Historic building that housed ‘micro model of the NHS’ to reopen next year
The Health Hydro will feature Wiltshire’s longest pool with a length of 33m
Swindon’s historic Health Hydro is set to reopen in early 2026 after “tremendous amounts of asbestos” forced it to stay closed for longer than expected.
The building was originally set up by rail workers who felt like their health and hygiene needs were not met and has gradually evolved to include Victorian baths and saunas.
When the refurbished Health Hydro opens, it will include a gym and fitness suite in place of the old Washing Baths Hall as well as accessible changing facilities and new heaters in the Turkish Baths.
Councillor Marina Strinkovsky, cabinet member for placemaking and planning, said: “The site is very important for Swindon’s heritage. However, I would make the confident claim that it is in fact a nationally important heritage building. So much of Britain's industrial, social, political and health heritage is embodied in that one building.
“We've got a bunch of workers who decide that some of their needs are not being met. Their hygiene needs in the first instance, but then their medical needs, their fitness needs, their health needs. So, they club together by subscription, and they build this magnificent building.
“And they essentially created a micro model of the welfare state before we had a welfare state, and it was a micro model of the NHS before there was an NHS”
“So as a nation, I think we can be proud of this building. But as Swindonians, we absolutely, one-hundred percent should be proud of this building”.
The Grade II* listed building closed its doors in March 2023 for the first phase of refurbishment.
However, the works took a year longer than expected and the scheme’s cost increased from £6.5m to £8.6m.
“It's an absolutely enormous building and it is also has been in continuous operation for a very long time, which is obviously amazing and a strength, but it also means that it's not had the best maintenance over the decades”, explained Cllr Strinkovsky.
“All kinds of problems have accumulated there. Water ingress through the ceilings. Floors and windows that were not weatherproof. Ventilation issues and things like that. But there were also things that were added over the years.
“Those are sort of things to the fabric of the building that had been done as well as more like industrial things like absolutely tremendous amounts of asbestos. The building was riddled with asbestos. Every nook and cranny of the parts of the building that people don't see and that needed to be decontaminated”.
To help carry out the phase one works, the council has received a grant from Historic England as well as money from the government’s Towns Fund.
Further refurbishments, such as the Turkish Baths and the small pool will be tackled further down the line when the council receives word if its application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund has been successful.
The Health Hydro might have to shut again for phase two and three works, but Cllr Strinkovsky assured Greatest Hits Radio that this closure would be for a “much shorter period”.