A modest prefabricated hut that sat almost forgotten in suburban Kent for more than half a century is at the centre of an international preservation campaign, after it was recognised as a “hugely important” piece of sporting history – and Britain’s oldest operating sauna.
Finland’s ambassador to the UK is leading a campaign to gain listed status for the fragile wooden sauna, which is an extremely rare survivor of the 1948 “austerity” Olympics, hosted on a shoestring in London three years after the end of the second world war.
Ambassador Jukka Siukosaari was alerted to its existence by the Finnish Olympic committee, which had in turn been contacted by sauna enthusiasts from Aylesford, near Maidstone.
They had been quietly enjoying the sauna’s charms for many years until it failed a safety inspection in 2020, leaving them unable to afford repairs and forcing them to mothball the building.
Historic England is now considering an application to grant listed status to the structure, which is almost unaltered since it was built and retains its original sauna benches, panelled changing rooms and massage tables.
Siukosaari, who visited the sauna earlier this year, said its preservation was important “not only because of its unique architecture, but also for its history relating to Finnish-British relations and what it means for our common sporting history”.
“Recognising the importance of the building and restoring the sauna for public use would be a story worth telling for generations to come,” he added.
No new sporting venues were built for the 1948 games, and competitors were housed either in existing buildings near Wembley stadium or in military camps, including one in Richmond Park.
In tribute to its country’s favourite pastime, the Finnish company Puutalo Oy, which specialised in prefabricated buildings, donated a sauna to the temporary athletes’ village – though simple, it has a distinguished designer in Toivo Jäntti, one of two architects behind Helsinki’s 1938 Olympic stadium.
After the games, paper company Albert Reed, a leading importer of Finnish timber, acquired the building and moved it to its facilities in Maidstone. Though the land on which it sits has since changed hands, it has continued to be used by members of the local Cobdown sauna club, which was originally part of Reed’s staff social club.
Though the building’s history was known to club members, thanks in part to a small painted plaque, “it must have been forgotten about by the Finns”, said secretary and treasurer Richard Young, who has been using the sauna several times weekly for more than two decades.
Members of the British Sauna Society, which seeks to promote authentic sauna culture, were also unaware of its existence; they now believe it to be the oldest functioning sauna in the UK.
Young said its closure in 2020 – thanks to faulty electrics, a non-compliance with fire safety regulations and a broken sauna oven – had been “a great loss” to the club’s 30 members. Being given listed status would allow them to apply for grants to restore it, he said.
“It’s not just a sauna, it’s a club. If you go to a leisure centre, it’s noisy, there’s a mixture of lots of sorts of people, but we’re all friends together and we’ve missed the companionship. It’s relaxing. It’s original. It’s authentic, it’s different.”
Members were also expected to fully undress, visiting in single-sex groups on alternating days, he said. “It’s naturist – we keep it Finnish. You can’t do that in a leisure centre.”
Only one other temporary building from the 1948 Games is believed to survive, making the Finnish sauna “a remarkable little survivor … and a hugely important piece of sporting history”, according to Coco Whittaker, a senior caseworker at the Twentieth Century Society, a charity which campaigns to protect modern British architecture and heritage.
“It is a fascinating example of the kind of prefabricated timber architecture being manufactured and exported across the globe by Finland at this time,” said Whittaker.
“It is beautifully preserved, retaining its original sauna-room benches, its tiled and fitted-out washroom and panelled changing room. We strongly believe that this building should be listed to preserve it for future generations.”
