INTRODUCTION
The communal wash house was an essential institution during the 19th and early 20th centuries for both washing clothes and bodies. It was important not just for reasons of hygiene but as a strong symbol of health reform, dignity, and communal life. Petticoat Lane was home to one of London’s first wash houses, which offered clean water, hot baths, and laundry services from its premises off Goulston Street. The wash house proved to be a remarkably versatile institution and survived into the 1990s.
PUBLIC HEALTH
The foundation of the Goulston Street wash house was spurred by concerns about public health, hygiene and disease. The wash house movement was started in 1832 by the laundry owner [or laundress] Catherine Wilkinson in Liverpool who, during a cholera epidemic, allowed her neighbours to wash their clothes in her boiler. Boiling killed the cholera bacteria in the clothes and so reduced the spread of the disease.
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In 1842 the social reformer Edwin Chadwick published his Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Living Population of Great Britain which promoted the need for public washing facilities to improve public health. Housing in 19th century Whitechapel was infamous for its unsanitary and cramped conditions, with little to no access to running water in working-class homes. People often had to wash in cold water outside or not at all and diseases like cholera and tuberculosis spread quickly in such conditions.
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Chadwick’s report prompted the establishment in October 1844 of a ‘Committee for Baths for the Labouring Classes’. This was a London-based pressure group made up of influential citizens that aimed to improve the sanitary conditions of the poor through the construction of publicly accessible washing facilities. A direct consequence was the ‘Baths and Washhouses Act’ of 1846 that sought to improve public cleanliness at a time when cholera – that fed on filth – was rife, and the ‘Public Health Act’ of 1848. This established the ‘General Board of Health’ that worked through local health boards to carry out key works to improve the public sewers, to collect rubbish and to provide clean drinking water. These advances marked the first direct involvement of local government in public health provision. In 1853, the tax on soap – which had been in force since 1712 – was abolished. This made washing affordable for the poorest in society.
GOULSTON STREET WASH HOUSE
The campaign to provide the Petticoat Lane area with public baths and wash house was one of the first in the country. The 1844 Committee had identified Whitechapel as a priority area and funds were raised to start building on the site between Goulston Street and Old Castle Street in 1845-46. The facilities were formally opened in 1847 by HRH Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria.
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Designed by Price Pritchard Baly, the iron-framed baths and wash house was completed in 1851 and became a model of public health intervention, providing essential hygiene facilities for the area’s working-class residents. It featured separate first- and second-class sections for men and women, reflecting Victorian social divisions. The building included 94 individual bathing cubicles, each containing a cast-iron slipper bath, and 96 washing stations and drying chambers for laundry. There was also a plunge bath and areas for folding the dry clothes.
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“More hot water in number six!” was a cry commonly heard in the public baths, as the taps for the baths were controlled by the wash house attendants. The layout was compact and functional, prioritising cleanliness and public health during a time when private washing facilities were rare in working-class homes.
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You put all your clothes in a big sack and take them down to the local laundry...and go and get them a few days later of course
June
SWIMMING BATHS
Financial problems led to the wash house being closed in 1871, but the Anglican parish of St Mary Whitechapel agreed to manage the facilities. Repairs were carried out and the wash house re-opened in 1878. In 1886 a major renovation added two swimming baths, once again divided into first- and second- class facilities. Only men were allowed to swim in the pools, but local school children also started using them. Women and girls became able to swim here on Wednesdays, but they gained their own dedicated pool by 1902, highlighting a shift towards fitness and leisure.
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Further changes came in 1904 as a temporary floor was added to the first-class pool so that the space could be converted into a dance and music venue. By 1938, the Goulston Street facility had expanded into a modern public baths complex. Additional amenities included ladies’ slipper baths, foam baths, hydrotherapy rooms, towel dryers, and modern laundry services. Staff facilities like mess rooms, offices, and residential quarters with bedrooms and sitting rooms reflect the increasingly professional operation. This redesign marks a significant improvement in public amenities, showing how the washhouse evolved into a community hub for health, recreation, and social welfare.​​​​
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Listen to June talk about swimming at the Goulston Street Baths
FINAL YEARS AND LEGACY
In the late 20th century use of the wash house facilities declined as homes improved and bathrooms and washing machines became standard. In the 1960s the entire facility underwent a large-scale modernization. The swimming pool was reconstructed and expanded, aligning with post-war efforts to improve urban leisure infrastructure. Earlier opening hours welcomed members of the local Muslim community to enable them to wash before attending morning prayers. Two saunas and a gym were added in the 1970s.
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Despite a campaign to save the baths, the complex was closed in the 1990s. The buildings were largely demolished in the early 2000s although the Old Caste Street façade was retained. It is brick built in simple but handsome manner with arched first-floor windows and stone tablets emblazoned ‘Wash Houses’ with the date 1846. The façade has been integrated into London Metropolitan University’s Aldgate Campus. The space now known as The Wash Houses is used for exhibitions and events. Its legacy as a beacon of hygiene and social reform endures, remembered not only in policy but also in community memory.
Researched and written by Mark