31 May 2022

Thank you UK. Australia's bathing boxes are wonderful


Bathing boxes were erected close to each other 
with doors facing Brighton Beach
Bayside City Council

In the 18th and C19th, morality and public behaviour were strictly pol­iced, especially going to the beach for a swim. A woman was not allowed to show flesh in public, and to protect her from the ogling eyes of wicked men, the bath­ing machine was in­vent­ed in England. A bathing machine was a roofed and walled wooden cart that rolled along the sand. Thus decency in public baths was secured; women could change into swimwear, then wade in the shallows. As we not­ed, bathing boxes soon became a common sight in UK, parts of the British Empire and France.

Now Australia. The first bathing box was installed in 1862 in Vic­t­oria, on the beaches of Port Phillip Bay and Western Port. The Moor­ab­bin Shire permitted to 3 families to erect bathing boxes in 1883, for the exc­lus­ive use of owners, their family and friends. Oth­ers followed.

There used to be many more Brighton bathing boxes; over the years some were washed away or rep­l­aced, as recorded by Brighton’s His­torical Soc­iety. But they 1] were his­t­or­­ically valuable, 2] protected the fore­shore and 3] had the best views of the City Centre only 13km away. Along the long coast of Port Phil­lip Bay, col­our­ful bathing boxes were built on sand, backed into the tee-trees, to stop sand erosion and to add shade.  

From south of Melbourne all the way to Portsea
Press to see which beaches along Port Phillip Bay have bathing boxes

After the tramline was built from St Kilda-Bright­on in 1906, more resid­ents began seeking permits to build their own bathing boxes; ev­en­t­ually there were c150 boxes recorded. Peaking in 1910, these colour­ful huts still retained their simple arch­itectural features. Made from weath­er­­boards and corrug­ated iron roofs, the boxes couldn’t have running water or elect­ricity. To maintain the herit­age, ow­ners could not sleep there, rent out to oth­ers or have amenities. The boxes haven’t been changed from their original design when they were built, aligning them well with Australian beach culture.

Brighton is one of the loveliest beaches in Melbourne; it is also the wealth­iest, where a bathing box costs a fortune. However only a bay­side resident can make this life time purch­ase, usually passed down the family.

Moorabbin Shire showed a surge in requests to erect bath­ing boxes on the beachfront at Sandringham, Black Rock, Ham­pton, Mentone and Mordialloc in the early 1900s. All were granted permission! In one report, the Council was prepared to grant permits for new bathing boxes within the 1-2 ks from Mentone and Mord­ialloc Baths, prov­ided they were erected close to each other with doors facing the beach.

Not all applications for building permits were successful. Moorabbin Shire proclaimed that no person over 12 should use the beach to bathe within a certain distance of the Public Baths. In 1895 the Cl­erk of Works in Moorabbin Shire had to collect the annual charge of 10s. And he was also responsible to pro­vide a report to the Shire Secr­et­ary, not­ing all those people who had been gr­ant­ed the priv­ilege of a bathing box site, and which individuals had not paid the fee - they would lose their bathing box.

Scattered Brighton boxes were relocated to Dendy St Beach, to make it easier for bluestone foreshore promenade from Port Melbourne during the Great Depression. By 1934 Chelsea Council made it quite clear in its by-laws as to who could seek perm­ission to erect a bathing box or boat house, the nature and quality of such build­ings and the penalt­ies if the by-laws were ignored. Bathing box­es were ONLY for bathing, and boathouses ONLY for storing of boats and gear.

By-laws also included details re appearance of any building er­ected on the foreshore. Roofs of galvanised corrugated iron had gabled ridges, the structure was securely braced and the walls were set truly to st­r­aight lines. Although there were few windows and a locked double door, the external walls had to be primed then cov­ered with two coats of red paint, and white mouldings. Or other colours, with approval. And on the beach-side of some huts a simple porch was added, allowing parents to sit and  watch the children.   

 Some bathing boxes have a small, flat porch       
 Photo credit      

The adjacent Councils of Mordialloc & Sandringham in the 1920s took over managing a section of the Port Phillip Bay foreshore from Moorabbin. Built of concr­ete and set into the cliff face, 50 boxes in Parkdale Beach were ready for annual lease or for weekly hire with no residency restrictions.

It was in the City of Brighton’s 1961 engineering reports that bathing boxes & boat houses on Port Phillip Bay’s foreshore were condemned; the boxes had been erec­ted on public land for private purposes, and they re­stric­t­ed public acc­ess to the beach. In Nov 1961 own­ers of bathing boxes near Mentone Pier were notified that the struc­tures had to be rem­ov­ed within 30 days. Not all councillors supp­ort­ed this decision yet the Council had already decided that, as bathing boxes deteriorated, they’d be demolish­ed and no new permits issued. Then Mordialloc Council ann­ounced they’d build a new pavilion at Mentone for £20,000 and to include some bathing boxes on the ground floor to be rented cheaply. Some saw this as a peace gesture to owners whose permits had been rescinded.

