The Victoria Baths is one of the most ambitious baths complexes in Great Britain and this is recognised by it's status as a grade II* listed building. Designed by Henry Price, Manchester's first City Architect, in some respects the Victoria Baths are not dissimilar to other major civic buildings of the period but it is unusual to find such scale and extravagance applied to a baths complex.

The building as a whole and its internal decoration and equipment make it probably the most splendid municipal bathing institution in the country. But the cost was heavy, the project went way over budget with the final total exceeding £60,000.

Victoria Baths was opened on Friday 7th September 1906, by J. Herbert Thewlis, the Lord Mayor of Manchester. Thewlis described the baths as a "water palace of which every citizen of Manchester is proud". This event is recorded by the bronze plaque inside the Males 1st Class Entrance. He wanted all the children in Manchester to be able to swim.

The Baths, built between 1903 and 1906, reflected the Victorian class attitude of the time. It was an era when railways not only had 1st and 2nd class travel, but also 'Ladies Only' compartments! This way of thinking is particularly evident in the design of the building, most notably by the fact that there are three entrances; Males 1st Class, Males 2nd Class and Females.