About Ladywell Playtower

About Ladywell Playtower

Ladywell Playtower, a Grade II listed Victorian Bath House built in 1884, is a landmark Gothic structure and one of the country’s earliest public swimming pools. After years of disrepair following its closure and fire damage, the Council is seeking a Restoration Partner to revive this historic site for future generations.

Original features

This large two storey Gothic structure is one of the first examples of public swimming pools in the country. It features an imposing façade, through prominent architectural features and detailing. This includes an impressive red-brick cylindrical tower, oriel and sash windows, and slate roofing. 

The original brick and stone boundary wall remains to the front of the building, although the railings have gone. The towers conical roof was removed in 1907.

The building was predominantly made up of a first-class and second-class swimming pool halls and public baths, which served as a bathing and leisure destination for the local population. The building also contained offices, changing rooms and live in accommodation for the building’s wardens who would stoke the boilers to heat the premises.

The site is rectangular (approximately 3,309sqm), arranged around a central courtyard and is situated in the same curtilage as the Coroners Court and Mortuary buildings (approximately 911sqm). Together, these three buildings are part of the civic heritage present in the area.

• Find more details about Ladywell Playtower's listed information.

Current building state

Since the Playtower closed in 2004 and was badly damaged by a fire in 2006, the building has fallen into disrepair and is now on Historic England’s “at-risk” register. The fire destroyed the rear pool hall (originally the second-class pool), but the rest of the building, though intact, is deteriorating. In 2012, the roof was repaired, but vandalism and water damage remain major problems.

The first-class pool hall is an impressive double-height space with a long, hipped lantern along the slate roof to the pool. It originally had a raised viewing gallery around the outside. The shell of the viewing gallery has had the iron balustrading removed and stored to permit repair of the roof structure in 2012. The pool basin has been temporarily floored over at times allowing for the building’s use as a gymnasium from the 1880s. 

Ladywell Coroners Court and Mortuary 

To the east of the Ladywell Playtower site lies Ladywell Coroners Court and Mortuary. These civic buildings are also listed at Grade II and are occupied on an interim basis. They could be included in the plan to restore Ladywell Playtower if they are beneficial to the overall outcome but there is no obligation to include them in your proposal. If you are interested in receiving a plan or arranging a visit to view the properties, then please contact playtower@lewisham.gov.uk

Left: Ladywell Playtower today (2025)
Right: Ladywell Baths and Coroners Court, Ladywell, Lewisham, c1900s, LEW PH70/3803, Courtesy of Lewisham Heritage, Lewisham Council