Brighton Bathing Boxes

The bathing boxes on Dendy Street Beach date to the 1860s, built when bathing regulations required changing out of sight of the opposite sex, and eighty-two of them survive in a single row on the sand, all identical in form, all different in colour and pattern. They have no running water or electricity and cannot be slept in, yet they change hands for prices comparable with houses, since owners must be Bayside residents and the number is fixed by heritage protection. The city skyline sits directly behind them across the water, which makes the row one of Melbourne's most photographed sights, particularly at sunrise and sunset.

History

The Bunurong people have a long connection with this shore, and their shell middens and stone tools remain at Brighton Beach. The first bathing box on the Brighton coast was built in the 1860s to protect bathers' modesty; there were six on Dendy Street Beach in the 1890s, seventeen by 1907 and about forty by the mid-1910s, and numbers grew sharply after the First World War, to 246 on Dendy Street and Middle Brighton beaches by 1933. In 1935-1936 the boxes were moved from the high-water mark to the top of the beach, and in 1937 the council moved those on other beaches to Dendy Street to make way for a sea wall (Wikipedia, Brighton Bathing Boxes).

What's there

• The painted row - eighty-two identical huts in individual colour schemes.
• The city backdrop - the Melbourne skyline across Port Phillip behind them.
• The beach - the calm bay sand at Dendy Street.
• The sunset light - the row facing west into evening colour.

When to go

October to April for beach weather; sunrise and sunset give the light that makes the photographs. Summer weekends fill the beach and parking. Winter is cold and windy but the boxes are just as photogenic and far quieter.

Before you go

The boxes are privately owned, locked and not open to visitors; this is a look-at-and-photograph stop. Parking near the beach is limited and paid. In peak season it is crowded with photographers and tour groups.

Nearby

Brighton's shops are up the hill; St Kilda lies north along the bay.

Key facts