Knights Templar Swimming Pool

Some thirty years ago, the town’s ‘Splashout Committee’ campaigned, applied for and achieved funding support with the aim to bring a brand new beautiful local community swimming pool to the town of Watchet.

Fast forward to the year 2024, the pool itself has been a huge success story as it stands the test of time to become a key service provider within Watchet and the surrounding communities.

The Knights Templar Pool Committee was recreated in November 2023 with representatives from the school, the Knights Templar School Community Association (KTSCA), governors, Watchet Town Council and regular pool users, launching the Splashout III project.

Living in a coastal community, being able to swim is a potentially lifesaving activity. Many generations of children of all ages have learnt the basics of swimming and survival in water in this coastal resort. The pool’s highly trained and experienced swim teachers have also taught a number of former pupils who have or are subsequently competing at a County, Regional and National level.

Our pool has been widely used in the community. It has enabled the elderly and disabled local residents to access therapeutic exercise and given local families many hours of healthy exercise benefitting both physical and mental health in an area devoid of such facilities.

Continuous use over the last 30 years has led to some deterioration in the fabric and several pieces of equipment need repair or replacement. The cost of maintaining the fabric and complex machinery can no longer be met purely by the booking fees as fuel costs have continued to rise and due to the pool not receiving any direct funding support.