Marine Terrace Tidal Pool

Summary

One of two tidal sea bathing pools constructed in Margate in 1937 to designs by Borough Engineer E A Borg, with modifications by his successor W L Armstrong.

Reasons for Designation

Marine Terrace Tidal Pool, north of Marine Terrace, Margate, constructed in 1937, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as an ambitious feat of structural engineering due its scale, the weight of each concrete block, and the work needing to be carried out day and night because of the tides;
* for its simple but visually impressive design, intact apart from the loss of the two diving boards, which do not often survive.

Historic interest:

* as an important surviving element of the historic seaside infrastructure at Margate, a town long at the forefront of sea bathing in England;
* as a testament to Margate's interwar, open-air health culture, dating from the period of the English seaside's greatest popularity.

Group value:

* with its Grade II listed sister pool at Walpole Bay (NHLE entry 1421296), and with the nearby Grade II listed Nayland Rock promenade shelter (NHLE entry 1393490).

History

Margate first came to prominence as a seaside resort in the early C18 when wealthy visitors sought improved health by bathing in seawater. Margate is thought to have been the first coastal town in England to provide a substantial, purpose-built seawater bath, which opened in 1736. As sea-bathing (and later swimming) increased in popularity, Margate was transformed into a flourishing seaside resort through the course of the C18 and C19. Additional bathing facilities, lodging houses, hotels and entertainment buildings were constructed as the town welcomed growing numbers of visitors first by coach and boat, and later by train with the opening of Margate Sands station in 1846 and Margate West in 1863, the site of the present station. This growth continued during the first half of the C20, with Margate’s population increasing from 26,734 in 1901 to 36,742 in 1939. In the inter-war period, the European fashion for outdoor swimming and sunbathing was well-catered for in Margate with the opening of the Marine Terrace Bathing Pavilion in 1926 (demolished 1990) and the modernisation of the 1820s Clifton Baths to create the Cliftonville Bathing Pool (later known as Cliftonville Lido) in 1927. A small tidal bathing pool was constructed off Marine Drive by 1927 but has since been demolished.

In 1937 these facilities were augmented with the construction of two larger tidal pools: Marine Terrace Tidal Pool and Walpole Bay Tidal Pool, the latter of which is listed at Grade II (National Heritage List for England (NHLE) entry 1421296). While many seaside resorts invested in outdoor pools in the inter-war period, Margate is thought to be the only English coastal town to have two surviving tidal pools. The two new tidal pools were intended to make it possible for large numbers of people to bathe in the sea at all states of the tide because, owing to the gradual slope of the beach and the considerable tidal range, the low water mark at spring tides could be as far as 275m from the promenades. The pools were located at the most popular parts of Margate’s nine miles of seafront. The Marine Terrace Tidal Pool was positioned directly in front of the Marine Terrace Bathing Pavilion, because the Margate Corporation hoped to increase usage of the facilities there at low tides.

The Marine Terrace Tidal Pool was designed by E A Borg, Borough Engineer for Margate but executed with modifications under his successor W L Armstrong using direct labour. It enclosed the foreshore with four walls as opposed to the three-sided Walpole Bay Tidal Pool which is open at the landward end. The fourth wall was required for the Marine Terrace Pool because creating a watertight bond with the chalk was not possible without carrying the side walls further along the upper beach. The natural beach was utilised as the floor of the pool, the slope giving a maximum depth at the seaward end of about 2m. The walls were constructed from interlocking concrete blocks, each weighing about a ton, cast in a nearby block-yard and fixed in position by hand cranes running on tracks laid inside the walls. Work was carried out day and night over several months to take advantage of every tide. The tops of the walls were arranged so the pool is completely submerged at every high tide in order to ensure sufficient change-over of water twice a day by way of wave action and dilution. The pool covers two and a half acres, smaller than its four-acre sister pool at Walpole Bay but still large compared to some other surviving English tidal pools. The estimated cost was about £7,000 for each pool but reportedly they were constructed for substantially less.

The Marine Terrace Tidal Pool originally had two diving boards, but these have since been removed. The stepped concrete groyne located at the north-east corner of the pool is an original feature that appears in an early photograph of the pool published in 1938. The angle of this photograph means that the other groyne, which forms a right-angle on the west side of the pool, is not visible, but it does appear on aerial images from 1940 onwards and so is also presumed to be original.

Details

A tidal sea bathing pool built in 1937 to designs by E A Borg, Borough Engineer, but constructed with modifications by his successor W L Armstrong using direct labour.

MATERIALS: interlocking concrete blocks with old iron tram rails concreted in at intervals of about 3.6m.

PLAN: the pool is rectangular on plan with rounded corners to the seaward end. The approximate dimensions are 100m to the sides and 76m to the landward and seaward ends.

DESCRIPTION: the pool walls are constructed from interlocking concrete blocks with concealed iron tram rails running about 1.5m deep into the solid chalk foundation and up to within 0.3m of the top of each wall. The blocks are three courses high at the shallow, landward end and form walls that are stepped on the inside and splay out slightly on the outside to form a batter. The top course of blocks have chamfered top edges. At the landward end the walls rise about 0.8m above beach level, increasing to 1.6m at the seaward end. The side and seaward walls are approximately 2m wide, while the landward wall is around 1.4m wide. The landward wall has a centrally positioned concrete ramp providing access to the shallow end of the pool. At the seaward end the top course of blocks has a series of six built-in overflow sluices covered with iron sheets, with a further two at the seaward end of each of the side walls. These overflows are 60cm wide and positioned so that the waterline is maintained just below the top of the wall when the pool is filled. At the north-east corner is a stepped groyne of concrete blocks projecting towards the sea. On the west side is another pair of low, concrete groynes forming a right angle; these are not always visible because they are periodically buried or exposed depending on the variable level of sand on the beach. The four metal access ladders positioned around the deep end of the pool are later replacements for the original steps.

Sources

Books and journals
Smith, J, Liquid Assets: the Lidos and Open Air Swimming Pools of Britain, (2005), 70-71
Barker, N, Brodie, A, Jessop, L, Winter, G, Dermott, N, Margate's Seaside Heritage, (2007), 48
Brodie, A, The Seafront, (2018), 121-31

Websites
'Margate's New Bathing Pools', in Baths and Bath Engineering: The Official Journal of the National Association of Baths Superintendents, No 47, January 1938, Vol. 5, 3-4, accessed 12 March 2024 from https://www.bathsandwashhouses.co.uk/archive/your-local-buildings/margate/marine-terrace-pool-and-walpole-bay-bathing-pool/

End of official list entry

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