Please click on the images below to see larger pictures and a full description.
The first records of bathing in this district date from the late l8th century. At this time people mostly bathed in sea water for its health-giving qualities.
The drawing by Thomas Rowlandson above shows Mrs Beeston’s baths (the building on the right) in 1784.
In l825, the writer David Garrow mentioned two bath houses at Lymington “one in Bath Lane, known as Legge’s Baths, and another beyond called Beeston’s Baths.”
The latter advertised “a warm bath for 3/6, shower 2/6, a cold bath with a guide 1/-, without a guide 6d”.
The guide was a man who held you up with a rope. Garrow says that Lymington “being situate so much nearer the sea than is Southampton, its waters are considered more beneficial in the instance of sea bathing”.
The current sea water baths date back to 1833 when the Lymington Bath and Improvement Company was set up. The bath house was built shortly afterwards and is now the club house for the Lymington Town Sailing Club.
As time went on the baths struggled to compete with others in the area, particularly at Bournemouth.
In 1855 they were sold to George Inman who owned a boat building company further up the river. In 1886 the Lymington Sea Baths Company leased the baths from Inman.
The baths continued under several different owners until 1929 when they were taken over the by the Lymington Corporation.
The 1930s were something of a golden period for outdoors baths and lidos with people flocking to bathe on bank holidays in the summer. Today the baths are owned by Lymington and Pennington Town Council.
Information provided by St. Barbe Museum with
assistance from Mary Smith and Jude James.
• Lymington & Pennington Town Council Website
• St. Barbe Museum & Art Gallery Website
Opening Times:
From April to September (*Weather Permitting).
*Due to the unpredictable English weather opening hours may change on a daily basis.
To ensure we are open or for advice on our opening hours please phone- 01590 678 882/674 865 or 075 2540 5943
Kiosk Assistants, Lifeguards and Sea Water Baths Manager
Should you have any enquiries about the Lymington Sea Water baths, please contact Lymington and Pennington Town Council by calling 01590 676009 or by filling in the Contact Us/Suggestions Form
