Swimming Pools and Leisure Centres in Lewisham

If you want to swim near Lewisham town centre, the answer on the council's swimming page is one of three working pools, and the borough's fourth is currently out of action. This guide goes pool by pool. Times and prices are the operators' to change.

Which pools are there?

• Glass Mill Leisure Centre, 41 Loampit Vale, SE13 7FT. The closest to Lewisham town centre. Better describes it as moments from Lewisham station and lists a 25-metre pool and a teaching pool for lane swimming, lessons and aqua classes, plus a gym, studios, a sauna and steam room, a crèche and a cafe. For the week commencing 28 September 2026, it published the main pool as 6.30am to 10pm Monday to Friday, 7am to 3pm on Saturdays and 7am to 5pm on Sundays, with a pool temperature of 28 degrees, and the learner pool as 8am to 8pm weekdays and 8am to 3pm at weekends. It lists 54 paying car spaces including five disabled, and bus routes 21, 47, 136, 225, 436, 321, N21 and N136.
• Forest Hill Pools, Dartmouth Road, Forest Hill, a short walk from Forest Hill station. Better says it has been part of the community since 1885, with a six-lane 25-metre pool, a learner pool, a 35-station gym, studios, soft play and a cafe, and women-only swimming sessions. It lists one disabled parking space and no others, and buses 122, 176 and 197.
• Downham Health and Leisure Centre, Moorside Road, Bromley, BR1 5EP, listed by the council as having a swimming pool. The council points to 1Life's website for its hours and booking.
• Wavelengths Leisure Centre, Giffin Street, Deptford, SE8 4RJ: the council says its pool is unavailable because of essential maintenance.

The council's address list does not include a centre in Blackheath, Lee, Brockley or Hither Green. The train stations guide and buses guide help with the journey.

Other centres on the council's list

The leisure centres page also lists Bellingham Leisure and Lifestyle Centre, SE6 3BT, and the Alex Yee Ladywell Arena on Silvermere Road, SE6 4QX. Better describes the arena as Lewisham's only athletics venue, at the back of Ladywell Fields near Ladywell and Catford Bridge stations, with a floodlit track, a compact gym and outdoor pitches; it lists no pool. The council's Be Active page also names Forest Hill School Sports Centre and Lewisham Indoor Bowls Centre as places to register.

Lessons and clubs

The council says five borough leisure centres take bookings for swimming lessons, from babies aged five months with an adult to adults, and that lessons follow the national teaching plan, with prices and timetables on the centres' websites. The borough swimming club, Saxon Crown, runs sessions at several locations, including a disability section called the Tiger Sharks.

Free swimming and discounts

The council says a Lewisham resident with a disability who receives disability benefits can swim free in any adult session at any of its pools once registered with the Be Active scheme at a leisure centre. Be Active is open to residents aged 16 or over who receive certain benefits, hold a Blue Badge or disability Freedom Pass, or are eligible carers, and gives casual membership and 25% off most activities. Register at one centre and you can use the others, except Downham, where you register separately. The page also says some swimming courses for people aged 60 and over are available for as little as £1 per session.

How to book

Better runs bookings for Glass Mill and Forest Hill through its website, which the council links to from each centre's entry; the council lists a shared phone number of 020 8037 2527 for the Better centres. For accessible parking at these venues, see the Blue Badge guide. Green space for outdoor exercise is in the parks and kids guide.