A white, curving 1930s lido on the Sussex coast, built to look like an ocean liner and saved from demolition by local campaigners
Open to visitorsopen May to early September, plus a winter season in December — book swims online and check times
The architect R.W.H. Jones designed Saltdean Lido in the streamlined style of the late 1930s, with a long curving front that is often compared to an ocean liner, and the pool opened in 1938. Historic England upgraded its listing to Grade II* in 2011, a grade kept for particularly important buildings, and the Design Museum in London has featured it.
In 2010 plans to demolish the lido led locals to start the Save Saltdean Lido campaign. A community interest company (a not-for-profit business run for local benefit) won the lease in 2013, and after a long closure and restoration the pool reopened in 2017. The 40-metre pool is heated to about 25°C in summer. The main season runs from May to early September, and there’s a short winter season of morning swims from early December into the new year, with the water at about 19°C. Book your swim online, though drop-ins are welcome if there’s space. The beach at Saltdean is just across the coast road, and Rottingdean, with Beacon Mill on the downs above it, is a couple of kilometres west.
