Lymington Sea Water Baths
Local highlightA big seawater pool beside the Lymington River, dating back to 1833 and looking out across the Solent to the Isle of Wight
Open to visitorsopen May to early September; book two-hour sessions online — an inflatable course shares the pool in summer
The baths go back to 1833, when the Lymington Bath and Improvement Company was set up, and their operators bill them as the oldest open-air sea water baths in the UK. The pool is about 110 by 50 metres, split into a 43-metre lap-swimming section and a family area, with a shingle bottom and depths from 0.8 to 1.8 metres. The water is filtered, chlorinated seawater, unheated and usually somewhere between 16°C and 25°C, and an inflatable course shares the pool in summer. After a local campaign the baths reopened in 2010, and they were listed Grade II in 2012. Lymington and Pennington Town Council owns them and has National Lottery Heritage Fund money to plan a restoration, with the baths staying open meanwhile. The season runs from May to early September, in two-hour sessions booked online. Lymington Pier station is about 600m north, and the centre of Lymington is a short walk north-west.
