Ian,
The owners of Cramlington Colliery in Northumberland, were reported as having opened ‘warm baths and showers at the colliery for their men’ in April 1855. But pithead baths (and also pit canteens) are mainly a feature of the twentieth century, many being built after the 1926 Mines Industry Act. In north east England, F G Frizzell was architect to the Miners’ Welfare Committee, and he designed several pithead baths after 1933; Pevsner noted that these baths marked the introduction of ‘the modern style’ of architecture to north east England. One of his baths may still survive at the former Elemore Colliery site in County Durham.
Stafford
-----Original Message-----
From: Ian Pope [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tue 01/04/2003 16:47
To: [log in to unmask]
Cc:
Subject: Pithead Baths
Dear All
A question has been raised in the Forest of Dean regarding the
preservation of the various pithead baths that still stand in the area,
namely Princess Royal (under serious threat of demolition), Northern
United, Eastern United and Cannop.
Cannop's were built by the colliery in 1929, the rest by the Miners
Welfare Committee.
Now to the questions. When and where where the first pithead baths
built? Is there any published material on the subject?
We have a firm of architects working on the Princess Royal buildings and
they would just like to put them into a national context.
Many thanks
Ian Pope
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