What is the history of the bathing machine?

These ‘huts on wheels’ founded on Brighton Beach in the 1750s. In the early 18th Century, seawater was identified as having curative properties, with sea bathing recommended. These ‘bathing chariots’ were wooden changing rooms on wheels, usually drawn into the water by horse, so the bather could step directly into the sea. Men usually bathed naked, and women changed into a linen bathing gown. Hefty attendants of both sexes, called ‘dippers’, helped to assist with the required number of therapeutic dunkings, as there was little active swimming.

During the Victorian era, ladies visiting the public beach couldn’t simply wade out into the water and enjoy an invigorating swim. To protect their modesty, most ladies on a seaside holiday utilized a bathing machine. Though the name puts one in mind of a mechanized device, a bathing machine was really nothing more than a wooden dressing room set up on two wheels. The interior was usually equipped with both an entry and an exit door, and generally featured benches on either side, and hooks on the walls. A bather would enter the machine fully clothed, at which point—while the occupant changed into her bathing costume—the machine was hitched to a horse and drawn out into the sea. Victorian era bathing machines were available for both sexes. The men’s machines were generally situated on the opposite end of the beach from the women’s, sometimes as much as a quarter of a mile away.

There is some conjecture as to where the bathing machine originated – some say it was developed in Margate, others in Devon – but what is under no doubt is how the contraption became popular across the country by the turn of the eighteenth century, retaining its popularity for at least another hundred years. Created to allow bathers a sheltered place to change, bathing huts would be wheeled out into the shallows, where their occupants could then enjoy the benefit of sea-bathing. This was born out of a necessity to preserve modesty – bathers were segregated by sex during the Victorian era. By 1912, however, the bathing machine was beginning to have its detractors. Moreover, the relaxation of the stringent morality that had governed bathing etiquette saw less of a need for the contraption. But within the pages of our Archive we were able to find evidence that bathing machines were still in use up until at least 1920. The bathing machine, once a familiar sight at British seaside resorts, has all but become extinct, its legacy only really reflected in the beach huts which still line coasts up and down the United Kingdom.

The bathing machine was a little hut on wheels, with entrances on either side. A swimmer would enter the bathing machine while it was parked on the beach, and change into their bathing suit. Then the bathing machine would be dragged out into deeper water, either by horse or human power. Once the machine had gone far enough into the water, the swimmer would emerge from the opposite door and dive into the ocean, far away from the prying eyes of those on the beach. When they debuted in the 1750s, bathing machines did serve a bit of a purpose: bathing suits hadn’t yet been invented, and almost everyone swam nude. But even after rather modest bathing getups became de rigeur, the bathing machine stuck around, thanks to the famously conservative Victorians. In their heyday in the 19th century, bathing machines crowded beaches in Europe, the United States, and Mexico. Around the turn of the 20th century, bathing machines began to disappear, victims of more relaxed ideas about modesty.

The Victorians came to Whitby because sea bathing was believed to be healthy. Although their bathing suits covered most of their bodies ladies had to behave modestly. Bathing machines allowed them to change privately. They were then towed down into the water by horses so they could get straight into the sea. These machines, belonging to J Hill, are near the harbour above the West beach.