Restoring Turkish Baths at Blackpool Imperial Hotel was a painstaking but 'stand-out project'

Tucked away in the basement, the baths, which were a lavish spa at the turn of the 19th Century, are once again visible and what a treat they are.

It took several years chipping away thick layers of plaster, an enormous task for the volunteers at Blackpool Civic Society who needed to get the job done whilst preserving the bespoke Burmantofts tiles, buried away for decades.

Now, the Imperial Hotel is proud to show them off again as the New Year begins to guests of the hotel and anyone else who shares a keen interest in Blackpool’s heritage.

Paul Humble, who led the team of Civic Trust volunteers has been involved in several restorations in Blackpool, but this one was by far his proudest yet.

He said: “It was a feeling of tremendous accomplishment, a very special achievement. It’s my stand out project, the one I’m most affectionate about.

"We treated it like an archaeological site, we had to work slowly. Blackpool Council were extremely helpful too, they gave us advice and trained some of the volunteers in safety.”

Hotel staff knew the baths existed in the maze of basement rooms underneath the massive hotel and it was only when a hotel resident, an archivist, toured the rooms and noticed the tiles through damp plaster.

The baths had been boared up and plastered over in the 1950s, when heritage preservation took a back seat to providing extra hotel rooms as tourism boomed in Blackpool.

Peeling back the layers took several years to complete and the volunteers worked tirelessly to preserve the vital piece of Blackpool’s heritage, sometimes in hot, dusty conditions, unwavering in their quest.

The late 19th century had seen a surge in bathing popularity, but not everyone wanted to endure the rigmarole of using a bathing hut on the beach.

Instead a complex system was introduced at many hotels, whereby seawater was pumped ashore and then piped into the baths.

At the Imperial, water was pumped into a water tower located at the back of Dickson Road and now demolished, and piped into the baths as steam. There was also a seawater plunge pool and a third room which the trust is unsure what it was for. Even experts in the field can’t offer an explanation but it must have been a vital part of the Turkish Baths experience.

While the project to uncover the tiles was time consuming, it provided a fascinating insight into how Blackpool first began to attract visitors.

Joan Humble, chaiman of Blackpool Civic Trust said: “Victorian holidaymakers came to enjoy the seawater here at the hotel. The Imperial was called the Imperial Hydropathic Hotel and there was even a residential physician to advise the guests.

The project is a shining light on an era which laid the foundation for Blackpool’s development as the country’s leading seaside resort. Although there are no plans to use the baths, their presence can at least be enjoyed once more.