overlooking the shore. The gate screen no longer fulfils the criteria to be considered a listed building.