Inside ‘Britain’s most impressive public toilet’: a Victorian toilet that has become a Tripadvisor hit and even has its own visitors book
You don’t have to spend a cent to visit Tripadvisor’s highest-rated historic site for the Scottish seaside resort of Rothesay… But if you need to, you can.
Incredibly, the oldest monument in the Isle of Bute’s capital is a Victorian toilet block on Rothesay’s beach promenade.
To date, more than 500 travelers have done so reviews submitted of the city’s public facilities, giving it an overall rating of 4.5 out of 5. Reviews range from ‘exquisite’ to ‘great’. One called them ‘the finest cisternal decoration this side of Rome’, another ‘the most impressive public facilities in Britain’.
I visited the Isle of Bute to discover why this toilet block has become such an internet sensation.
Bus tours of Bute that previously took in conventional sights such as the stately home and gardens of Mount Stuart and medieval Rothesay Castle now stop to see the toilets.
On Tripadvisor, this Victorian toilet block is the highest rated ancient landmark in Rothesay, the capital of the Isle of Bute. Simon Heptinstall dropped by to see why it has become such an internet sensation
To date, more than 500 travelers have submitted reviews of Rothesay’s public facilities, giving the hotel an overall rating of 4.5 out of 5. Reviews range from ‘exquisite’ to ‘great’
The island is located at the mouth of the Firth of Clyde in the southwest of Scotland. It’s about a two-hour drive from Glasgow, including a 40-minute ferry ride.
Visitors disembark on the coast at Rothesay, the only town on the island. It is a classic, small Victorian seaside resort with ornamental gardens and palm trees on the promenade.
With its beaches, hotels and cafes, Bute was a popular destination for Victorian steamboat trippers. Many men are said to have spent the journey heavily drunk in the unregulated onboard bar, hence the expression ‘steaming drunk’.
Perhaps that is why the toilet block is located right next to the slipway to the ferry, between a miniature putting green and ornamental fountains and flower beds. Today it is open daily and free.
One reviewer called the Victorian toilets ‘the finest cisternal decoration this side of Rome’
The lavish urinals were visited by King Charles when he was Prince of Wales
You can recognize the simple brick block by the wrought iron sign from that time with the text ‘public facilities’. You wouldn’t think it was anything other than a convenient waterfront amenity.
But when you step inside, it’s like going back in time. There is a servants’ stall and a tiled lobby with displays about the artisans who made the toilet fixtures. There is even a visitors book, undoubtedly the only one in a toilet anywhere in the world.
A heavy brown wooden door with antique etched glass reading ‘toilet’ pushes open to reveal Britain’s most extraordinary gentlemen.
It is a large room with a beautiful mosaic floor and a high wooden ceiling with skylights. Around the walls are twenty of the most ornate black-marble-and-white porcelain urinals you’ll ever see. Each room has two black and white tiled footrests, a striking Victorian Twyford’s emblem and the words ‘The Adamant’ printed into the porcelain.
Architectural historians consider the Rothesay loos to be the finest surviving Victorian public toilets in Britain. They were built in 1899 by the Rothesay Harbor Trust for the princely sum of £530, using the best possible equipment supplied by Twyford of Glasgow, writes Simon
In the center of the room is a circular stage with six more lavish marble urinals. The plumbing is fed by tall, wall-mounted reservoirs of black marble and glass, which reveal the water level inside. The walls are all tiled, the pipework is made of shiny polished copper and antique lamps hang from the ceiling. The fountains are made of Wedgewood blue-veined porcelain and surmounted by a decorated dado rail of beautiful tiles.
It’s no wonder that architectural historians consider this to be the finest surviving Victorian public toilets in Britain.
The lavish urinals were even visited by King Charles when he was Prince of Wales. The urinal he used is now undoubtedly the only one in the world to bear his coat of arms and the phrase ‘by royal appointment’.
The toilets were built in 1899 by the Rothesay Harbor Trust for the princely sum of £530, using the best possible fittings supplied by Twyford of Glasgow. Amazingly, when the block was built, ladies were not expected to use public toilets at all. It was thought that a lady simply had to wait until she returned to the privacy of her home.
That’s why the men’s toilets are Victorian. The powder rooms were added in 1994 – in storage areas. They are completely normal.
However, today’s female visitor may ask the attendant to knock on the door before taking a look. If no one is on duty, they just have to take the risk of peeking into the men’s house to see the unique decorations.
More information: visitbute.com.
