A report into the history of the Health Hydro in Milton Road in the Railway Village area of Swindon points out it is of international significance.

As part of the planning permission granted to Swindon Borough Council for a £6.5 million revamp and improvement of the Grade II*- listed building, a historic building record must be made.

And in the document by the council’s specialist historic building consultants Donald Insall Associates, which sets out how that record will be made, it becomes plain that the Health Hydro is a vital part of Swindon and Britain’s history.

But it also goes further than that.

The report sets out what it calls a ‘hierarchy of significance’ starting with the highest level, international.

It says: “The relationship between Great Western Railway and Swindon, and by association Isambard Kingdom Brunel is of international significance.

“The pioneering New Town founded by the GWR under the direction of Brunel and Daniel Gooch, the industrial settlement grew to be at the forefront of the world explosion of the railways.

“Arising directly from this, and as a far-sighted innovative response to their situation, the Medical Fund Society was created and its great built legacy is the pioneering, multi-functional building dedicated to the widest range of medical and health provisions for the community it served.

“No similar buildings are known of anywhere.”

The report says the Turkish Baths are also of international and possibly worldwide importance, saying they are: “known to be the oldest surviving, continuously working Victorian style example in Europe -if not the world.”

The building is also of UK-wide importance according to Donald Insall Associates.

“As a precursor to the National Health Service, the Swindon Health Hydro, in the mid-20th century was the perfect exemplar of a multi-function health provision, and the way to provide a degree of non-exclusive access by allowing non-GWR members and retirees, widows, and children to join and benefit.

“The building is a full city block, and the sequence of its construction is still evident.

“The family of iron trusses, along with many other smaller details, present a unique and significant example of craftsmanship, local to the site, but being GWR, of a very high and competent level, without being ostentatiously architectural.

“There is a considerable amount of internal original fabric remaining, providing various areas with a solid experience of authenticity, including glazed brick walls, windows, doors, architraves, skirtings, ironmongery, and glimpses of original tiled floors that may remain considerably more intact but are currently covered by carpet.

"The Health Hydro is one of the few remaining locations that still offer a public bath.”