Building record 1160/420/1 - Barry Road School Swimming Pool

Barry Road swimming pool is of 1904 by Edmund Law. It was used for two years during the First World War as part of a military hospital.

{1} The Barry Road swimming pool opened in 1902 and has recently been refurbished. Includes photographs of the pool in 1910 and then again during the First World War when it was floored over and used as a military hospital.

{2} The building was assessed for inclusion on the List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest in 2018. The decision was taken not to include it.

The Barry Road Pool is a good example of an early-C20 educational and sporting building. As part of a Board School complex it demonstrates the ambition to provide children with well-designed and healthy educational establishments, in this case through provision of a pool. It also demonstrates an attempt at architectural pretension which was the approach taken to swimming pool buildings in the Edwardian era. The building was therefore constructed in a style popular for educational buildings, the Queen Anne revival style promulgated by the architect of the London School Board, JJ Stevenson. The highlight is the entrance front with curvilinear gable, large window and entrance porch. The interior is distinguished by extensive use of tiling, with use of classical detailing such as pilasters and the large roundel. The tiled decoration remains essentially intact, as do the original changing cubicles. The building has been altered. The pool itself has been re-tiled and the roof-lights and gable windows have been replaced with profile plastic sheeting.

{3} Built 1904 by Edmund Law with an Italianate gable.

<1> 2002, Early Days of the Baths, p.14 (checked) (Newspaper cuttings). SNN101762.

<2> Historic England, 2018, Barry Road swimming pool Northampton (Designation Advice Report). SNN111293.

<3> Bailey, B, Pevsner, N, and Cherry, B, 2013, The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, p. 417 (Book). SNN111989.

Record last edited

Mar 5 2025 8:48AM