Birnbeck Pier
Encyclopedia
Birnbeck Pier is a pier
in Weston-super-Mare
, North Somerset
, England. It is situated on the Bristol Channel
approximately 18 miles (29 km) south west of Bristol
. It links the mainland with Birnbeck Island, a 1.2 hectares (12,000 m²) rocky island just to the west of Worlebury Hill
, and is the only pier in the country which links the mainland to an island.
The grade II* listed pier was designed by Eugenius Birch
and opened in 1867. The gothic toll house and pierhead buildings were designed by local architect Hans Price
. The pier has been closed to the public since 1994.
A proposal in 1845 to link Birnbeck Island to the mainland at the western end of Worlebury Hill
saw work start on a suspension bridge
two years later. A strike by stonemasons during which a storm damaged the little that had been built saw an end to that scheme.
A new proposal came in 1864 to form a company to build a pier across to the island. This was funded by 2,000 shares which raised £20,000. Cecil Hugh Smyth-Pigott, 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 is 1150 feet (351 m) long and 20 feet (6 m) wide. As it has abutments at either end—one on the mainland and one on Birnbeck Island—its construction is more like a bridge 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. There were problems with oscillations in the structure when bands marched on the pier, both on the opening day and again in 1886, and so further horizontal cross braces were added to the piles. A bye-law also banned marching in the future.
A landing jetty extended on the west side of the island to allow steamers
to bring day trippers to Weston-super-Mare from ports on both the English and Welsh side of the Bristol Channel
.
; 120,000 people paid the toll in the first three months.
A new wooden northern jetty was added in 1872 which allowed the removal of the original western landing place. Another jetty was added 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, rebuilt in 1909 but closed in 1916. It was finally removed in 1923. The northern jetty had also been damaged in the 1903 storm but was replaced by the present steel structure in 1905.
A second pier, the "Grand Pier", was opened in the centre of Weston-super-Mare in 1904. Although it was provided with a steamer landing it was seldom used due to difficult currents around the structure. Visitors to the town were able to catch an electric tram
from the pier approach road at Birnbeck.
Many visitors arriving on the steamers never left the pier, instead they made use of the cafe, pavilion, amusements and funfair on Birnbeck Island. These were destroyed by fire on 26 December 1897 and replaced by the present buildings, although these have been altered over the years. An extension on iron supports along the south side of the island was opened in 1909 which allowed a larger area for the amusements. This was not built to the proper specifications so was demolished in 1912 but a larger concrete platform was constructed in 1932.
In 1941 the pier was taken over by the Admiralty
as an outpost of the Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development
(DMWD). It was commissioned as HMS Birnbeck and was used for secret weapons testing including the "Bouncing bomb
".
In 1962 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 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 but afterwards the number of passengers carried decreased with the availability of cheap foreign holidays and the opening on the Severn Bridge
in the 1960s. Regular ferries ceased serving Birnbeck in 1971 and the final excursion called on 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.
The pier was damaged by drifting equipment from engineering work in Sand Bay, to the north of the pier, in February 1984. The £1,000,000 of damage was quickly repaired, despite fears that Birnbeck might become like nearby Clevedon Pier
, which at 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, with daily summer sailings to and from Cardiff
Clevedon
and Penarth
suspended indefinitely. It continues to decline and as a consequence English Heritage
have placed it on the Buildings at Risk Register. In 1999, the lifeboat station installed a walkway across the pier to allow them safe access to the island, at a cost of £20,000.
In 2006 the pier was sold to new owners, Manchester
company Urban Splash
. As of 2010 the people of Weston-super-Mare are waiting to see the company's plans for the future of the pier, the island and its buildings. In 2007 the repair work required was estimated at £4 million.
A competition was launched in August 2007 by new owners Urban Splash, inviting people to submit ideas for the regeneration of the pier and island.
