Old Camberwell Public Baths & Wash House

The building you are approaching is the Old Camberwell Public Baths and Wash House. When it officially opened on the first of October 1892, it served as a vital solution to the lack of hygiene facilities in the crowded Victorian streets of South London. At a time when many residents lived in homes without internal water, this site offered public swimming pools, individual slipper baths for private washing, and laundry compartments where people could wash, dry, and iron their clothes. The commissioners who oversaw its construction intended the facility to be an expression of municipal pride, resulting in a building designed in the Netherlandish Renaissance style with red brick, terracotta details, and a prominent gable.