Peter Mannion (1828-1900) Plot D70

Manager - Cardiff Baths

SOURCE: South Wales Daily News 18th May 1900

SOURCE: Evening Express 17th May 1900

Guildford Crescent Baths, Cardiff

The middle years of the 19th century saw improved understanding of the health benefits of good personal hygiene. The Public Baths and Wash-Houses Act 1846 gave local authorities the power to raise money through rates to build public baths. However, Cardiff’s councillors were reluctant to exercise this function and it was left to a group of public-spirited private individuals to take matters forward in the town. That having been said, one of the prime movers – and the architect of the building – was the Council’s own surveyor, Thomas Waring.

In 1861, the Cardiff Baths Company Limited announced its intention to construct public baths on a piece of vacant ground at the bottom of Edward Street, between the Taff Vale Railway embankment and the Bute Dock feeder. A contemporary newspaper report described the proposal as including first and second-class swimming pools, dressing rooms and other conveniences, a Turkish Bath, and also first and second-class hot and shower baths.

What later came to be known as the Guildford Crescent Baths opened on 22 April 1862. Admission charges were sixpence for the first class pool and threepence (reduced to tuppence on Saturdays) for second class. The Turkish bath cost two shillings. Incentives were, however, offered to employers, who could buy tickets in bulk, at a reduced rate, for distribution to their workers.

While the opening of the Wales Empire Pool in 1958 might have been seen as rendering Guildford Crescent redundant, the Baths remained open until 1984. The building was subsequently demolished and the site is now occupied by the Ibis Hotel.

David Webb, Glamorgan Archives Volunteer

SOURCE: https://glamarchives.wordpress.com/2020/09/04/guildford-crescent-baths-cardiff/