Clifton Pool and The Victoria Public House
Encyclopedia
The Clifton Pool and Victoria Public House is an historic lido and public house
situated in Oakfield Place in the Whiteladies Road
area of Clifton
, Bristol
, England
.
Also known as the Clifton Lido, the pool is an open air swimming pool designed by Richard Shackleton Pope
and opened on Monday 29 July 1850. The public house
was added later.
It has been designated by English Heritage
as a Grade II* listed building, and is set in a Conservation Area.
The site is 885 square metres (1,058 sq yd) and includes a 250 square metres (299 sq yd) swimming pool.
It closed to the public in 1990 and was subsequently subject to several redevelopment plans. In 2005 it was acquired by the Bristol Glass Boat Company, who restored the pool with the addition of substantial spa facilities with saunas and other treatment rooms and built a restaurant and café. It reopened in November 2008 as The Lido, Bristol.
The Victoria public house occupies a corner of the site, carved out soon after the lido was under construction to provide funds for its completion. The pub remained open (although not continuously) during the lido's closure. Originally a George's Bristol Brewery tied house
, it passed to Ushers of Trowbridge in the 1960s and then through several hands. Since early 2006 the pub has been refurbished and operated by Dawkins Ales, a small local pub group and brewery.
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
situated in Oakfield Place in the Whiteladies Road
Whiteladies Road
Whiteladies Road is a main road in Bristol, England. It runs north from the Victoria Rooms to Durdham Down, and separates Clifton on the west side from Redland on the east...
area of Clifton
Clifton, Bristol
Clifton is a suburb of the City of Bristol in England, and the name of both one of the city's thirty-five council wards. The Clifton ward also includes the areas of Cliftonwood and Hotwells...
, Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Also known as the Clifton Lido, the pool is an open air swimming pool designed by Richard Shackleton Pope
Richard Shackleton Pope
Richard Shackleton Pope was a British architect working mainly in Bristol. His father was a clerk of works for Sir Robert Smirke, and Pope succeeded him, also working for C.R. Cockerell...
and opened on Monday 29 July 1850. The public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
was added later.
It has been designated by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
as a Grade II* listed building, and is set in a Conservation Area.
The site is 885 square metres (1,058 sq yd) and includes a 250 square metres (299 sq yd) swimming pool.
It closed to the public in 1990 and was subsequently subject to several redevelopment plans. In 2005 it was acquired by the Bristol Glass Boat Company, who restored the pool with the addition of substantial spa facilities with saunas and other treatment rooms and built a restaurant and café. It reopened in November 2008 as The Lido, Bristol.
The Victoria public house occupies a corner of the site, carved out soon after the lido was under construction to provide funds for its completion. The pub remained open (although not continuously) during the lido's closure. Originally a George's Bristol Brewery tied house
Tied house
In the UK a tied house is a public house that is required to buy at least some of its beer from a particular brewery. This is in contrast to a free house, which is able to choose the beers it stocks freely.- Definition of "tied" :...
, it passed to Ushers of Trowbridge in the 1960s and then through several hands. Since early 2006 the pub has been refurbished and operated by Dawkins Ales, a small local pub group and brewery.