Description

MANCHESTER

SJ8595 HATHERSAGE ROAD, Longsight
698-1/22/731 (North side)
18/01/83 Victoria Baths with attached
forecourt walls

II*

Public baths. 1906. Red brick with buff terracotta dressings,
steeply-pitched slate roofs with glass skylights. Large
rectangular plan formed by an entrance range parallel to the
street with 3 parallel bath halls to the rear. Eclectic style
combining Jacobean and Baroque elements. Two-and-a-half storey
main range with single-storey wings and 2-storey bath halls,
with basements. The entrance block is a symmetrical 5-bay
composition, with 3:2:1:2:3 windows, the centre and end bays
breaking forwards slightly and steeply gabled, and flanked by
single-storey 3-window side wings on the same axis, all
stridently banded, and with tourelles to the gabled outer
bays, swan-neck pediments to the apex of the gables, banded
chimneys, and a large clock turret on the centre of the roof.
The centre has a canted bay at ground floor with
mullion-and-transom windows and a parapet with moulded
terracotta panel, but all other ground floor openings are
round-headed with keyed terracotta surrounds, including a
doorway with Ionic shafts in the centre of each of the
3-window end bays, and a similar doorway in the centre of the
side wing to the right (with terracotta panel above lettered
"FEMALES"). The 1st floor has cross-windows and a 6-light
mullion-and-transom window in the centre, all with keystones
over each light and low swan-neck pediments. The attic has
Venetian-style 3-light windows in the outer gables, a single
round-headed window in the centre, and segmental-pedimented
dormers between these. The domed clock-turret is mounted on a
mansard with balustraded parapet. Rectangular forecourt
enclosed by wall which has 3 gateways with wrought-iron gates,
and square piers at regular intervals with pedestals of former
urns. Left return wall in similar but simpler style, with 5
gables; right-hand return wall with blank arcade. Interior:
principal entrance hall in left wing, with 2-bay screen and
staircase of dark green glazed terracotta in Baroque style;
all pools galleried on 3 sides, No.1 Pool with Art Nouveau
railings, Nos 1 and 3 Pools with original changing cubicles
beneath the galleries but No.2 Pool altered as sports hall;
blank arcaded side walls, Venetian windows in the gable walls;
Turkish Baths at east end of front range.

Listing NGR: SJ8572595951

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Victoria Baths at Wikipedia
• Victoria Baths official website
• Wikidata Q7926585

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)