The former swimming baths upon which the Lido pleasure centre in Cliftonville stands has been given a Grade II listing.

It follows just weeks after the announcement that Margate’s Winter Gardens, a short walk along the promenade from the Lido site, has also been granted listed status.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport announced the Clifton Baths listing in recognition of it being one of the earliest surviving seawater bathing establishments in the country. A lower reservoir is probably the earliest seawater plunge bath in Britain.

A circular chamber and bathing machine tunnel are the only known examples of purpose built structures for storing the horse drawn vehicles.

Perhaps most important, the Clifton Baths is the only known example of a sea bathing establishement dug out of the cliffs and as a result altered the local topography.

The baths were constructed between 1824 and 1828 by John Boys for £15,000 and were cut out of the chalk cliff north east of Margate harbour. The structure included a dome-shaped building for storing bathing machines, which became Hades nightclub in the 1970s, and an obelisk shaped chimney serving the boilers heating up the sea water baths.

Subsequent owners expanded the site, adding new facilities such as a cinema in 1903 and a theatre in 1924.

From 1926 the Clifton Baths were extensively remodelled by John Henry Iles, the owner of Dreamland, turning it into a modern open air seaside complex with bars, cafes and restaurants on several levels. These were built on to and over the remaining parts of the old baths in a neo classical style with Mediterranean influences. From 1938 the name was changed to the Lido (pronounced Leedo) and the site prospered for many years until 1981. Since then the swimming pool has been filled in with sand, the former theatre has been demolished and many of the remaining buildings have been boarded up. Only a snooker club still exists on the uppermost level.

The listing schedule does not include the Lido buildings - such as the distinctive beacon adapted from the chimney - which were altered in the 1920s. This work changed them too much from their original form but they have significant local historical interest.