Jubilee Pool (Cornish: Poll Jubile)[2] is an Art Deco lido in Penzance, Cornwall. It is Grade II listed, being recognised as the finest surviving example of its type with the exception of Saltdean Lido.[3] With a capacity of 5 million litres and 600 swimmers and measuring 300 feet long and 160 feet wide, it is the UK's largest seawater pool.[4][5][6]

Jubilee Pool
The lido from the west in 2011
Location	Battery Road, Penzance, Cornwall, England
Coordinates	50.114784°N 5.531454°W / 50.114784; -5.531454
Built	1935
Architect	Frank Latham[1]
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name	Jubilee Pool
Designated	4 March 1993
Reference no.	1221190
Location of Jubilee Pool within Cornwall

History

Construction and opening

The plan to build a pool in Penzance became something of a political issue, with local councillors seeing it as a choice between the pool or improving the town's water supply.[7] One town councillor predicted the project would be "the biggest white elephant Penzance has ever had".[8]

The lido was designed between 1931 and 1934 to be built on Battery Rocks, which was already a popular bathing spot, to designs by Captain Frank Latham, the Borough Engineer of Penzance.[9][10] Its design has been described as "Art Deco", "Art Nouveau-styled" and "cubist-inspired",[11][8][12] and is reportedly influenced by the shape of a seagull in flight.[13]

It was opened on the 31 May 1935, as part of the Silver Jubilee celebrations for King George V.[8]

Use and decline

The pool was damaged by the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962 which hit the UK on 13 March 1962, with the lido's far wall being breached.[10][14]

Visitor numbers declined after the 1970s, when the popularity of lidos waned, and the pool fell into disrepair.[12] It was closed in 1992,[15] but was restored and made a listed building after the formation of the Jubilee Pool Association (later called the Friends of Jubilee Pool).[16]

Revival

The pool had a revival in 1994 with a 'Grand Re-opening' and Penzance-born actress Jan Harvey launching the lido's new season.[17]

The lido suffered "serious structural damage" during the winter storms in February 2014, with changing rooms and terraces being demolished and the floor of the pool being destroyed.[12][18] It was repaired at a cost of £2.94m which was raised by the local community as well as with grants from the Power to Change Trust and the Coastal Communities Fund.[19] Jubilee Pool re-opened in May 2016.[12] In both 2016 and 2017, the lido had around 40,000 visitors.[20]

Jubilee Pool became the UK's only lido heated with geothermal energy in 2019 after a 410m deep geothermal well was drilled into the rock below the pool.[21] In 2020, Parkdean Resorts named Jubilee Pool the UK's best lido.[22]

As of 2021, Jubilee Pool is owned by 1400 local shareholders and is run as a social enterprise.[23]

See also

• History of lidos in the United Kingdom

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jubilee Pool.