Major appeal launched to secure future of Brixham's Shoalstone Pool

A major fundraising campaign has been launched to help save a tidal swimming pool in Devon which is one of the biggest in the world.

The open-air pool at Shoalstone in Brixham celebrates its centenary this year, but volunteers say urgent help is needed to complete critical repairs.

A GoFundMe online donations page has been set up to help raise the money needed to complete the work on the pool, which has more than 10,000 visitors every year.

The free-to-use Shoalstone pool is reputed to be one of the world’s largest tidal swimming pools. It stands on the site of a natural rock pool that has been popular for bathing since Victorian times. In 1896 two walls were built to retain the tidal water that flooded in, and it was opened in its current form in 1926.

The pool is funded from donations, grants, fundraising and sponsorship along with advertising on site, shop sales, car park revenue, restaurant rental and the hire charges for beach huts and beach furniture.

The Friends of Shoalstone Pool organisation has been working with Torbay Council for more than 20 years, and although the council still has the freehold for the pool, Brixham Town Council has the lease and the Shoalstone Seawater Pool charitable incorporated organisation the sub-lease.

The two councils pledged £60,000 each to the pool in 2023, helping the volunteers to unlock grant funding. In December 2024 the government granted half a million pounds to pay for vital engineering work.

But now bad weather and more problems with the structure of the pool mean more money is needed.

The GoFundMe page (https://gofund.me/c08744c4e) says: “We urgently need help to raise £70,000 to complete critical repairs, making it safe to open to the community in May 2026.”

The north west corner of the pool – the corner facing towards the Breakwater – has suffered the worst damage over the years, but there are fresh issues.

The fundraising page goes on: “The project had to be paused in December due to the current weather conditions and unforeseen but significant issues in the middle and shallow end of the pool.

“This has caused delays to the project and has significantly increased the cost of the work, beyond available project funds and the contingency we had within our project budget.”

Just under £12,000 has been pledged by local supporters so far.