The information board is located at the entrance to the Bath House on Colehill Bank in Congleton.
The bath-house is a small brick building, partially hidden by trees and bushes on a roughly triangular plot of land between Lawton street and Colehill Bank.
The board gives the following information;
"The Plunge Pool
Congleton Bath House was first built around 1800 in this quiet corner of the grounds of Bradshaw House. As early as the 17thC some doctors began to give "scientific" support for the practice of Taking a cold plunge. In the Georgian period, cold bath houses became fashionable among the great landowners and modest gentry who had suitable locations and the money to build them.
The bath house is a two-storey structure with pool on the lower floor with a walkway and alcove, possible for changing. The pool is 1.5m deep and fed by cold running water from a nearby spring.
An icy dip was followed by a walk around the bath hose, which was repeated as often as possible. Warmth and refreshment waited for bathers in the upper room. The popularity of the social and health giving benefits of bathing greatly boosted the popularity of spa towns such as Buxton and Matlock.
By the end of the 20thC the Bath House and grounds were becoming increasingly derelict and the building itself was set for demolition. A small group of volunteers decided to rescue the site and bring it back as a place of reflection, education, and entertainment. These hard working volunteers continue to develop the Bath House and Physic Garden today.
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(taking the Plunge) Claire Hickman"
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Congleton Bath House and Physic garden is a restoration and conservation community project run by the volunteers of Congleton Building Preservation Trust.
The grounds of the Bath House were once owned by John Bradshaw perhaps Congleton’s most (in)famous inhabitant - as he was president of the court that condemned Charles 1st to death.
The Bath House is located at the top of a slope, with grounds that extend about 100m down the hill towards Bradshaw House the home of John Bradshaw, and the Town Hall.
When the Bath House was restored, it was decided to create a Physic Garden of medicinal plants, that would be in keeping with the health enhancing purposes behind the building of the Bath House.
"The bath-house and the garden are so well hidden that many townspeople had no idea they were there. The building is fifteen and a half feet square and has just two rooms, one above the other. Each room has its own individual entrance door; there is no internal connection between them.
The plunge pool is in the lower of these two rooms and is located in what would be the cellar in any other building. It is stone lined and roughly nine feet square and six feet deep. Entrance to the water (the bath is empty at present) is by a stone staircase. There are no windows in this lower room but evidence suggests that a bricked up area in one of the walls could at one time have been a window. The only light is admitted through the open doorway or a grille in one wall that served an unknown purpose.
Water to fill the bath came from a nearby spring or stream, and two pipes visible in the walls of the bath appear to be the inlet and overflow pipes. In the early 19th century a water supply to the houses in Congleton was still many years away, so water from this same stream was piped to a cistern in Bradshaw House. This is shown on a 19th century ordnance survey map. The entrance to the upper is via a stone staircase built on the of the south east wall. This room is very pleasant and comfortable, with a fireplace and two large windows; one has a northerly aspect and the other looks over the garden to the east.
It has generally been assumed that the bath-house was built at the same time as Bradshaw House, in whose grounds it now stands.
William Lowndes built Bradshaw House in 1820 and a plaque on one of the east gables displays his name and that date.
I have tried to discover a little more about William Lowndes, but without any real success. However, we do know his business was tanning, and at one time he owned the tannery in Bark Street. He may have built Bradshaw House to be closer to his business. He must have been a man of some means, and I would have expected him to have had the plaque giving his name and date placed over the front entrance for all to see, but perhaps he was a modest man wanting a less prominent position for the proclamation. The plaque can still be seen today by climbing a small flight of steps in Colehill Bank.
The bath-house could have been an added attraction to the gardens, or pleasure grounds as they were called in the nineteenth century: it would be similar to having a swimming pool in one’s garden today.
There is another suggestion that perhaps a surgeon or doctor built the bath-house as a means of treating some illness or disease. It is beyond question that medical practitioners did occupy Bradshaw House during the last 150 years, but in the census returns of 1861 and 1871 it was the home of the Manchester and Liverpool District Bank, which gave its name to Bank Street." SOURCE: (
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The Bath House is a Grade II listed building. The description given by Historic England reads as follows;
"Bath House south-east SP/676 of Bradshaw House
Bath House circa 1820 with minor late C19 addition. Red brick in English Garden Wall Bond with pyramid hipped slate roof. 2 storeys, 1-bay, square plan. On the east side two stone steps lead down to the bath chamber entrance door. This is oak boarded with three ogee moulded bands, hung on strap hinges to a heavy beaded oak frame. There is a gauged skewback arch over the door and a flush sash window with exposed weight boxes and glazing bars at first floor level. The south side is fronted by a flight of five stone steps and a quarter space landing with plain metal balustrade and segmental handrail. This leads to a room above the bath which has the remains of a boarded and part glazed door hung to a heavy oak frame with skewback gauged arch above. A small opening, with splayed stone reveals, below the landing looks into the bath chamber. At the RH (east) side of the steps there is an added porch-like structure with flat stone slab roof and small side window with stone sill and stop chamfered stone lintel. The west elevation has a chimney breast taking up one-third of its width and projecting one brick. There is a sash at first floor level in the north side. The roof is of large slates with hip tiles, there is a raised lead covered vent at the apex and there was formely a cast iron gutter on drive-in-stays with shaped brackets. Interior: A 3 metre square bath of dressed stone flanked south and east by narrow areas of natural stone paving. Six stone steps lead down to the bottom of the bath. The floor above had chamfered oak beams and oak joists with the remains of a lath and plaster ceiling. At first floor level the fireplaces opening in the chimney breast is blocked. There is a torus moulded skirting; dado rail and the remains of wall plaster. The roof is supported by a single King Post truss, without struts, which takes the hip rafters. There are purlins, oak rafters and ceiling joists and the remains of a plastered ceiling." SOURCE: (
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