Turkish Baths 1877 brings Sheffield's Victorian bathing ritual back to life

Hidden away in Sheffield's Devonshire Quarter is one of the city's most atmospheric places to unwind. Turkish Baths 1877, at 67 Victoria Street, describes itself as Sheffield's original Victorian Turkish baths, and nearly 150 years after it first opened, it is welcoming bathers once again.

The story begins in February 1876, when the Sheffield Bath Co Ltd was formed to take over the existing Glossop Road baths and expand the site. The new complex opened in November 1877, at an estimated cost of £33,000, complete with an ornate Turkish bath suite. Sheffield's first public baths had opened on the site back in 1836, and the complex was rebuilt in 1877 to 1879 to a design by E. M. Gibbs.

The baths have always been part of city life. In 1913 to 1914, the suite welcomed 10,604 users, and women made up more than a quarter of them. By 1933, a Turkish bath cost 1s 6d, with service from one of four attendants.

The public baths closed in 1990 despite protests, and when the building was sold in 1992 the council asked bidders "to retain the Turkish bath suite and public access". The suite was carefully restored and reopened on 15 March 2004 as Spa 1877, with its "original mosaics and glazed brickwork" preserved. It closed again in 2019, before reopening as Turkish Baths 1877 in November 2023.

Today the experience blends Victorian ritual with modern comforts. Guests move between aroma steam, hot steam, a sauna, an ice chamber, a cold plunge pool, warm rooms and a relaxation lounge, with aromatherapy showers along the way. There are both women-only and mixed bathing sessions, and the two-hour Baths Experience starts from £37, including herbal teas, a gown and towels.

For a longer escape, the three-hour Serenity Session includes a 25-minute facial or massage and lunch in the Plant Room Café, which serves locally sourced food, barista coffee and vegan options, and has a licensed bar.

Visitors clearly love it. One guest review on the baths' website calls it "a wonderfully relaxing and rejuvenating experience in a beautifully renovated historic venue."

It is a rare chance to relax in the same rooms where Sheffielders have been sweating out the stresses of the week since Victorian times.

Opening times, treatments and bookings are available on the Turkish Baths 1877 website.