Saltdean Lido at Saltdean Park Road,
Saltdean
Saltdean is a coastal village in the city of Brighton and Hove, with part (known as East Saltdean) outside the city boundary in Lewes district. Saltdean is approximately east of central Brighton, west of Newhaven, and south of Lewes. It is ...
, in the
Brighton and Hove
Brighton and Hove () is a city and unitary authority in East Sussex, England. It consists primarily of the settlements of Brighton and Hove, alongside neighbouring villages.
Often referred to synonymously as Brighton, the City of Brighton and H ...
district, in the ceremonial county of
East Sussex
East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...
, England, is an
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
lido
Lido may refer to:
Geography Africa
* Lido, a district in the city of Fez, Morocco
Asia
* Lido, an area in Chaoyang District, Beijing
* Lido, a cinema theater in Siam Square shopping area in Bangkok
* Lido City, a resort in West Java owned by MN ...
designed by architect
R.W.H. Jones. Originally
listed
Listed may refer to:
* Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm
* Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic
* Endangered species in biology
* Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...
at Grade II 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 ...
for its architectural and historical importance,
its status was upgraded further to "Grade II*" on 18 March 2011.
The Art Deco design has been described by ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
'' as "particularly glorious, with its elegant, curved lines – rather like a stately ocean liner."
Description
The pool measures
and can accommodate 500 bathers.
History
The lido was built in 1937–38 to designs by the architect
Richard Jones, and was hailed as the most innovative design of its type in Britain. With its tea terrace, sun deck, and café perched on the flat roof and distinctive curved wings at either end, it became the only lido to be featured in the Design Museum in London.
In 1958,
Butlins
Butlin's is a chain of large seaside resorts in the United Kingdom. Butlin's was founded by Billy Butlin to provide affordable holidays for ordinary British families.
Between 1936 and 1966, ten camps were built, including one in Ireland and o ...
attempted to buy the derelict lido for development. The application was opposed by residents and eventually rejected by the
Ministry of Housing.
In 1998, the lido was reopened by Sports Minister
Tony Banks. The restoration was achieved through a public and private sector partnership costing £2 million. Banks revealed he had a personal link to the Grade II listed building through his mother, who used to visit it during the Second World War. He said: "Open air sites are not able to attract National Lottery funding, so the money for this had to come through private investors having the vision to bring a piece of our heritage back into use." The reopening ceremony came two days after the lido let in its first visitors for three years.
On 18 March 2011,
John Penrose
John David Penrose (born 22 June 1964) is a British politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Weston-super-Mare since 2005. A member of the Conservative Party, he was the United Kingdom Anti-Corruption Champion at the Home Office fr ...
, the Minister for Tourism and Heritage in the
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
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, logo = Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport logo.svg
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, logo_caption =
, seal =
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, picture = Gove ...
, approved the upgrade of Saltdean Lido's
listed status from Grade II to the second highest grade, Grade II*.
Such buildings are defined as being "particularly important ...
ndof more than special interest".
On 30 May 2012, it was announced that the ownership of the Lido would be handed back by leaseholder Dennis Audley to
Brighton and Hove City Council
Brighton and Hove City Council is the local authority of the city of Brighton and Hove. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government services ...
after legal discussions.
In November 2014, the Lido was given £49,500 from the
Big Lottery Fund
The National Lottery Community Fund, legally named the Big Lottery Fund, is a non-departmental public body responsible for distributing funds raised by the National Lottery for "good causes". Since 2004 it has awarded over £9 billion to ...
after it won a public vote on the television programme ''The People's Millions'', a collaboration between the Big Lottery Fund and the broadcaster
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
. It was stated that the money would be spent on refurbishing the children's paddling pool, which had been disused since 1997.
After an extensive campaign by local residents, the Save Saltdean Lido Campaign successfully lobbied the freeholders of the site (Brighton & Hove City Council) to stop housing development and take back the lease on the site. Following a 9-month procurement process the Saltdean Lido Community Interest Company (set up by the campaign group) took ownership of a 60-year lease in 2014.
The lido reopened in 2017.
See also
*
Grade II* listed buildings in Brighton and Hove
There are 72 Listed building, Grade II* listed buildings in the city of Brighton and Hove, England. The city, on the English Channel coast approximately south of London, was formed as a unitary authority in 1997 by the merger of the neighbou ...
*
The De La Warr Pavilion
The De La Warr Pavilion is a grade I listed building, located on the seafront at Bexhill on Sea, East Sussex, on the south coast of England.
The Modernist and International Style building was designed by the architects Erich Mendelsohn and S ...
*
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
References
*
Bibliography
*
* Pages 146-151
*
External links
Saltdean Lido CIC
{{Brighton and Hove buildings
Buildings and structures completed in 1938
Art Deco architecture in England
Grade II* listed buildings in Brighton and Hove
Lidos
Sports venues in Brighton and Hove
Swimming venues in England
Sports venues completed in 1938
Streamline Moderne architecture in the United Kingdom
Grade II listed sports and recreation buildings
Listed sports venues in England