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Manor Place Baths is a former
public baths Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other cr ...
,
swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...
and
boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...
venue in Manor Place off
Walworth Road The A215 is an A road in south London, starting at Elephant and Castle and finishing around Shirley. It runs through the London Boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark and Croydon. Beginning as Walworth Road, the A215 becomes Camberwell Road—much ...
in
Newington, London Newington is a district of South London, just south of the River Thames, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It was an ancient parish and the site of the early administration of the county of Surrey. It was the location of the County o ...
. The late-19th century
Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...
structure, designed by the company of Edward I'Anson, is a grade II
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...
. It is a largely symmetrical building, asymmetrically composed from a variety of
Arts and Crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...
and
Flemish Renaissance The Renaissance in the Low Countries was a cultural period in the Northern Renaissance that took place in around the 16th century in the Low Countries (corresponding to modern-day Belgium, the Netherlands and French Flanders). Culture in the Low ...
elements. It was built in red brick in
Flemish bond Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called '' courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by si ...
with
terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta i ...
dressings, and features a clock tower and a large bathing hall. A plaque in the main stair hall dates the building to 1895. The building was used by the local population for swimming, bathing and doing laundry. The baths had a first- and second-class pool for men, as well as a pool for women known as the "small swim". Mixed-gender swimming was introduced in 1904. The baths also had 74 individual bathing cubicles (most originally only for men), showers and a laundry room."Manor Place Baths"
Exploring Southwark and discovering its history (archived)
"Manor Place"
This Is Elephant and Castle, Elephant and Castle Partnership
The first-class pool was 120 ft long and boarded over in winter so that the space could be used for sporting events, concerts and other public meetings. In particular, the baths were a popular venue for both amateur and professional
boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...
. Boxing at the baths started in 1908 and boxers who fought bouts there included the
Kray twins Ronald Kray (24 October 193317 March 1995) and Reginald Kray (24 October 19331 October 2000) were identical twin brothers, gangsters and convicted criminals. They were the foremost perpetrators of organised crime in the East End of London, Engl ...
as well as
Ken Buchanan Ken Buchanan MBE (born 28 June 1945) is a Scottish retired professional boxer from Edinburgh and the former undisputed world lightweight champion. Gutteridge, Reg"King Ken, World Champion after a shock knock-down" ''Evening Times'' (Glasgow), ...
, Johnny Clark,
Henry Cooper Sir Henry Cooper (3 May 19341 May 2011) was a British heavyweight boxer, best remembered internationally for a 1963 fight in which he knocked down a young Cassius Clay before the fight was stopped because of a cut eye from Clay's punches. C ...
, Cornelius Boza-Edwards, Albert Finch, Dick Richardson and Terry Spinks. In total some 230 boxing shows and 1500 bouts were held at the baths.Catherine Johnston
"Celebration of Old Boxing Club at Manor Place Baths Will Raise Money for Fighters' Families"
Southwark News, 11 April 2018


History

The baths were built by the
vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquial ...
of Newington to improve public hygiene and health. Construction on the baths began in 1895, and the baths officially opened on 16 March 1898, leading the mayor of New York City to state: "There is no public bathing establishment even approximating this in the United States." The building survived heavy bombing of the area in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. It began to fall into disuse as public baths in the decades after the war as most apartments in the area began to have bathrooms installed. It was used by locals to do laundry up until the 1970s. The baths closed as a public facility in 1976 but continued as a boxing venue until a final show in 1978. By 1995 it was in a dangerously poor condition with no viable use. In 1996 it was Grade II-listed and placed on the Buildings at Risk Register by
English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...
. The building was used by
Southwark London Borough Council Southwark London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Southwark in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. History There have previously been a num ...
as offices until 2005, when
Tibetan Buddhist Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...
organisation
Kagyu Samye Dzong London Kagyu Samye Dzong London Tibetan Buddhist Centre for World Peace and Health is the London branch of Kagyu Samye Ling Monastery in Scotland. Kagyu Samye Dzong London is under the direct guidance of Chöje Akong Tulku Rinpoche and Venerable ...
obtained a five-year lease to use the building as a temporary home while their new
Bermondsey Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckha ...
location was being renovated. They renovated the building and opened it under the name ''Manor Place Samye Dzong'' on 17 March 2007. The building was used as a meditation centre with regular classes and retreats until 2015. In late 2013, the baths (as well as the adjacent recycling depot) were purchased by Notting Hill Housing to be converted into residential accommodation and commercial space. On 21 April 2018, the Essex Ex-Boxers’ Association staged a boxing reunion at Manor Place Baths to raise funds for the family of boxer Scott Westgarth, who died in February of that year after sustaining injuries in a fight.


References

{{reflist Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Southwark Swimming venues in London Swimming pools Defunct boxing venues Boxing venues in the United Kingdom Boxing in London Sports venues completed in 1898