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57-525: Birnbeck Pier , also known as the 'Old Pier', is a pier situated on the Bristol Channel in Weston-super-Mare , North Somerset , England, approximately 18 miles (29 km) south-west of Bristol . It is the only pier in the country which links the mainland to an island, linking to Birnbeck Island , a 1.2-hectare (3-acre) rocky island just to the west of Worlebury Hill . The grade II* listed pier

114-557: A compulsory purchase order on the pier. In November 2021, it was announced that CNM Estates had agreed to sell the pier to the council. The council bought the pier in July 2023, with the intention of repairing and restoring it, allowing the lifeboat station to relocate back to Birnbeck island. Architects and engineers were appointed in September 2023. Restoration work is planned to be carried out in phases between 2024 and 2027 and will be funded by

171-440: A 50-room hotel. In September 2010 Urban Splash placed the pier up for sale, citing a downfall in business caused by the recession as their reason. In September 2011 Wahid Samady and Michael Ross were reported to have bought Birnbeck Pier for an undisclosed sum; Samady had also been awarded planning permission for a new development at the nearby Royal Pier Hotel site, just yards from the pier. In August 2012 further reports suggests

228-618: A 60-metre (200 ft) high bungee jump over the North Sea waves. The present pier is a successor of an earlier pier, which was completed in 1901 but in 1943 destroyed by the German occupation forces. The first recorded pier in England was Ryde Pier , opened in 1814 on the Isle of Wight , as a landing stage to allow ferries to and from the mainland to berth. It is still used for this purpose today. It also had

285-710: A boarding point for steamers plying their trade in the Bristol Channel, it underwent various extensions and modifications over the years. During the Second World War the pier was commissioned as HMS Birnbeck by the Admiralty as part of the Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development (DMWD) for research into new weapons. Its work included conducting trials on the Barnes Wallis 'bouncing bomb'. The pier reopened after

342-468: A law was passed banning marching on the pier. The gothic toll house and pierhead buildings were designed by local architect Hans Price . To allow steamers to bring day trippers to Weston-super-Mare from ports on both the English and Welsh side of the Bristol Channel, a landing jetty was extended on the west side of the island. The Severn Estuary has the second highest tidal range in the world second only to

399-623: A leisure function in the past, with the pier head once containing a pavilion, and there are still refreshment facilities today. The oldest cast iron pier in the world is Town Pier, Gravesend , in Kent , which opened in 1834. However, it is not recognised by the National Piers Society as being a seaside pier. Following the building of the world's first seaside pier at Ryde, the pier became fashionable at seaside resorts in England and Wales during

456-647: A linear littoral quayside, and such piers are usually much shorter. Typically each pier would carry a single transit shed the length of the pier, with ships berthing bow or stern in to the shore. Some major ports consisted of large numbers of such piers lining the foreshore, classic examples being the Hudson River frontage of New York , or the Embarcadero in San Francisco . The advent of container shipping , with its need for large container handling spaces adjacent to

513-471: A new pier was built in 1933. It remained till the present day, but was partially transformed and modernized in 1999–2004. In Nieuwpoort, Belgium there is a pleasure pier on both sides of the river IJzer . Scheveningen , the coastal resort town of The Hague , boasts the largest pier in the Netherlands , completed in 1961. A crane, built on top of the pier's panorama tower, provides the opportunity to make

570-556: A pier has two decks. Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier in Galveston , Texas has a roller coaster, 15 rides, carnival games and souvenir shops. Early pleasure piers were of complete timber construction, as was with Margate which opened in 1824. The first iron and timber built pleasure pier Margate Jetty , opened in 1855. Margate pier was wrecked by a storm in January 1978 and not repaired. The longest iron pleasure pier still remaining

627-451: A pier presents a set of different circumstances to fishing from the shore or beach, as you do not need to cast out into the deeper water. This being the case there are specific fishing rigs that have been created specifically for pier fishing which allow for the direct access to deeper water. In Blankenberge a first pleasure pier was built in 1894. After its destruction in the World War I ,

