The cottage which once stood on the site was once occupied by the Tidby family, one of whom was the builder of Portesham School: it was described as "long since pulled down" as far back as 1946. A similar threat appeared to hang over the toilets themselves in 2004, until it emerged that the District Council's plans concerned the beach toilets. In fact, the village toilets were totally refurbished in 2005, and a disabled toilet, with a wheelchair ramp, was installed.
The toilets have been here at least since 1968, as the Parish Council asked in that year for direction signs to help visitors, suggesting that the tourist trade was already well established.
At the time of the Appreciation, the toilets earned the dubious distinction of being the only flat-roofed building in the village: "how someone has tried! but it is totally out of keeping, the roof a stranger to its neighbours". Now it has added to unfortunate uniqueness with the industrial railings protecting the new ramp: as one villager has commented, "if any of us applied to put those up, we would have been laughed out of court."
The type K6 telephone kiosk adjoining the toilets was listed Grade II in 1968.