Gorleston’s open air pool was opened in 1939 with 2,000 people flocking to the opening ceremony which featured a swimming exhibition by The Johnson Girls and a diving demonstration from the local Lads’ Club. The pool was part of a larger development including the Floral Hall.
The pool was lined with green tiles.
The pool lay derelict for three years until it was demolished in 1993 and replaced with grass.
| Name | Gorleston Swimming Pool Pier Gardens, Gorleston on Sea, Norfolk, NR31 6PL |
| Built / opened | 1939 |
| Cost | £23,000 including concert hall |
| Dimensions | 150′ x 48′ |
| Capacity | 285,500 gallons |
| Water type | Filtered and chorinated heated sea water |
| Depth(s) | 3′ to 10′ under diving stage |
| Diving boards | 3m and 5m fixed boards, 3m and 1m springboard |
| Changing facilities | 134 cubicles, 6 wire baskets per cubicle |
| Second pool | N/A |
| Spectator seating | |
| Designer | Mr. S. P. Thompson, Assoc. M.Inst.C.E., Borough Engineer and Surveyor. |
| Date closed | 1990 |
| Status | Demolished 1993 |
| On site now | Lawns and bandstand |
| Notes | |
| Links | |
| Last updated | 15th May 2025 |
Baths and Bath Engineering, December 1938
Great Yarmouth
The Minister of Health has sanctioned the raising of a loan of £19,651 by the county borough council for the construction of a swimming pool and pavilion at Gorleston.
Baths and Bath Engineering, Jan-Feb 1940
Gorleston Swimming Pool, Great Yarmouth
Ox the site of the old Gorleston band enclosure on the sea front, close to the river mouth and pier, the Great Yarmouth County Borough Council have provided at a cost of £23,000 a new swimming pool and concert hall, access from one to the other being facilitated by means of two side entrances from the hall to the pool grounds.
The pool, 150 ft. long by 48 ft. wide, has a depth of 3 ft. to 10 ft. under the diving stage comprising 5 and 3 m. fixed boards, a 3 m. springboard, and a separate 1m springboard The walls are constructed of mass concrete, all joints being made with copper strip and bituminous jointing material; the floor is of reinforced concrete 9 in. thick. On top of the walls is a coping 18 in. wide; this is raised 6in. above the 6 ft. wide paving surrounding the pool. The walls and floor are finished with blue polished Cullamix concrete tiles 12 in. sq., the racing lines, 6 in. wide, being black. The coping, which is of cream Cullamix concrete, has a roughened surface, the paving being of red Colorcrete concrete.
A galvanised iron railing 3 ft high, fixed on a 6 in. concrete kerb, separates the pool and enclosure from the outer pathways. Entrance to this enclosure can only be obtained by passing through two continuous flow footbaths, 9 in. deep, situated at the deep end.
The pool, which has a capacity of 258,500 gal., is filled with sea water. The filtration plant consists of two horizontal pressure filters, 11 ft. long, by 8 ft. diameter, with a turnover period of six hours. Sterilisation is by means of the chloramine process and aeration is provided by an enclosed type of aerator. Provision has been made for the installation of a heating plant.
On either side of the pool are lawns which can be used for sunbathing. Behind these Iawns are placed the dressing cubicles, 78 for women and 56 for men; bathers’ clothes are stored in wire baskets, the ratio of baskets to cubicles being six to one.
The cleanse house and filter house are constructed of brickwork, with flat roofs covered with three-ply bituminous roofing. The cleanse house, so placed that bathers must pass this after leaving the dressing cubicles, contains hot and cold showers. and lavatories for each sex. The external walls are lined with terrazzo and the floor is finished in coloured concrete.
The floodlighting is provided by 18 electric light standards with coloured strip lighting running between them round the pool, and strip lighting round the tops of the dressing cubicles.
The swimming pool and concert hall were designed and carried out by direct labour, under the direction of Mr. S. P. Thompson, Assoc. M.Inst.C.E., the borough engineer and surveyor.
Among the sub-contractors for the swimming pool were: Bell Bros. (Manchester, 1927), Ltd. Denton, filtration plant; British Art Tile Co., Ltd., London, concrete tiles; Spencer, Heath and George, Ltd., Ponders End, diving stage: Art Pavements and Decorations, Ltd., London, terrazzo work; Leeds Fireclay Co., Ltd., London, sliding screens; Adamsez, Ltd., Newcastle, sanitary fittings.