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684-623: Is at Southend-on-Sea , Essex , and extends 1.3 miles (2.1 km) into the Thames Estuary . The longest pier on the West Coast of the US is the Santa Cruz Wharf , with a length of 2,745 feet (837 m). Providing a walkway out to sea, pleasure piers often include amusements and theatres as part of their attractions. Such a pier may be unroofed, closed, or partly open and partly closed. Sometimes

741-451: Is more common in suspension bridges . Dredge's bridge design was considered "a very significant yet relatively short-lived phase in suspension bridge development". During a strike by stonemasons, what little had been built was damaged during a storm, bringing about the end to the suspension bridge scheme. In 1864, a new proposal was made to build a pier across to the island, funded by 2,000 shares which raised £20,000. Cecil Hugh Smyth Pigott,

798-477: Is the one at Southend. First opened as a wooden pier in 1829, it was reconstructed in iron and completed in 1889. In a 2006 UK poll, the public voted the seaside pier onto the list of icons of England. Many piers are built for the purpose of providing boatless anglers access to fishing grounds that are otherwise inaccessible. Many "Free Piers" are available in larger harbors which differ from private piers. Free Piers are often primarily used for fishing. Fishing from

855-521: The Bay of Fundy in Eastern Canada . The estuary's funnel shape, its tidal range, and the underlying geology of rock, gravel and sand, produce strong tidal streams and high turbidity , giving the water a notably brown colouration. The tidal range means that the legs of the pier are largely exposed at low tide and hidden at high tide. When the pier opened on 5 June 1867, again by Cecil Hugh Smyth Pigott, many of

912-558: The Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development (DMWD). It was commissioned as HMS Birnbeck and was used for secret weapons development and storage with testing. The " bouncing bomb " was tested at the Brean Down Fort on the opposite side of Weston Bay . After the war, the pier resumed its role as a tourist attraction, but business declined due to competition from the Grand Pier which opened its amusement arcades in 1946. In 1962

969-546: The Hans Price Gallery was housed in the former School of Science and Art, a building that was designed by Price. The old Weston-super-Mare Hospital dispensary has been named Hans Price House and stands on the corner of Hans Price Close . In 2011, it was announced that Wyvern Community School in Weston-super-Mare was to receive academy funding of £14 million and be renamed to Hans Price Academy . In December 2018,

1026-725: The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), the government's levelling-up fund , the National Heritage Memorial Fund , Historic England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund . A planning application for the first phase (repairs and alterations to buildings at the landward end) were submitted in April 2024. Due to the extreme tidal range in the Bristol Channel, finding a suitable launching site for lifeboats proved an arduous task for

1083-399: The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). Davits were installed on the pier in 1882, enabling a lifeboat to be lowered into the water below, even at low tide. A new, larger lifeboat was stationed here in 1889 and a boathouse was built for it on the north-east side of the island with a 100 feet (30 m) slipway beside the pier. This facility was replaced in 1902 when a new boathouse

1140-613: The Victorian era , peaking in the 1860s with 22 being built in that decade. A symbol of the typical British seaside holiday, by 1914, more than 100 pleasure piers were located around the UK coast. Regarded as being among the finest Victorian architecture, there are still a significant number of seaside piers of architectural merit still standing, although some have been lost, including Margate , two at Brighton in East Sussex , one at New Brighton in

1197-531: The Wirral and three at Blackpool in Lancashire . Two piers, Brighton's now derelict West Pier and Clevedon Pier , were Grade 1 listed . The Birnbeck Pier in Weston-super-Mare is the only pier in the world linked to an island. The National Piers Society gives a figure of 55 surviving seaside piers in England and Wales. Hans Price Hans Price (1835–1912) was the architect responsible for much of

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1254-498: The health of sandy beaches and navigation channels . Pleasure piers were first built in Britain during the early 19th century. The earliest structures were Ryde Pier , built in 1813/4, Trinity Chain Pier near Leith, built in 1821, Brighton Chain Pier , built in 1823. and Margate Jetty 1823/24 originally a timber built pier. Only the oldest of these piers still remains. At that time,

1311-413: The 1903 storm but was replaced by the present steel structure in 1903–4. A second pier, known as the " Grand Pier ", was opened in the centre of Weston-super-Mare in 1904. Although it had the capacity to accommodate steamers, it was seldom used due to difficult currents around the structure. An electric tram along the seafront ran to and from the pier approach road at Birnbeck. Many visitors arriving on

