Woodheath Swimming Pool

In 1911, Frank Tiarks built Chislehurst’s first indoor swimming pool in the gardens of Woodheath. It was built while Woodheath itself was being restored after the first fire in 1909, and was designed by Maurice Webb, son of Sir Aston Webb, designer of Admiralty Arch, much of The Mall, and Easdens in Bull Lane here in Chislehurst.

The pool was used by the Tiarks family and their many children for what Agnes referred to in her diaries as bathing parties, not only in the hot summer months, but throughout the year. The marble pool had heated water, swings and a water slide. From the outside, the building would not today be easily identified as housing a swimming pool; there are no side windows to the building. Instead all the light came from skylights. The building stood behind a sunken garden, which had a statue as its central feature.

Frank continued to use the pool until he sold Foxbury, and for a while the pool fell into disuse. It was opened up again by Peter Harding some twenty years later when he was clearing the land he had bought from Foxbury Estates. He found that the pool hadn’t been fully abandoned – it been used for the growing of mushrooms.

Mr Harding managed to restore the pool, though not the heating arrangements, and held a number of swimming parties for his children and their friends.

He also cleared the sunken garden outside the pool, though did not restore it fully. Sadly, the pool was demolished when Queenborough Gardens was built.