Bartholomew's Baths in Sansome Walk, seen here in the 1890's, were built in 1852, and opened to the public in 1853 under the ownership of Mr F. T. Barber. In 1860 Barnabas Lett purchased the property and added a small Turkish Bath (see 1886 OS map extract). For many years the building housed Worcester's only swimming pool. It was subsequently run by the Park family until 1971 and then taken over by the City Council. The original complex was demolished and in 1972 the City Swimming pool was built on the same site. This was built further off the road than the original site leaving the first swimming pool open as a sunken garden.

For a detailed history of the Turkish Baths, and some great additional pictures, visit

Victorian Turkish Baths: Their origin, development and gradual decline

at http://www.victorianturkishbath.org. Click here to go to the Bartholomew's baths page.