1368-494: The Birnbeck Pier Company sold the pier to P & A Campbell, the steamer operators. After the withdrawal of their ships it was sold to John Critchley, who redeveloped it as a " Victorian pleasure centre" which even had special permission to issue its own currency to visitors. There have since been several proposals to make the pier a commercial success again, including converting it into a hotel, casino, residential use, or

1425-411: The area, having been built from the 1840s through to the 1900s. Many of these were designed by other architects and builders who were influenced by Price's work. Although rows of Price's houses have a standardised look, the extensive use of individual details in areas such as gables and windows mean that no two adjacent buildings look the same, although individual details were often repeated further down

1482-533: The area. Grey Mendip limestone from local quarries formed the walls, generally as squared rubble blocks. These were decorated with pale yellow Bath Stone quoins and details, and roofed with Welsh slate shipped across the River Severn or tiles produced at the Royal Pottery, Weston-super-Mare. Both domestic and public buildings of this description are familiar in Weston-super-Mare, Clevedon , and elsewhere in

1539-529: The attempted theft of the clock face from the pier's tower. The judge, noting that the tower and clock had survived the 1897 fire, an attack by the Luftwaffe and an accidental mine attack, said the damage caused was "highly visible and irreparable" and that the Andrews "will always be known as the two men who destroyed the history; it was vandalism and theft for greed". In February 2020, North Somerset Council started

1596-454: The centre of a marina. The most successful steamer company serving the Bristol Channel was P & A Campbell's "White Funnel" fleet. Their operations were suspended during the Second World War, after which the number of passengers decreased with the availability of cheap foreign holidays and the opening of the Severn Bridge in the 1960s. Regular ferries ceased serving Birnbeck in 1971 and

1653-527: The construction of the pier, Birnbeck Island could be accessed by a natural causeway at low tide. A proposal was made in 1845 to connect Birnbeck Island to the mainland at the western end of Worlebury Hill . Work commenced on a suspension bridge two years later under a design by James Dredge , architect of the Victoria Bridge in Bath . He patented the taper principle based on using chains rather than cables, as

1710-641: The development of Weston-super-Mare , in North Somerset , England , during the Victorian era . Hans Fowler Price was born in St James's parish, Bristol . He studied under Thomas Barry in Liverpool . By the time that he married Jane Baker in 1862 he had already established his own architectural practice in Weston-super-Mare . Jane's father was the solicitor to the Smyth Pigott family who were major landowners in

1767-574: The facilities on Birnbeck Pier were closed. Weston-super-Mare is the busiest RNLI station on the south side of the Bristol Channel ; in 2011 its two lifeboats were called out 42 times. Historically, the largest number of people rescued at one time was on 22 September 1884 when 40 passengers were taken off the SS Welsh Prince which got into difficulties after leaving the pier. Pier Piers have been built for several purposes, and because these different purposes have distinct regional variances,

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1824-529: The final excursion was made 19 October 1979. The pleasure "steamers" PS Waverley and MV Balmoral still operate in the Bristol Channel, but any calls at Weston are made by a connecting tender from Knightstone Harbour. In 1984, £1 million of damage was caused to the pier by drifting equipment during engineering work in Sand Bay , to the north of the pier. The damage was quickly repaired, despite fears that Birnbeck might become like nearby Clevedon Pier , which at

1881-582: The fishing and cargo industries and serves as a port for large cruise ships in the area. Many other working piers have been demolished, or remain derelict, but some have been recycled as pleasure piers. The best known example of this is Pier 39 in San Francisco . At Southport and the Tweed River on the Gold Coast in Australia , there are piers that support equipment for a sand bypassing system that maintains

1938-440: The four-year-old son of the lord of the manor, laid the foundation stone on 28 October 1864 when a public holiday was declared in the town and a celebratory dinner was held in the town hall. The main pier was originally 1,150 feet (351 m) long, and it is 20 feet (6 m) wide with a cantilever construction. However the low water jetty was damaged in a storm in 1903, rebuilt in 1909 and finally dismantled in 1923 meaning that

