Corfe Castle Lake Sauna Opens, Swims From 12 September

Three sauna stories from the past fortnight, and none of them is a spa hotel. A wood-fired sauna has opened on a spring-fed lake in Dorset, a non-profit wants to put a 16-person cabin in the grounds of a listed Victorian pumping station in north London, and a Leeds swimming baths is testing whether people still want a sauna by borrowing a horsebox for the weekend. Here is what each one offers and what it tells you about where British sauna is heading.

A lakeside wood-fired sauna opens below Corfe Castle

The Wild Swimming Co started open water swimming sessions at Castle Lake, inside Dorset Adventure Park at Corfe Castle, on Saturday 12 September 2026. The lake is spring-fed, surrounded by woodland and in sight of the castle ruins, and swimmers can add a session in a lakeside wood-fired sauna, with a plunge pool overlooking the water. Swim loops are 160 metres.

To begin with, sessions run on Saturday and Tuesday mornings, 7am to 8am and 8am to 9am, booked through the Wild Swimming Co website, with occasional evening and full moon swims. There is a lifeguard at the water entry and one in the lake, plus a manager on site who is also a qualified open water lifeguard. Facilities are changing rooms, free parking and warm outdoor showers, weather permitting. Co-founder Richard Lloyd said the lake is “properly cold in the winter”, which is the point: it is a supervised place to try a proper hot and cold contrast without committing to a winter sea swim.

Two things to check before you book. Early morning slots and a two-day timetable mean this is a planned visit, not a drop-in. And an unheated lake in midwinter is a serious cold dip, so read sauna and cold plunge on how long to stay in and how to warm back up, and how long to stay in a sauna if wood-fired heat is new to you. The story is at Swanage News.

Community Sauna wants a 16-person cabin at Hackney’s Castle Climbing Centre

Community Sauna CIC, the non-profit that already runs a site at Hackney Bath House, has applied to Hackney Council for a dry heated sauna cabin in the grounds of the Stoke Newington Pumping Station, the Grade II* listed Victorian building known as the Castle and now an indoor climbing centre.

The plans are for a timber cabin for up to 16 people on a concrete slab at the southern boundary of the grounds, with two cold showers but no cold plunge pool. At a planning meeting on Wednesday 2 September, Robert Dumas, for the CIC, said the aim was “to bring communities together around an activity that improves wellbeing and to make that experience accessible to as many people as possible.” Neighbours lodged 12 formal objections over noise, LED lighting and crowding on nearby footpaths. Planning officers disagreed on the substance and recommended approval for a temporary five-year term. As of the latest reporting, a final decision was still due.

For bathers, the missing plunge pool is the detail to note: cold showers cool you, but they are not the same round as a dip. If you are choosing between London’s community saunas, saunas in London lists the ones already open, and sauna vs steam room is worth a read if the dry heat of a cabin like this is unfamiliar. Reported by MyLondon.

Bramley Baths borrows a horsebox sauna to test demand in Leeds

Bramley Baths, the historic Leeds pool, has booked äyup sauna, a wood-fired sauna built into a converted horsebox, for a two-day pop-up outside the baths on 19 and 20 September. It is part of the venue’s More Than a Pool programme, which is exploring whether to expand its wellbeing offer.

The reason is straightforward. The baths have a long history of sauna use, but their own sauna is not currently operating. “They’re looking at the demand and seeing whether there’s an appetite for bringing something like that back in the future,” said äyup co-founder Millie Sparrow. The business itself has just moved to a new base near Chevin End Guest House on the edge of Otley, where regular sessions carry on.

If you are in Leeds, turning up this weekend is a vote with your feet for bringing a sauna back to a public pool. Saunas in Leeds covers what is open year round, and if a horsebox sauna has you thinking about hiring one for an event, sauna trailer: hire or buy sets out the costs and practicalities. The story is at Great British Life.