Broomhill Pool, Ipswich
Encyclopedia
Broomhill Pool is a Grade II listed lido on Sherrington Road in Ipswich
, Suffolk
, England
.
Thanks to the work of the Twentieth Century Society, Broomhill Pool achieved Listed status in August 2001, but Ipswich Borough Council proceeded with their plans for closure and informed the Department of Culture Media and Sport that same year. In January 2002 the DCMS produced a list of closed Listed swimming pools and Broomhill Pool was on that list.
However, this was not generally known to local residents and it was not until February 2003, when the Ipswich Evening Star carried a front page headline asking if Broomhill was now "Doomhill", that people realized the lido might be permanently closed.
Broomhill Pool is one of twelve Grade II listed lido
s in England. It is East Anglia
’s last 50+ metre outdoor pool (165 ft x 60ft complying with the 1938 A.S.A and A.D.A requirements), the only Grade II listed lido, has the last outdoor diving boards (believed to be the last surviving set of Wicksteed diving boards in the world) and is Ipswich’s last “moderne” style building.
, N.W Ipswich.
The original birth place of Ipswich Town F.C.
who played their first matches 1878-1888 before moving to Portman Road. The land was owned by the Sherrington family who were instrumental in the formation of Ipswich Town Football Club. The land was sold to the Borough of Ipswich for park land in 1925. The pool is built within Broomhill Park
.
Sherrington Road is named after Ipswich schoolboy Sir Charles Scott Sherrington
who won the 1932 Nobel Prize for medicine; and became OM (Order of Merit
, one of Britain’s highest honours). He lived nearby at Valley Road.
In art deco style, Broomhill Open Air Swimming Pool was built at a cost of £17,000 and opened in April 1938. Originally heated to 70F (21C), its boilers were requisitioned for the war effort in 1941. 55 yards long and 8 lanes wide, the pool was 4.5 metres deep at the deep end, accommodated 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 metre diving boards, a grandstand for 700 spectators, and underwater flood lighting.
Broomhill Pool was included as one of the case studies in the book "Liquid Assets". The Twentieth Century Society featured Broomhill Pool as their Building of the Month in February 2006. English Heritage have also recognised the importance of lidos and included them in the NMR - National Monuments Record - see the entry on the Pastscape website .
For the last few years the pool site has been open to the public on the Heritage Open Days.
The October 2009 issue of the Swimming Times carried a three-page article on the progress of the campaign so far, written by Sally Wainman. Since the publication of that article, Ipswich Borough Council have advertised the lido on the Leisure Opportunities website, asking for "Expressions of Interest." Sixteen replies were received and three of these operators wish to pursue the matter further.
The Council have also proceeded with their plans to cover the pool over with metal sheeting, citing health and safety concerns as their reason for doing this. This action follows on from a vote taken by the Executive of Ipswich Borough Council back in December 2008.
At that time the sum of £113,000 was voted through with the intention of filling the lido with sand and granular infill. Concerned members of the Trust and the public attended that meeting because the plan had not received Listed Building Consent. The Council later reconsidered and Listed Building Consent was duly sought for the metal sheeting proposal.
The Executive of Ipswich Borough Council (IBC) met on 15th December 2009 to consider an All Options report on the pool and to recommend that the million pounds previously pledged towards its restoration should be taken off the table.
The Executive agreed to pursue Option 2, namely "the transfer of Broomhill Pool to an alternative provider." This meant that outside operators had until February 10th 2010 to present a business plan to Ipswich Borough Council. However, there is no guarantee that the pool site will be kept as a pool since the advertisement for Expressions of Interest only indicated general recreational use.
The Executive also confirmed that the offer of the one million pounds would not be extended past 31st December 2009.
No operator was appointed during 2010 but in December of that year a fresh "Expressions of Interest" tender was launched, with the renewal of a possible financial contribution towards the restoration; any future operator will have to satisfy a range of conditions before this funding actually becomes available; this particular million pounds is not available until 2013/14
Broomhill Pool has been highlighted in electoral campaigns since 2003; most recently, Sally Wainman stood as an Independent Candidate in the 2010 General Election in the constituency of Ipswich, with the lido as the 'single issue'.
The future of the pool relies on gaining further lottery and government funds and securing a suitable pool operator.
The Trust’s objective is to restore Broomhill Pool, the last remaining Olympic length, Grade II listed lido in Suffolk & Norfolk, to full public use.
The Trust's activities are to lobby, explore and liaise with Ipswich Borough Council and all interested parties to preserve Broomhill Pool for future generations.
2006 Feasibility Findings:
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Status
Broomhill Pool opened on April 30th 1938 and closed in the autumn of 2002. The last season when people could therefore actually swim in the lido was the summer of 2002.Thanks to the work of the Twentieth Century Society, Broomhill Pool achieved Listed status in August 2001, but Ipswich Borough Council proceeded with their plans for closure and informed the Department of Culture Media and Sport that same year. In January 2002 the DCMS produced a list of closed Listed swimming pools and Broomhill Pool was on that list.
However, this was not generally known to local residents and it was not until February 2003, when the Ipswich Evening Star carried a front page headline asking if Broomhill was now "Doomhill", that people realized the lido might be permanently closed.
