{"id":27688,"date":"2020-09-15T16:08:25","date_gmt":"2020-09-15T15:08:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsblogsnew.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=27688"},"modified":"2020-09-14T17:33:18","modified_gmt":"2020-09-14T16:33:18","slug":"ihbc-features-heritage-from-the-doorstep-two-of-britains-first-public-toilets-for-women-given-protected-status","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=27688","title":{"rendered":"IHBC features \u2018Heritage from the doorstep\u2019: Two of Britain\u2019s first public toilets for women given protected status"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"While the UK saw a boom in the building of public loos from the 1850s onwards, the vast majority were strictly for men, which prompted a campaign for facilities to be provided for women, as reported by INews<\/em> following new designations described by Historic England head of listing, Dr Deborah Mays, as representing \u2018the gradual opening up of a world of new leisure and work opportunities previously unavailable to women\u2019.<\/h3>\n
image: Historic England<\/em><\/h6>\n

<\/p>\n

INews<\/em> writes:<\/p>\n

If there had been any doubt that the female population of Berwick-upon-Tweed would welcome the opening of the town\u2019s first public toilets for women some 121 years ago, it had been dispelled by the end of the facility\u2019s first day of operation.<\/p>\n

The takings from the opening day in March 1899 were five shillings and tuppence, meaning that some 62 women had \u2018spent a penny\u2019 \u2013 and in so doing rejected the common Victorian view that public conveniences were not suitable for females.<\/p>\n

Now the utility and significance of the Bankhill Ladies Toilets in the Northumberland town, among the first to be built for women in Britain, has been recognised anew after the loos became one of two vintage public conveniences to be granted protected status.<\/p>\n

Domestic drudgery<\/strong><\/p>\n

Heritage body Historic England has recommended the Bankhill conveniences, built to resemble a country cottage, and a second Edwardian public loo in Seaburn, Sunderland, for Grade II listing as early examples of female toilets and their role in freeing women from the drudgery of domestic life.<\/p>\n

The latter half of the 19th century saw a boom in the construction of public conveniences in Britain in locations from high streets to railway stations, parks to workplaces. But Victorian attitudes towards women\u2019s participation in life in public\u00a0 \u2013 from socialising to entering the workplace \u2013 meant nearly all public loos were strictly for the use of men.<\/p>\n

The lack of provision meant that women were unable to stray further than their own homes, or those of friends or family, because of the lack of public toilets \u2013 a restriction dubbed the \u2018urinary leash\u2019.<\/p>\n

Emancipation<\/strong><\/p>\n

The issue soon became part of Britain\u2019s nascent female emancipation movement with one organisation \u2013 the Ladies\u2019 Sanitary Association \u2013 set up to campaign for the building of womens\u2019 conveniences amid suspicions that in at least some cases toilets were not being built to keep women at home.<\/p>\n

Debbie Mays, head of listing at Historic England, said: \u2018The lavatories in Berwick and Seaburn reflect the emerging changing social status of women at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries. The appearance of toilets like these represented the gradual opening up of a world of new leisure and work opportunities previously unavailable to women.\u2019<\/p>\n

The Bankhill ladies toilets opened a year after the first facility for men opened in Berwick-upon-Tweed and remained in use until the 1950s. It has until recently served as a caf\u00e9 and ice cream parlour after the building was restored in 2014.<\/p>\n

Tourist attraction<\/strong><\/p>\n

The underground Seaburn facilities, which opened around the turn of the 20th century adjacent to a tramstop, still retain many of their original features including handbasins, toilets and decorative partitions. After closing in the 1960s, they were recently reopened after restoration in 2018.<\/p>\n

The toilets join a list of protected conveniences which includes the remains of the Roman toilet block at Housesteads Fort on Hadrian\u2019s Wall, where up to 800 soldiers shared a communal facility and a sponge on a stick for cleaning purposes; and the Art Nouveau conveniences at Nelson Street in Hull, recently ranked by the Lonely Planet guide book as one of the top 500 tourist attractions in the UK.<\/p>\n

Read more….<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While the UK saw a boom in the building of public loos from the 1850s onwards, the vast majority were strictly for men, which prompted a campaign for facilities to be provided for women, as reported by INews following new … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ihbc-newsblog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27688"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27690,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27688\/revisions\/27690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}