Historic Plunge Pools: maybe it’s just me…

Devon’s Historic Plunge Pools: fascinating and a bit geeky.

For a little while, through the 18th & 19th centuries, a fashion for cold water plunge pools spread amongst the estate-owning classes. In the gardens and grounds of cultured landowners, little pools began to appear, often situated in a carefully chosen spot where one could feel fully immersed in nature, discrete and secluded, with either a wonderful outlook or sunk within a romantically picturesque setting.

Inspired by examples seen on the Grand Tour and contemporary paintings such as ‘The Bathing Pool’ by Hubert Robert shown here, the fashion for garden baths later morphed into public bath houses, as seen in some of the later examples situated on the River Dart close to Dartmouth. If you’re willing to get out there with a map in hand, you can find these early examples scattered quietly amongst the remains of old pleasure grounds & landscaped gardens, or rather sadly crumbling away, quite overlooked, into the sea.

Lady Ashburton’s Bath, Spitchwick (Dartmoor)

On a private estate near Poundsgate lies one of Devon’s best-known historic plunge pools, easily reachable on one of the Spitchwick Manor Open Garden days. Carved from stone in 1774 as part of the Spitchwick Estate, Lady Ashburton’s Bath is a surprisingly elegant (& sizeable) rectangular pool fed by moorland water. Sheltered within its own woodland garden quite separate from the house, it is a magical and other-worldly space.

Sharpham House Bathing House, River Dart (Ashprington)

The Sharpham Estate features an exquisite Grade II* listed Georgian riverside bathing house, originally enclosing a private plunge pool, dating from c.1720. Available as a holiday rental today, the structure appears in 18th-century estate paintings and stands as one of the Dart Valley’s earliest purpose-built cold baths. The pool likely sat where the kitchen is today, which still fills with water when a very high tide comes in- although they now have floodgates to protect the interior in its new form.

Sharpham House and Pleasure House c.1765

Greenway Bath & Boat House, River Dart (Galmpton)

Perhaps the most substantial of Devon’s historic plunge structures, the Greenway Bath House is a two-storey stone building that filled with tidewater from the River Dart. Attached to Agatha Christie’s beloved estate (now National Trust), it illustrates the Georgian love of therapeutic cold dips — and it remains one of Devon’s best-preserved examples.

The Wilderness Bath House & the Ladies’ Bathing House, Dartmouth

Along the lower Dart, two smaller structures mark the era’s enthusiasm for genteel bathing.

The Wilderness Bath House is a modest riverside chamber thought to have been used for private cold plunges.

Nearby, the Ladies’ Bathing House — dating from around the 1840s — sits above a tiny tidal pool reached by a narrow path carved into the rock. It offered privacy at a time when women’s sea-bathing was heavily regulated.

Elberry Cove Bathing House (near Brixham)

One of the most dramatic historic bathing sites in Devon, the ruined 18th-century Elberry Bathing House sits directly above the surf between Paignton and Brixham. Built for Lord Churston, it was designed for sea-dipping at a time when saltwater cures were fashionable among the elite. Even in ruins, it’s atmospheric and unmistakable.

Castle Hill “British Spa House”, Filleigh (North Devon)

This unusual bath house was built around a natural chalybeate spring — iron-rich water once believed to offer medicinal benefits. Visitors would take cold baths or drink the mineral water in true 18th-century spa fashion.

Glebe House “Vicar’s Bath”, Cornwood (South Hams)

Quirky and much smaller than the others, the Vicar’s Bath at Glebe House is a stream-fed stone trough where the owner (in this case, the good vicar) could take a bracing, morally upright dunk in fresh water. Its modest scale gives it a unique charm among Devon’s more formal estate pools.

Flete Estate Tidal Pool, Mothecombe Beach (South Hams)

Built in the late 19th century for the Flete Estate, this sea-filled tidal pool at Mothecombe Beach is a more rustic Victorian creation. Set in the rocks beside one of Devon’s most beautiful beaches, it shows the later evolution of outdoor bathing — from private therapy to fashionable leisure.

Glenthorne Bath House (near Lynton, Exmoor Coast)

Clinging to the cliffs on the remote Exmoor coast, the Glenthorne bath house was once supplied with seawater for therapeutic plunges. It had an octagonal main room and a little fireplace for warming up after a cold bath. Sadly, a tree fell on it and there’s very little to see now, but there’s nothing to stop you hunkering down, looking out to sea and using your imagination…

The Italian Garden, Great Ambrook (Ipplepen)

An Edwardian pleasure garden built for Arthur Smith Graham, forgotten after the war when the estate was divided and now being reclaimed from the woods. Well worth a visit for a peek at the colonnaded pool shown here, there is also a beautiful octagonal plunge pool within the tennis pavilion. In fact the whole garden is connected from top to bottom by a series of rills, pools and open water tanks and is a fascinating bit of engineering. It’s open on Fridays during spring & summer.

Shoalstone Seawater Pool, Brixham

Although now a beloved community lido, Shoalstone began life in 1896 when Victorians dammed a natural rock pool to create a structured tidal swimming area. It’s one of the few remaining seawater pools of its kind in the UK.

Woody Bay Victorian Tidal Pool (Martinhoe, Exmoor)

Cut directly into the rocks during the Victorian era, this small sea pool at Woody Bay epitomises the period’s passion for brisk, invigorating dips — firmly believed to improve health and fortitude.

From Dartmoor valleys to windswept headlands, Devon’s historic plunge pools reveal a long tradition of wellness, wild swimming and architectural imagination. They connect us to centuries of health rituals and leisure pursuits — and in many cases, they’re still beautiful places to visit today. Have a look online for exact locations and access, and see if you can fit in a pilgrimage to one of these charming little oddities.

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It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Blog Post Title Four

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.