Victoria Leisure Centre carries more than 170 years of Sneinton bathing history

Few Nottingham buildings have had a livelier life than the Victoria Leisure Centre on Gedling Street. Its story, retold by LeftLion's Out of Time column in June 2026, begins around 1850, when the first baths and wash houses were built on the site by local building firm Dennett.

The baths gave local people somewhere to wash and swim, but they soon became a social hub as well. Boxing appears to have been staged there from at least 1922, before a switch to all-in wrestling in 1930. Matches drew huge crowds, and wrestling at the venue continued into the 1960s and even the 1980s, and many people still remember their trips to see the fights.

The building adapted again and again. Floors were once laid over the Oval Pool and the Exhibition Pool for part of the year for indoor bowls and badminton, and after a serious leak in 1973 the oval pool was converted into a sports hall with squash courts and a café.

In the late 2000s the baths faced an uncertain future. The Save Victoria Baths campaign ran from 2008 to 2011, with local residents, swimmers and heritage groups speaking up for a much-loved pool. In 2009 the city council considered plans for a completely new facility, with councillor David Trimble thanking "members of the community who have taken the time to give us their views".

In July 2010 the government gave final approval for a new £9m centre designed by London architects Levitate, part of a wider council scheme to upgrade leisure provision across Nottingham. The plans included a six-lane, 25m swimming pool, a separate children's pool and splash area, a café and fitness and health suites.

The new Victoria Leisure Centre opened in March 2012 on the site of the original, incorporating some of its historic architecture, so the long tradition of bathing in Sneinton carried on.

Today it is a reminder of how a neighbourhood facility can hold a community's memories, from Victorian wash days to the noise of a packed wrestling crowd and the laughter of children learning to swim.

Anyone keen to follow in the footsteps of generations of Sneinton swimmers can check current sessions before visiting the centre on Gedling Street.