Access to toilet/change facilities Actively maintained Disabled Access

Men Women Children

Current Use: Bathing/snorkelling pool, heritage landmark.
Condition: By 1907,  Newcastle's Soldiers Baths were not considered fit for use.

1850-1880
Male and female bathers were obliged to use separate areas of Newcastle's beaches or bathe at separate time and agitation for public sea baths grew, despite the existence of the Bogey Hole.

1880
Public baths were again discussed and Newcastle Borough Council permitted bathing in the ocean behind the Newcastle Hospital at any hour, provided bathers wore 'suitable bathing dress'.

1880s-1890s
After a site beneath Signal Hill below Fort Scratchley was chosen for public baths offering shark-free bathing, the Newcastle Borough Council dedicated six acres of rock beneath Signal Hill for public baths and  began constructing the Soldiers Baths. In June 1882, heavy seas washed away the partly constructed baths.

Opened in 1883, the Soldiers Baths consisted of large rocks forming a seawall defining an oval pool 180 yards long with a floor of coal shale and sand.

A report of a near-drowning by a teenage boy in 'those fortification baths' led to the airing of claims that the Baths were dangerous and housed a whirlpool at their centre.

Early twentieth century
One Christmas Day, several swimmers at the Soldiers Baths were swept out of the pool by large waves. With one exception, all the other swimmers were rescued by other swimmers.

Storms damaged the Soldiers Baths and a build-up of  sand made the baths unswimmable.

1907
Neither Newcastle's indoor Corporation Baths nor its Soldiers Baths were considered fit for use. The Soldiers Baths were still being used in 1909,  when a cliff overhanging the baths gave way and soldiers bathing in the pool were lucky to survive.
 
2006
A heritage panel on the Bathers Way walking track provides some information on these baths. At high tide, it can be easier to see the plaque on the Bathers Way that commemorates the pool, than the pool itself.

The Newcastle area was home to the Awabakal people.

Early 1800s
A convict settlement was established to serve as a place of secondary punishment for convicts who re-offended in the colony of New South Wales and to create a harbour to ship the district's evident and abundant supplies of coal. Completion of the Newcastle breakwater eliminated the need for convict labour and soldiers. Newcastle was made a free port in 1846.

From 1850 to 1879
Male and female bathers were obliged to use separate areas of Newcastle's beaches or bathe at separate times. Agitation for public sea baths grew, despite the existence of the Bogey Hole.

1880
Public baths were again discussed and Newcastle Borough Council permitted bathing in the ocean behind the Newcastle Hospital at any hour, provided bathers wore 'suitable bathing dress'.

1890s
Newcastle was 'the great emporium of the coal trade in the southern hemisphere and the port of shipment for nearly all the wool grown in the northern and north-western districts' of the colony of New South Wales.

To defend that trade, Newcastle was strongly fortified. Fort Scratchley on Allen's Hill was fully operational. The guns from Fort Scratchley and other guns on Shepherd's Hill defended the coast, the harbour, the city and its coal supplies.
 

To be added.

Nineteenth century ring-of-rocks ocean baths. Rare example of large public baths predating the ocean baths at Bondi and Bronte. Associated with soldiers from Fort Scratchley.

Assessed significance: Local.
Current heritage status: Listed as having local heritage significance in Newcastle Council's 2003 Local Environmental Plan.

 

Related Topics 'Lost' & abandoned ocean baths Ring-of-rocks pools Soldiers & convicts

Studies & References Newcastle Heritage Study, 1990.