Three brushes used for bathing in public bathhouse

Three brushes, with wooden handles, used for bathing in a public bathhouse, possibly the Cheshire Street public baths and laundry in Bethnal Green, East London, 20th century.

The second half of the 19th century saw significant improvements in public health provision in Britain, which was driven by the passing of a number of key pieces of legislation. Built during 1898-99, the opening of the public baths and laundry at the junction of Cheshire Street and Abbey Street in Bethnal Green, London, coincided with the introduction of the second Baths and Washhouses Act. This amended the pioneering first Act of 1846 which had empowered local authorities to build public bathing and laundry facilities for the working classes through the use of local rates and government loans.

At the end of the 19th century, Bethnal Green in East London was considered a ‘slum’. An impoverished, densely packed area with poor quality, unsanitary housing. As such, the new baths and laundry became a very popular amenity, well-used by the local population. The building was designed by the architect R. Stephen Ayling – who specialised in social and community buildings – with the entrance to the baths in Cheshire Street and the laundry entrance in the then adjacent Abbey Street. For a small fee, people could have a warm bath in one part of the building or wash their clothes in another. These well-worn scrubbing brushes were likely to have been provided in bathing cubicles for communal use.

After several decades serving the community, improvements in household washing and bathing facilities led to decreasing demand for the facilities and they closed in the 1970s. Part of the building then became home to the Repton Boxing Club – considered Britain's oldest amateur boxing gym