Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Fagg's Bathing Machine circa 1889. Fagg's New and Improved Safety Bathing Carriage, Folkestone, was designed by Walter D Fagg, manager of the Folkestone Bathing Establishment. It was in operation from circa 1889-1912, on the beach leased from the Folkestone Estate, between the harbour wall and the pier at Folkestone

Monument Types

• HISTORICAL SITE (HISTORICAL SITE, Post Medieval to Modern - 1889 AD to 1912 AD)

Full description

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TR 234361. Fagg's New and Improved Safety Bathing Carriage, Folkestone. Designed by Walter D Fagg; manager of the Folkestone Bathing Establishment, it was in operation from c1889-1912, on the beach leased from the Folkestone Estate, between the harbour wall and the pier at Folkestone. The new design (Patent no 3217) was first mentioned in an advertisement in the 'Guide to Folkestone' (1894-1894). It was described as comprising "a number of cabins on an iron frame fitted with wheels, running on a tram line. The carriage is drawn up and letdown by a wire rope and can be worked by hand, gas or other power". It had diving-boards, a safety crate for non-swimmers and an attendant. This and a later complete specificationm mentioning it operation by gravity, horses, steam and gas engines was dated to 1888. The drawings submitted to the Patent Office seem to have been a basicidea, which could be adapted to suit differing sites and circumstances. It was built on a system of girders, wth the carriagesconstructed having at least six wheels. These were of a standard-diameter, with dropped axles to provide a horizontal floor during transit over the inclined track. The carriages were probably c.12 feet wide, as they accommodated the length of two cubicles and a centre passage. As the wheel system was inside the frames, the gauge was extremely broad, about ten to twelve feet. There were two sets of two closely parallel tracks, one set for the ladies, the other for the gentlemen. The track on the west was 300 feet long and that on the east 250 feet long. Each of the four tracks was operated with a unit consisting of two carriages and a crate on a 'one up one down' system. There is no information as to whether there was a winch/winding system at the two top ends. By 1897 an 'improved' type of carriage was in use, but it may have only been a rebuild, as the cost of new ones would have been to high. Fagg's Bathing Machines only appear incidentally in photographs. The design was probably available to the public by 1889. It is mentioned in Kelly's 'Kent' in 1891 and 1903; the last notice being in Ward Lock's 'Folkestone' for 1911-1912. A postcard photograph of 1914, thesame year Fagg died, shows all eight carriages on the beach with theirwheels removed. (1-2)

Southern Water Services, 1993, Dover & Folkestone Wastewater Treatment scheme Environmental Statement (Unpublished document). SKe6815.

<1> J Transport Hist 2 no 1 1981 69-74 (H W Hart) (OS Card Reference). SKE44814.

<2> Southern Water Services, 1993, Dover & Folkestone Wastewater Treatment scheme Environmental Statement (Unpublished document). SKE6815.

Sources and further reading