In March 2008 the winners of the design competition were announced. There were 95 entries for the competition from around the world and from these, a shortlist of six was chosen with Levitate Architecture and Design Studio Ltd emerging as the eventual winners, who won £25,000 and will be paid a commission fee for their work. The winning design included a dozen luxury apartments and a 50-room hotel.
In August 2008, the Royal Institute of British Architects
(abbreviated RIBA) announced a campaign to redesign the buildings on the island, and six designs were submitted. One of the designs removed the existing buildings and piers to replace them with walking paths, and added a large, curvilinear, concrete building to the island. The design calls for many windows in the building to create a large panorama of the surrounding seascape.
In September 2010 Urban Splash placed the pier up for sale as they are no longer in a position to redevelop the pier due to a downfall in business caused by the recession.
In September 2011 Wahid Samady and Michael Ross have purchased Birnbeck Pier for an undisclosed sum. Mr Samady has also been awarded planning permission for a new development at the nearby Royal Pier Hotel site, just yards from the pier.
The extreme tidal range in the Bristol Channel made it difficult to find a site from which a lifeboat
could be easily launched at all states of the tide. In 1882 davits were installed on the pier which allowed the town's first Royal National Lifeboat Institution
(RNLI) lifeboat to be launched like a ship's lifeboat into the water below, even at low tide.
This lifeboat was only involved in two rescues, although one involved taking 40 passengers off the SS Welsh Prince which got into difficulties after leaving Birnbeck Pier on 22 September 1884. In 1889 it was replaced by a larger lifeboat for which was built a new lifeboat house with a 100 feet (30.5 m) slipway on the north east side of the island. The present lifeboat house was built on the south east side of the island in 1902 and has the longest lifeboat slipway in England, measuring 368 feet (112.2 m). Boats are launched from trolleys moved up and down the old northern slipway by tractors.
, who played Eddie Shoestring, was supported by guest star Toyah Willcox
who played the singer of a punk rock
band.
Pier
A pier is a raised structure, including bridge and building supports and walkways, over water, typically supported by widely spread piles or pillars...
in Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare is a seaside resort, town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, which is within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is located on the Bristol Channel coast, south west of Bristol, spanning the coast between the bounding high ground of Worlebury...
, North Somerset
North Somerset
North Somerset is a unitary authority in England. Its area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset but it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in the town hall in Weston-super-Mare....
, England. It is situated on the Bristol Channel
Bristol Channel
The Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Severn to the North Atlantic Ocean...
approximately 18 miles (29 km) south west of Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
. It links the mainland with Birnbeck Island, a 1.2 hectares (12,000 m²) rocky island just to the west of Worlebury Hill
Worlebury Hill
Worlebury Hill is the name given to an upland area lying between the flatlands of Weston-super-Mare and the Kewstoke area of North Somerset, England. Worlebury Hill's rises from sea level to its highest point of , and the western end of the hill forms a peninsula, jutting out into the Bristol...
, and is the only pier in the country which links the mainland to an island.
The grade II* listed pier was designed by Eugenius Birch
Eugenius Birch
Eugenius Birch was a 19th Century English naval architect, engineer and noted pier builder.-Biography:Both Eugenius and his brother were born in Gloucester Terrace, Shoreditch, to grain dealer John and wife Susanne...
and opened in 1867. The gothic toll house and pierhead buildings were designed by local architect Hans Price
Hans Price
Hans Price was the architect responsible for much of the development of Weston-super-Mare, in North Somerset, England, during the Victorian era.-Life:Hans Fowler Price was born in Langford, Somerset. He studied under Thomas Barry in Liverpool...
. The pier has been closed to the public since 1994.
Construction
Worlebury Hill
Worlebury Hill is the name given to an upland area lying between the flatlands of Weston-super-Mare and the Kewstoke area of North Somerset, England. Worlebury Hill's rises from sea level to its highest point of , and the western end of the hill forms a peninsula, jutting out into the Bristol...
saw work start on a suspension bridge
Suspension bridge
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. Outside Tibet and Bhutan, where the first examples of this type of bridge were built in the 15th century, this type of bridge dates from the early 19th century...
two years later. A strike by stonemasons during which a storm damaged the little that had been built saw an end to that scheme.
