The History of Devizes Swimming Club
These notes and pictures have been reproduced with kind permission of Mr. Rick Kibby, author of Devizes Allsports (ISBN-13: 978-0954640712) – the definitive work on the history of the sports clubs in and around the Devizes area. Mr. Kibby retains the copyright on this work.
Devizes Swimming Club was formed in June 1896, meeting at the “Bathing Place” which was actually in the Kennet and Avon canal behind The Black Horse on Bath Road (near lock 24). The boundary of the pool was made of corrugated iron sheets above the water with wire netting below, allowing free flow of water and an interesting collection of native canal-life such as leeches etc.. There used to be a couple of diving boards and about a dozen changing rooms on one side. It was an amusing fact that bathers soon learned to swim very quickly – standing in the mud for any length of time allowed indigenous black water-slugs the opportunity of attaching themselves to any unsuspecting feet!
The spectators at the club’s first aquatic sports in July 1896 witnessed an attractive programme of events that included swimming under water, springboard diving (forward and backward somersaults) and diving from the stage. As a finale, Messrs Willis and Lander also gave a “display of swimming encumbered with iron weights of 24 and 38 pounds respectively”.
By 1933, concerns as to the cleanliness and safety of the water were raised, which prompted moves to find an alternative swimming pool. Various ideas were considered, but it wasn’t until Lord Roundway donated a site at Rotherstone that the decision was made and the dream became a reality. It was on Saturday 18th July 1936 that the Mayor, R. P. Shepherd, welcomed Lord Roundway, who declared the pool open by cutting the tape with silver scissors. The pool measured 100 x 35 feet and was built by local contractors L. Maslen & Sons at a cost of £3,500, and at the time it was considered to be one of the best and up-to-date in the West of England.