1995-564: The image of a Victorian cast iron pleasure pier. However, the earliest piers pre-date the Victorian age . Piers can be categorized into different groupings according to the principal purpose. However, there is considerable overlap between these categories. For example, pleasure piers often also allow for the docking of pleasure steamers and other similar craft, while working piers have often been converted to leisure use after being rendered obsolete by advanced developments in cargo-handling technology. Many piers are floating piers, to ensure that

2052-453: The introduction of steamships and railways for the first time permitted mass tourism to dedicated seaside resorts . The large tidal ranges at many such resorts meant that passengers arriving by pleasure steamer could use a pier to disembark safely. Also, for much of the day, the sea was not visible from the shore and the pleasure pier permitted holidaymakers to promenade over and alongside the sea at all times. The world's longest pleasure pier

2109-514: The island, at a cost of £20,000. In 2006 the pier was sold to Manchester company Urban Splash . The new owners and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) launched a competition in August 2007, inviting people to submit ideas for the regeneration of the pier and island. At the time, the repair work required was estimated at £4 million. There were 95 entries for the competition from around

2166-480: The open air on Birnbeck Island. In April 2011 a new "temporary" boathouse was erected to give them cover. The structure cost £70,000 but has been designed so that it can be dismantled once permanent facilities are built and transported to be reused elsewhere. In 2015 the RNLI announced that it would seek planning permission for a permanent lifeboat station at Knightstone Harbour along with deep-water anchorage at Anchor Head and

2223-530: The people of Weston-super-Mare were given a holiday and a banquet was held in the Town Hall. The toll to walk on the pier was 1d (an old penny ), but this was quickly raised to 2d, which was the maximum fee permitted by the General Pier and Harbour Act 1861 ( 24 & 25 Vict. c. 45). 120,000 people paid the toll in the first three months. A tramway system was installed to carry the luggage of passengers arriving at

2280-522: The pier in 2011. The origin of the name Birnbeck is unknown but may take the 'beck' from the Scandinavian word 'bekk', a bench in literary Old Norse. Alternatively Birnbeck could be from the Old Irish 'berna bec', a 'little gap' because of the narrow channel separating the island from Worlebury Hill. . The rock is limestone , giving rise to the geological term "Birnbeck Limestone Formation". Prior to

2337-412: The pier is now 1,040 feet (317 m) long, Due to architectural features such as abutments at either end of the pier, the pier resembles a bridge more than other pleasure piers. Fifteen groups of piles support a continuous lattice girder, each set comprising four piles screwed into the river bed at an angle with an X-brace between each adjacent pair. The fitting of screw blades to iron piles, as opposed to

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2394-461: The pier stretching far enough off shore to reach deep water at low tide. Such piers provided an economical alternative to impounded docks where cargo volumes were low, or where specialist bulk cargo was handled, such as at coal piers . The other form of working pier, often called the finger pier, was built at ports with smaller tidal ranges. Here the principal advantage was to give a greater available quay length for ships to berth against compared to

2451-451: The pier. A new wooden northern jetty was added in 1872 which allowed the removal of the original western landing place. Another jetty was built on the south west corner in 1898 which reached deep water even at low tide, thus allowing steamers to use the pier at all states of the tide. This was damaged in a gale in 1903, and although it was rebuilt in 1909, it closed in 1916 and was dismantled in 1923. The northern jetty had also been damaged in

2508-603: The piers raise and lower with the tide along with the boats tied to them. This prevents a situation where lines become overly taut or loose by rising or lowering tides. An overly taut or loose tie-line can damage boats by pulling them out of the water or allowing them so much leeway that they bang forcefully against the sides of the pier. Working piers were built for the handling of passengers and cargo onto and off ships or (as at Wigan Pier ) canal boats. Working piers themselves fall into two different groups. Longer individual piers are often found at ports with large tidal ranges , with

2565-526: The road. Using his wife's family connections, Price was responsible for developing much of the housing on Worlebury Hill to the north of the developing Weston-super-Mare town centre. Many buildings in Church Road, Grove Park Road, Cecil Road, South Road and other roads in the district were designed in his offices. Public buildings designed by Hans Price include: An art gallery in Weston College called

