What's happened to Belfast's Victorian baths?

The full restoration of the baths is likely to cost £17m

A £5m investment has been announced to transform Templemore Baths in east Belfast.

The project will see it become a modern leisure and fitness facility including a 25-metre pool.

While the transformation aims to provide upgraded facilities, Templemore's historical features will be preserved.

So what has happened to Belfast's historical baths?

Templemore is the last surviving Victorian public baths on the island of Ireland

Public baths are some of the few remaining links with the Victorian era and the modern day.

Opened in 1893, Templemore baths and swimming pool was the last in a series of public baths opened in Belfast.

At the time, east Belfast was a highly populated and industrialised area due to the the development of businesses such as Harland Wolff.

The baths therefore offered sanitary facilities to many local families - many people who lived in terraced houses did not have access to personal washing equipment.

Part of the complex remains in use

In the 1980s, Templemore baths was saved from closure by a voluntary committee - by then it was more commonly known as the Templemore Swim and Fitness Centre.

Today, the majority of the complex remains in use and historical features such as the minor pool and slipper baths remain intact but in need of repair.

Various sections of the baths are vacant and in disrepair

Following the funding announcement, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) Paul Mullan said the investment would see Templemore Baths continue "to be a valued and vital resource for the people of Belfast for many generations to come".

Ormeau Baths

Serving the community of south Belfast, Ormeau baths opened in 1888, like Templemore offering sanitary facilities to those who lived close by.

It closed its doors in the 1970s, before being reopened as an art gallery in 1994.

The last swimmer at Ormeau baths packed their trunks in the 1970s

The Victorian listed building operated as a gallery until 2011, when the complex was put up for sale.

In 2017, a group of technology investors converted the site into a co-working space with 140 desks and private offices.