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Mill Road HistoryRead the full building report as a PDF
Watch Julia Ewans talk about the history of the Bath House.
The report investigates the building now popularly known as The Bath House, which stands on the corner of Mill Road and Gwydir Street. Belonging to both streets, the site up to 1913 bore the postal address ‛99 Mill Road’; in 1914 it was redesignated as ‛[unnumbered] Gwydir Street’. The site has been occupied successively by two buildings: Gwydir House to c.1913, and the present building since c.1927.
The present building, formerly providing public baths to the local population, has since 1976 been a community centre. Although not a listed building it is considered to be a ‛building of local interest’ (BLI) and a ‛focal building’ within the Mill Road Conservation Area.
Gwydir House, 1906. Site of Bath House. Courtesy of Cambridgeshire Collection, B.MILL.K08 15713
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Public Baths in Cambridge (1)
Public Baths in Cambridge (2)
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1861:
Rolfe Leeson, 36
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1871: Gwydir House
John Dunn, 47, MA & owner of coal mines, b Suffolk
In 1902 took place the funeral in Little Shelford of Arthur Tempest Blakiston Dunn. It is described in the CDN 25.2.1902. “The late Mr Dunn was the son of Mr Dunn a well known tutor at St John’s College. He was born at Cambridge, his parents living for some time at Gwydir House, Mill Road. They subsequently removed to Shelford. As a boy Mr Dunn used to play cricket and football on Parker’s Piece. After leaving Eton he became one of the foremost figures in University sport. He was not only a good footballer and cricketer but a shining light at the ADC. He was one of the principal movers in the resuscitation of the Cambs Football Club about 1883.”
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1881: (Gwydir House, no number) [Boarding school]
George Johnson, 34, teacher MA, b Wisbech
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1891: (57)
Alfred R Sieveking [?], 28, surgeon, b London
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1901:
Edwin S Wood, 51, physician and surgeon, b Monmouth
1913: vacant
Circa 1910 one of the occupants of Gwydir House was Miss E Chevill:
Postcard to Miss E Chevill Gwydir House 1910
Aerial photo of Cambridge circa 1910
24/10/1923: Sir – Permit me to enter a strong protest against Cambridge town council “improvements”. Take the following, with all of which we are now threatened. The detestable proposal to improve St Mary’s Street by lopping off nine feet of church yard; the very pleasant little old world Emmanuel St to be made banal by altering its lines and proportions; Coe Fen to be utterly ruined for ever by cutting a new road for motors. And who in their right mind would dream of building public baths in so outlying and unattractive a suburb as Gwydir Street. – Delta (Cam.News)
Further information
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