Finnish sauna from 1948 UK Olympics is a hot heritage asset

Who knew saunas were such hot stuff? We usually swoon over monuments and memorials in our heritage section but the announcement that a Finnish sauna in Aylesford, Kent in the UK, has been listed as an historical asset (Grade II) by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport—with the backing of Historic England—made us go a little… sweaty. The sauna was brought over by the Finnish Olympic team and gifted to the UK after the 1948 Olympic Games. Its claim to fame is that it could be the oldest surviving purpose-built sauna in England in continuous use, and possibly the earliest surviving Olympic sauna in the world. The sauna has been on a journey—the modest prefabricated building was transported from Richmond Park, London, to Kent in 1949 as a recreation and leisure facility for employees of the Reed paper mill at Aylesford. “The sauna has been enjoyed and maintained by local users ever since and remained in frequent use until very recently,” says a project statement (the electrics now need replacing though). Handy tip—the word is pronounced ‘sow-nah’ by the Finnish.Finnish Sauna, Station Road, Cobdown Park, Ditton, Aylesford, Kent.Built for the Finnish 1948 Olympic Team.© Historic England Archive