Above the much-loved Coogee Beach Bogey Hole once towered an eastern suburbs icon, the ‘Giles Gym and Baths’, writes Randwick Council’s Local Studies Librarian,  Georgina Keep.

At the foot of the northern headland at Coogee Beach – which takes its name from the local Aboriginal word Koojay – sits a natural rock pool known as the  ‘Bogey Hole’. This popular local swimming spot is accessed by climbing over the rocky foreshore north of the beach or from the Coastal Walkway in Dunningham Reserve where the memorial to victims of the 2002 Bali Bombing now stands.

Before descending the stairs to the Bogey Hole, visitors pass through a curious archway that reads ‘Baths’. The structure was once the entry portico to a building that stood above the pool through much of the 20th century: the iconic Giles Gym and Baths. But what is the history of this once famous eastern suburbs institution? Why was it demolished? And were the baths really the exclusive domain of male patrons?

The Bogey Hole was first leased to Randwick Council by the state government in 1902 as part of the reserve, later named after John Dunningham – the much-loved politician responsible for many of the state’s ocean pools and champion of local surf clubs and the coastal marine environment.

In 1912, the cliff and rocky foreshore of the northern escarpment at Coogee Beach was gazetted as a reserve for ‘gents’ bathing, giving rise to the site’s popular mythology, but evidence of women’s use of the facilities remains well beyond the 1950s.

It’s the Giles Baths signage from the late 1920s – the era of the Coogee Pier – that debunks the myth that this was always a ‘male only’ space. Oscar E Giles leased the pool from Randwick Council in 1924 – offering £268 as the successful bidder. He erected the iconic building between 1925 and 1928, designed in the InterWar Mediterranean Style.

Giles aggressively and successfully promoted the facilities, with press headlines such as ‘Coogee Bathing Sensation’ and ‘The Age of Miracles Has Not Passed’ appearing in the Evening News at the time extoling the restorative properties of the hot sea baths. Long before the era of modern health spas and wellness centres, Giles Baths restorative properties of seawater were championed by medical and quasi medical professionals. However, little detail exists in Randwick Council records to explain what treatments were on offer.

Frequented by recuperating servicemen after WWI, local boxers, footballers and jockeys, this stock-and-trade customer base saw the Giles facility survive throughout the 20th century.

In 1936, an advertorial praised the facility’s medicinal benefits, competitive pricing and proclaimed it ‘an ideal Gymnasium for the busy businessman and the professional man’. It claimed ‘the therapeutic value of the electric light baths and the great advantages over Turkish Baths can hardly be overstated’.

Giles himself was promoted as a skillful masseur with a ‘weight reducing’ massage therapy. The preventative health properties and ‘curative value’ of the treatments on offer were marketed to appeal to locals and tourists of both sexes.

By May 1940, while war raged in Europe, a sundial on a granite base outside the baths was dedicated as a memorial to Walter A. Inglis, who had taught boys to swim at the location for many years.

In 1957, squash courts at the rear of the Giles complex were built for a cost of £4,000, still fondly remembered today by many locals old enough to have played on them.

Oscar Giles passed away 10 May 1966, aged 89 years. His sons continued with the leasing arrangements, even after his death. Council minutes in September 1969 indicate that one of his son’s J. Giles applied to raise the  entrance fee by a whopping 100 per cent, from 10 to 20 cents.

By October 1975, the facility – now referred to as ‘The Giles Leisure Centre’ – had new operators. South Sydney rugby league players, John O’Neill and Gary Stevens, took over the lease for the site in partnership with fitness trainer Les Motto.

In 1974, the building was condemned due to catastrophic storm damage. An injection of capital was required if ‘Giles Baths’ was to survive. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the trio used much of their income from professional rugby league to invest over $47,000 into the facilities. But due to its location, the facilities continued to bear the brunt of storms and weather. The building continued to decline in the sea air and without adequate maintenance.

By the time of the Coogee Beach Plan of Management in 1998, Randwick Council recommended the NSW government demolish the Giles Baths buildings, deeming them neither commercially viable nor economically sustainable. A subsequent report recommended retention of the portico and the Inglis commemorative sundial.

The baths portico stands silently like a sentinel, guarding our community and personal memories of the past and providing a doorway to a brighter future. A constant reminder of our community heritage that we should not forget.