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Bland's Cliff Turkish
Baths
These baths were originally
opened in 1859 by the Scarborough Public Bath Company Limited, which
was incorporated a year earlier in 1858 under the chairmanship of a local
physician, Dr Richard Cross.
The baths were open every day except Sunday,
from six in the morning till ten at night.
Patrons paying 6d. had access to a swimming bath
containing 100,000 gallons of sea-water, warmed
to a temperature of 65ºF. There
were also various types of personal baths and
showers (which could be taken either in fresh
water or in sea-water), and vapour baths at 1s.
each, with a completely separate suite of baths
for women.
In 1863, the
building was enlarged to make space for 'a
complete and separate Suite of Rooms for Ladies
and Gentlemen, price 2s 6d each Bath.'
Compared with the price of a swim, this was
quite expensive and, within a year, provision
was made for tickets at one shilling to be
available on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays
after six o'clock in the evening.
The building,
which was designed by the Yorkshire surveyor, Josiah Fairbank,
brought more than a touch of
the mystic East to
Scarborough's sea front, with its Moorish arches, red-and-white
brickwork, and mosque-like water tower crowned with a dome.
Entrance was direct from the sands—the Scarborough Foreshore Road was not
constructed until 1879.
By then, there was much more activity on the
beach, with donkey rides, and one of the
Scarborough Adult School Coffee Vans. But
although the new
road separated the baths from the beach, they would still have been seen
clearly from quite a distance.
The baths company managed to survive
until February 1904, when the premises were sold for £4,250. The then Chairman
was reported as saying that 'the old baths had got about worn
out' and that he was 'very pleased they had finally done with it'.
In fact the baths continued to be used, under
different ownership,
until around 1931, although it is not yet known whether the Turkish
baths remained open until the others closed.
In
the mid 1990s, what remained of Bland's
Cliff Public Baths had been converted into an
amusement arcade.
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