| AdminHistory | In December 1851, the Baths and Wash-House Committee was established to run the Baths and Wash-House Department, at that point centred on the Kent Street baths. The committee recommended to the Estates Committee further sites for public baths, but it was not until August 1860 that Woodcock Street baths were opened, then at Northwood Street in 1862. The committee also appointed a superintendent, matron and engineer to run the baths and reported to the Council on a quarterly basis, regarding the number of visitors, entrance fees collected, staffing and building issues. By 1880 the Superintendent of Public Baths and his staff had, in effect, become the Baths Department.
In March 1857 the committee became the Baths and Parks Committee. In 1854 a local act was passed in order for the Council to acquire parks and in 1855 Adderley Park was opened. After the Council was presented with land on Pershore Road by Lord Calthorpe in 1857, the Baths Committee took on the management and control of public parks being renamed the Baths and Parks Committee. The committee appointed a park-keeper and constituted rules and regulations for public access. Later parks were acquired through purchase, lease or by gift and in 1864, by Aston Park and in 1873, by Cannon Hill Park. By 1880 the Council also had Small Heath, Highgate, Summerfield and Burbury Street parks. In 1886, the Keeper of the Borough Parks became the Superintendent of Parks and Gardens; he and his staff effectively became the Parks Department.
By 1911, when the two functions of the committee were split, it was dealing with matters as diverse as recreation grounds, playgrounds, gardens and park facilities such as boating pools, bowling greens, concerts and skating rinks. On the baths side, the committee was dealing with indoor and outdoor facilities, Turkish baths, swimming instructors and scholars’ free passes. For minutes of the successor committees from 1911 see BCC/1/BN Baths Committee and BCC/1/BO Parks Committee. |