'Lost' & abandoned ocean baths

Ocean baths can be destroyed by natural forces. The Soldiers Baths at Newcastle are now underwater. Waves swept away the Horseshoe Bay baths at Bermagui.

in the days when dressing sheds mattered more, natural or man-made demolition or destruction of dressing sheds alone could make baths unusable, even where the pool itself remained useable.

The creation of new baths sometimes led to the abandonment of older baths that no longer met sporting and recreation requirements, although often as at Merewether, both old and new baths continued in use. The Nuns Pool at Wollongong is a bathing pool quite unsuitable for anyone interested in swimming laps or in a well-maintained pool with easy access for the disabled.

The effort and expense of maintaining several ocean baths could lead councils and coastal communities to focus on maintaining the biggest and best baths. Water pollution led to extended closure of some ocean baths.

Changing tastes in sport and recreation meant that ocean baths once strongly promoted as tourist attractions up to WWII gradually disappeared from post-war tourist literature, tourist maps and even street maps.

In a culture with more respect for ruins, remnant baths could be seen as heritage items. In the current climate of rising public liability costs, councils are under pressure to return any unusable baths to a 'natural' state or at least to a state that minimises any safety risks to humans. There is sometimes a requirement for archival recording of the remnant  baths, as was the case with the Giles Baths at Coogee. There is always an opportunity to memorialise the earlier baths at the pools that coastal communities still use or on walking tracks passing near the sites of abandoned baths.

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