By 1990 the remaining bathing boxes south of Mordialloc Creek were def­end­ed as being part of the landscape. And they continued to provide good rev­en­ue to the Council. In any case Chelsea City noted that many owners have painted and decorated the interior. They kept a few chairs or beach stuff, instead of always carrying it down to the beach. Today there are 190 bathing boxes in Chelsea and Edithvale etc, and the pol­icy is not to issue any new permits.  Thankfully the Bayside Planning Scheme added bathing boxes to a heritage overlay in 2000. 

Clean interior with a few chairs, towels and cold drinks, Mt Eliza
Great view over Port Phillip Bay

Ricketts Point, Beaumaris
triple the normal size box, with tiled flooring , preparation island, fridge etc!

Read Kingston's excellent local history.



15 comments:

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Hels - bathing machines taken into the sea by horses, to save the women exposing themselves on the beach. Amazing how social history develops - thanks for the read - we have one as a marketing ad outside a hotel here (Eastbourne, UK) ... not in use any more. We do have beach-huts on the prom ... and much as you've described - ours are quite set back into the cliff edge - created when the Promenade was built. Cheers Hilary

Deb said...

Helen, look at the huge white mansions behind the boxes in the first photo. It must have been a very wealthy part of Melbourne.

Hels said...

Hilary

You live in the loveliest part of the UK! When spouse and I lived in the UK in the early 1970s and didn't want to rush back home to Australia, I looked all along the southern coast for a small, cheap house to buy... Portsmouth, Bournemouth, Eastbourne, Brighton, Exmouth all looked very attractive. Alas back then we didn't even have enough money to buy a decent car :(

Hels said...

Deb

I found a photo of the white mansions of Brighton Beach overlooking the bathing boxes from behind. You are right that this was very beautiful, very expensive real estate back in 2020, and even more so now. No wonder the bathing boxes are soooo expensive.

https://www.realestate.com.au/news/famous-brighton-beachfront-mansion-seeking-eightfigure-sale/

Anonymous said...

While I love our bathing boxes and thanks for some history about them, they so terribly go against my principles, being parts of our beaches are privately occupied by the rich.

Hels said...

Andrew

it doesn't make sense, does it? The arch­itectural elements have to be simple, and just like all the other boxes to the left and right. The materials could not be cheaper - weath­er­­board sides and corrug­ated iron roofs. There must not be any built in services eg elect­ricity. Yet in 2018 one Brighton beach box was sold for AUD $337,000 while in 2021 one on Mount Martha Beach fetched $650,000.

So what is keeping the prices up - scarcity?

DUTA said...

I've never been a big fan of either the beach or the bathing in the sea. The concept of bathing boxes was not known to me until reading your post . I consider these boxes mainly as a curiosity of the past. The beach belongs to all. I'm not even in favor of hotels' proximity to the beach.To my mind, the hotels at the Dead Sea, for instance, have ruined the area.

hels said...

I understand what you are saying, Duta. But beaches are at the core of Australian identity. Even when parents had no money, they could still spend the summer holidays on the beach.

Deb said...

Back again. I saw photos of a normal looking box from the outside in Beaumaris, but very comfortable inside. How come other families are not allowed to have modern facilities?

Hels said...

Deb

If we have the same box in mind, the family bought the weatherboard in 1994. Apparently it was rotted out and leaning to one side when they snapped up the licence, and transformed it totally. Apparently they were able to renovate before the local Council stopped providing seaside shacks with hot and cold running water, electricity, air conditioning and a ceiling fan.

Luiz Gomes said...

Boa tarde minha querida amiga. Parabéns pelo seu excelente trabalho e matéria. Não conhecia essa matéria.

Hels said...

Luiz

Brasil has a long coast line and lots of beautiful beaches, so it is a shame that the country didn't develop a culture of beach boxes, or something like it. Families love it.

Mary said...

Hi Hels!
Thanks for the link to this great post you did a few months back, and for your comment today on my current 'beach hut' post.

There appear to be mixed feelings about the beach huts/boxes wherever they are. I do know the ones in my former hometown, and other seaside towns around Tor Bay (Devon, UK), have been permitted for a very long time and are costly. I enjoyed them as a child - even though my family never could afford to own one - but we had friends who did! Bathing machines which transported ladies to the water's edge were long before my time - but apparently Queen Victoria used one when at her summer estate on the Isle of Wight - here's the link, with photos, to a great article -

https://comestepbackintime.wordpress.com/2011/07/29/queen-victorias-bathing-machine/#:~:text=When%20Queen%20Victoria%20came%20to,rooms%20and%20plumbed%2Din%20WC

Hugs from a very hot North Carolina. . . . . where there are lovely beaches but not a beach hut or bathing machine to be seen!!!!
Mary -

Hels said...

Mary

I am comfortable until 35c, then I go to the beach or pool and don't move from the water all day long. Which is fine, since my retirement :) But I wish wish wish we owned a beach hut now.

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