Broomhill Pool is one of twelve Grade II listed lido
Lido
The Lido is an 11 km long sandbar located in Venice, northern Italy, home to about 20,000 residents. The Venice Film Festival takes place at the Lido every September.-Geography:...
s in England. It is East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
’s last 50+ metre outdoor pool (165 ft x 60ft complying with the 1938 A.S.A and A.D.A requirements), the only Grade II listed lido, has the last outdoor diving boards (believed to be the last surviving set of Wicksteed diving boards in the world) and is Ipswich’s last “moderne” style building.
Heritage Site
Broomhill Pool is located on Sherrington Road, and within Broomhill ParkBroomhill Park
Broomhill Park is a semi-natural woodland park between Sherrington Road and Valley Road in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. In older times it was called Broom Hill.The park contains many fine historic oaks and an abundance of Scots Pines...
, N.W Ipswich.
The original birth place of Ipswich Town F.C.
Ipswich Town F.C.
Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....
who played their first matches 1878-1888 before moving to Portman Road. The land was owned by the Sherrington family who were instrumental in the formation of Ipswich Town Football Club. The land was sold to the Borough of Ipswich for park land in 1925. The pool is built within Broomhill Park
Broomhill Park
Broomhill Park is a semi-natural woodland park between Sherrington Road and Valley Road in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. In older times it was called Broom Hill.The park contains many fine historic oaks and an abundance of Scots Pines...
.
Sherrington Road is named after Ipswich schoolboy Sir Charles Scott Sherrington
Charles Scott Sherrington
Sir Charles Scott Sherrington, OM, GBE, PRS was an English neurophysiologist, histologist, bacteriologist, and a pathologist, Nobel laureate and president of the Royal Society in the early 1920s...
who won the 1932 Nobel Prize for medicine; and became OM (Order of Merit
Order of Merit
The Order of Merit is a British dynastic order recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture...
, one of Britain’s highest honours). He lived nearby at Valley Road.
In art deco style, Broomhill Open Air Swimming Pool was built at a cost of £17,000 and opened in April 1938. Originally heated to 70F (21C), its boilers were requisitioned for the war effort in 1941. 55 yards long and 8 lanes wide, the pool was 4.5 metres deep at the deep end, accommodated 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 metre diving boards, a grandstand for 700 spectators, and underwater flood lighting.
Broomhill Pool was included as one of the case studies in the book "Liquid Assets". The Twentieth Century Society featured Broomhill Pool as their Building of the Month in February 2006. English Heritage have also recognised the importance of lidos and included them in the NMR - National Monuments Record - see the entry on the Pastscape website .
For the last few years the pool site has been open to the public on the Heritage Open Days.
The October 2009 issue of the Swimming Times carried a three-page article on the progress of the campaign so far, written by Sally Wainman. Since the publication of that article, Ipswich Borough Council have advertised the lido on the Leisure Opportunities website, asking for "Expressions of Interest." Sixteen replies were received and three of these operators wish to pursue the matter further.
The Council have also proceeded with their plans to cover the pool over with metal sheeting, citing health and safety concerns as their reason for doing this. This action follows on from a vote taken by the Executive of Ipswich Borough Council back in December 2008.
At that time the sum of £113,000 was voted through with the intention of filling the lido with sand and granular infill. Concerned members of the Trust and the public attended that meeting because the plan had not received Listed Building Consent. The Council later reconsidered and Listed Building Consent was duly sought for the metal sheeting proposal.
The Executive of Ipswich Borough Council (IBC) met on 15th December 2009 to consider an All Options report on the pool and to recommend that the million pounds previously pledged towards its restoration should be taken off the table.
The Executive agreed to pursue Option 2, namely "the transfer of Broomhill Pool to an alternative provider." This meant that outside operators had until February 10th 2010 to present a business plan to Ipswich Borough Council. However, there is no guarantee that the pool site will be kept as a pool since the advertisement for Expressions of Interest only indicated general recreational use.
The Executive also confirmed that the offer of the one million pounds would not be extended past 31st December 2009.
No operator was appointed during 2010 but in December of that year a fresh "Expressions of Interest" tender was launched, with the renewal of a possible financial contribution towards the restoration; any future operator will have to satisfy a range of conditions before this funding actually becomes available; this particular million pounds is not available until 2013/14
Broomhill Pool has been highlighted in electoral campaigns since 2003; most recently, Sally Wainman stood as an Independent Candidate in the 2010 General Election in the constituency of Ipswich, with the lido as the 'single issue'.
The Broomhill Pool Trust
The Trust has fought for seven years to keep Broomhill pool in the public eye. This has included political lobbying, raising funds and achieving a possible contribution of £1,000,000 towards the restoration from Ipswich Borough Council. The Trust has secured manifesto pledges; raised funds to conduct a £67,000 feasibility study; and is working with IBC in a joint project team to review "All Options" for the future of the facility.The future of the pool relies on gaining further lottery and government funds and securing a suitable pool operator.
The Trust’s objective is to restore Broomhill Pool, the last remaining Olympic length, Grade II listed lido in Suffolk & Norfolk, to full public use.
The Trust's activities are to lobby, explore and liaise with Ipswich Borough Council and all interested parties to preserve Broomhill Pool for future generations.
2006 Feasibility Findings:
- Public and user groups would like the facility re-opened; 18,500 petition signatures (2008), 88% of IBC’s own (2003) survey
- The pool does not suffer from major structural defects
- There is suitable funding available for re-development costs for the pool
- The pool can operate without making an operational loss
- Operators are willing to take over, manage and operate the pool
- The re-development of the pool is a cost effective solution for all