Sheffield newest heritage charity hopes 2025 is breakthrough year for city’s only Victorian Bathhouse

If this Grade II listed Victorian Bath House was anywhere in the South of England, you would expect to see people drinking hot chocolate and eating canapes whilst bathing in the beautiful bijou plunge pool, served by a natural spring water source, they claim.

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However, because it is in the middle of a sprawling council estate and owned by Sheffield Council it has been neglected and derelict for years, they say.

The bath house was built for Charles Herbert Pierrepont, 2nd Earl Manvers and the Lord of the Manor of Beighton in 1842, and initially was a hotel with spa baths beneath it.

Subsequently, it was used for many years as private dwellings. In the 1973 it was given Grade II listed building status.

For the last seven years, the Friends of Birley Spa have had some highs and lows in their efforts to get the building restored and reopened to the public.

The ‘friends’ organisation has now been dissolved and the organisation has become a full-blown Preservation Trust, registered with the Charity Commission under the new name of ‘The Birley Spa Preservation Trust,’ and they are hoping for a breakthrough year in their campaign.

“The Friends of Birley Spa came together informally, prior to a public meeting on 30th August 2018 at Spa View Church, Hackenthorpe, which was called in response to the public outcry at Sheffield Council’s decision to sell Birley Spa Bath House”, says Fiona Milne, Chair of Trustees of the new charity.

“Clive Betts MP attended the meeting and announced that the building was being withdrawn from sale, so that the council would work with a community group to help bring the building back into use. We then formalised our group as Friends of Birley Spa.

“Our ambition is simply to bring the Bath House back into use for our community and the wider public.”

“Our priority will be education, whether it be the amazing history of the site, about which there is still so much more to discover; for studying the ecology and nature of the area, which will include projects to increase biodiversity and help combat climate change, to the simplest pleasure of being outdoors with forest schools for children and adults.

“We also want to focus on the building as a place for health and wellbeing, including forest bathing to mindfulness sessions, to cold water bathing in the plunge pool.

“There are so many possibilities for a restored building and grounds, and let's not forget, this site is unique to our region and probably nationally, so allowing it to deteriorate to the level that it has, is desperately sad.

“Sheffield has so much to offer, just imagine if it had a functioning Victorian Bath House.

“Becoming a registered preservation charity with a renewed focus makes us all feel very proud. It’s a validation of all our efforts over the years, but it is also more than a little terrifying, after feeling ignored for so long, we now feel very much 'seen', which is a new experience for us, but empowering nonetheless.

“We hope that now we will be taken more seriously and be able to attract more in the way of funding and people with relevant expertise to our cause.

“The last building condition survey was in 2021. We plan to commission a new condition survey to assess how we move forward and the scope of any restoration.

“We have consulted with the local community at various stages on our journey and will continue to do so. We are nothing if we do not have our community's support.

“Our next steps will be to commission experts to obtain independent structural surveys and quotes for the building’s restoration.

“We will be applying to the Heritage Lottery Fund and other funders for money to achieve this.

“We are meeting with Sheffield City Council officers at the end of the month to see discuss these steps, and to secure a lease of the site, which would enable us to explore all the funding options open to us.

“We have seven volunteer trustees and a handful of other volunteers who help with gardening and events.

“We would love more people to get involved in this exciting project, including people who are interested in gardening ecology, heritage, architecture, sustainability and fundraising.

“Our first public event as The Birley Spa Preservation Trust, will be at the Sheffield Heritage Fair on Saturday 25th January and Sunday 26th January 2025, at the Millennium Gallery in Sheffield, so please come and see us.”

The Birley Spa Preservation Trust can be contacted at www.friendsofbirleyspa.org or email [email protected]