2622-513: The sale had not proceeded and that Urban Splash were still the owners. It was bought by CNM Estates of which Wahid Samady is chairman and Michael Ross is a director in 2014. In 2015 the Victorian Society included the pier on its list of the ten most endangered buildings. Part of the north pier collapsed during storms on 30 December 2015. In May 2019, Neil and Ryan Andrews were each sentenced at Bristol Crown Court to 18 months imprisonment for

2679-495: The shipping berths, has made working piers obsolete for the handling of general cargo, although some still survive for the handling of passenger ships or bulk cargos. One example, is in use in Progreso, Yucatán , where a pier extends more than 4 miles into the Gulf of Mexico , making it the longest pier in the world. The Progreso Pier supplies much of the peninsula with transportation for

2736-410: The steamers never left the pier and Birnbeck Island which between them housed the cafe, pavilion, amusements and funfair. These were destroyed by fire on 26 December 1897 and replaced by the present buildings, although these have been altered over the years. The attractions included Mutoscopes , a shooting gallery, merry-go-round , park swings, a theatre of wonders and a licensed bar. In 1891 a telephone

2793-510: The term pier tends to have different nuances of meaning in different parts of the world. Thus in North America and Australia , where many ports were, until recently, built on the multiple pier model, the term tends to imply a current or former cargo-handling facility. In contrast, in Europe , where ports more often use basins and river-side quays than piers, the term is principally associated with

2850-409: The then accepted wooden pile, created a deeper and far more resilient base support. This was one of the innovations brought by Eugenius Birch which have enabled many of the piers he designed to survive. There were problems with oscillations in the structure when bands marched on the pier, both on the opening day and again in 1886. As a result, further horizontal cross braces were added to the piles, and

2907-484: The time was severed by a collapsed span. The pier was again badly damaged by storms in 1990 and was closed for safety reasons in 1994. Daily trips during the summer months to and from Cardiff , Clevedon , and Penarth were suspended indefinitely. Due to the decline, English Heritage has placed it on the Heritage at Risk Register . In 1999, the lifeboat station installed a walkway across the pier to allow them safe access to

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2964-460: The town. Price used these connections to build his business and his personal standing. He spent time as a Town Commissioner, a director of the Gaslight Company, and on many other boards and committees. Price was an eclectic architect who successfully mixed styles such as Classical , Gothic , Moorish and Flemish in different buildings, his works invariably used materials characteristic of

3021-456: The war, but the number of visitors and steamer passengers declined. The final excursion visited the pier in 1979. The pier has been closed to the public since 1994 and is on the Buildings at Risk Register and part of it collapsed during storms in 2015. The pier was purchased by North Somerset Council in July 2023 with the aim of restoring it and reopening the lifeboat station which was moved off

3078-469: The world. Architect Antonino Cardillo 's design included the existing buildings and added a large curvilinear concrete building to the island. The design called for many windows in the building to create a large panorama of the surrounding seascape. The winner of the design competition, Levitate Architecture and Design Studio Ltd, was announced in March 2008. The winning design included a dozen luxury apartments and

3135-448: Was built on the south-east side of the island. This had a 368 feet (112 m) slipway which enabled the lifeboat to be launched at most states of the tide and was the longest in England. The slipway was closed in 2007 due to its poor condition, since when the lifeboats have been launched from the north-east side of the island. The crews continued to use the 1889 boathouse but the two inshore lifeboats were kept on their launch trolleys in

3192-402: Was designed by Eugenius Birch and opened in 1867. Birnbeck Pier is one of only six Grade II* piers surviving in the country. The refreshment and waiting rooms of 1898 were designed by local architect Hans Price and the clocktower and the piermaster's house have been attributed to him. During the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries the pier was popular with locals and tourists. As

3249-399: Was installed only six months after the first one was installed in the town. In 1909, the amusement area was expanded by an extension on iron supports along the south side of the island. However, this was not built to the proper specifications so was demolished in 1912; a larger concrete platform was added in its place in 1932. The pier was taken over by the Admiralty in 1941 as an outpost of

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