Dame's Delight

{{Short description|Swimming place for women}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}

Dame's Delight was a place for women to bathe on the bank of the River Cherwell in the meadows near the Oxford University Parks opposite Mesopotamia Walk in Oxford, England.{{cite book| last=Partridge | first=Eric | title=A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IAjyQdFwh4UC&pg=PA288 | date=2 May 2006 | publisher=Routledge | isbn=978-1-134-96365-2 | page=288 }}{{cite news| url=https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/community/memorylane/11413607.Halcyon_summer_days_taking__a_cool_dip_at_Dame___s_Delight/ | title=Halcyon summer days taking a cool dip at Dame's Delight | newspaper=Oxford Mail | location=UK | date=18 August 2014 | access-date=29 April 2018 }}

The site existed from 1934 to 1970, when it closed because of maintenance difficulties caused by flooding.{{cite web| url=https://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/dipping-dames-delight-celebration-women/ | title=Dipping at Dame's Delight – A Celebration of Women | work=www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com | publisher=The Outdoor Swimming Society | date=8 March 2018 | access-date=29 April 2018 }}

A similar bathing area Parson's Pleasure for nude male bathing, also existed nearby until 1991.{{cite web| url=https://sites.google.com/site/derelictionintheshires/leisure-sites/parsons-pleasure-dames-delight | title=Parson's Pleasure and Dame's Delight bathing places, Oxford | work=Dereliction in the Shires | publisher=Google Sites | access-date=29 April 2018 }}{{cite news| url=https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/community/memorylane/11306790.Now_there___s_nothing_like_a_Dame___s_Delight/ | title=Now there's nothing like a Dame's Delight | newspaper=Oxford Mail | location=UK | date=30 June 2014 | access-date=29 April 2018 }} It had been established at a much earlier date; both sites are now part of the folklore of Oxford University.

Dame's Delight inspired the title of a 1964 novel by Margaret Forster.{{cite book|author-link=Margaret Forster|first=Margaret |last=Forster| title=Dame's Delight | publisher=Sphere |date=1964|isbn=978-0-7221-3626-3}}.