The foundation stone was laid in 1911, with the Baths opening on 1st May 1913.
The heritage journey of Withington Baths
Leading the way for equality back in 1914, the Baths became the first swimming pool in Manchester to offer mixed swimming to the public.
In the early years of the 1930s, local swimmer Cecelia Wolstenholme swam and taught at Withington Baths for the Olympic Games. At this time, Cecelia and her sister Beatrice were two of the most dominant female swimmers in Britain. Cecelia represented Great Britain during the 1930s in the Olympics, the European Championships and England in the British Empire Games.
In 2015, the pool was saved from closure and taken over by Love Withington Baths, which is a community-led charitable organisation.
The rich history of Withington Baths
Explore the five videos below to uncover the rich history of Withington Baths, Manchester’s only operating heritage swimming pool. A true pioneer, Withington Baths made history in 1914 as the first in Manchester to allow mixed bathing.
Discover how the community reclaimed this once-derelict landmark, preserving its legacy with memories like Cecelia Wolstenholme, one of Britain’s top swimmers, training here for the 1930s Olympics. Through the restoration project, the community continues to create new memories, including reimagining the pool’s window as “The Pride of Manchester: People’s Choice” and designing studio windows with the help of five local schools.
Heritage Report
In 2019, we were fortunate to receive funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, enabling us to carry out essential repairs to our building and develop a project to share its rich history with the community. We partnered with an external evaluator to track the progress of the project, and you can learn more about it in our Heritage Report.