A new proposal came in 1864 to form a company to build a pier across to the island. This was funded by 2,000 shares which raised £20,000. Cecil Hugh Smyth-Pigott, 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 is 1150 feet (351 m) long and 20 feet (6 m) wide. As it has abutments at either end—one on the mainland and one on Birnbeck Island—its construction is more like a bridge 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. There were problems with oscillations in the structure when bands marched on the pier, both on the opening day and again in 1886, and so further horizontal cross braces were added to the piles. A bye-law also banned marching in the future.
A landing jetty extended on the west side of the island to allow steamers
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
to bring day trippers to Weston-super-Mare from ports on both the English and Welsh side of the Bristol Channel
Bristol Channel
The Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Severn to the North Atlantic Ocean...
.
Operation
The pier opened on 6 June 1867, Cecil Hugh Pigot-Smyth again being the host of the ceremony, the town taking a holiday and holding a banquet in the Town Hall. The toll to walk on the pier was 1d, but this was quickly raised to 2d – the maximum allowed by Act of ParliamentAct of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
; 120,000 people paid the toll in the first three months.
A second pier, the "Grand Pier", was opened in the centre of Weston-super-Mare in 1904. Although it was provided with a steamer landing it was seldom used due to difficult currents around the structure. Visitors to the town were able to catch an electric tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
from the pier approach road at Birnbeck.
Many visitors arriving on the steamers never left the pier, instead they made use of the cafe, pavilion, amusements and funfair on Birnbeck Island. These were destroyed by fire on 26 December 1897 and replaced by the present buildings, although these have been altered over the years. An extension on iron supports along the south side of the island was opened in 1909 which allowed a larger area for the amusements. This was not built to the proper specifications so was demolished in 1912 but a larger concrete platform was constructed in 1932.
In 1941 the pier was taken over by the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
as an outpost of the Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development
Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development
The Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development , known colloquially as the Wheezers and Dodgers, was a department of the Admiralty responsible for the development of various unconventional weapons during World War II...
(DMWD). It was commissioned as HMS Birnbeck and was used for secret weapons testing including the "Bouncing bomb
Bouncing bomb
A bouncing bomb is a bomb designed specifically to bounce to a target across water in a calculated manner, in order to avoid obstacles such as torpedo nets, and to allow both the bomb's speed on arrival at the target and the timing of its detonation to be pre-determined...
".
In 1962 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
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
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 the centre of a marina.
The most successful steamer company serving the Bristol Channel was P & A Campbell's
P and A Campbell
P & A Campbell Ltd of Bristol with its White Funnel Fleet became the dominant excursion-steamer operator in the Bristol Channel by the 1890s; and along the South Coast of England in the first half of the twentieth century.-The White Funnel fleet:...
"White Funnel" fleet. Their operations were suspended during the Second World War but afterwards the number of passengers carried decreased with the availability of cheap foreign holidays and the opening on the Severn Bridge
Severn Bridge
The Severn Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the River Severn between South Gloucestershire, just north of Bristol, England, and Monmouthshire in South Wales, via Beachley, a peninsula between the River Severn and River Wye estuary. It is the original Severn road crossing between England and...
in the 1960s. Regular ferries ceased serving Birnbeck in 1971 and the final excursion called on 19 October 1979. The pleasure "steamers" PS Waverley
PS Waverley
PS Waverley is the last seagoing passenger carrying paddle steamer in the world. Built in 1946, she sailed from Craigendoran on the Firth of Clyde to Arrochar on Loch Long until 1973...
and MV Balmoral still operate in the Bristol Channel, but any calls at Weston are made by a connecting tender from Knightstone Harbour.
Dereliction
Clevedon Pier
Clevedon Pier is a seaside pier in the town of Clevedon, on the English side of the Severn Estuary. It is situated next to the Royal Pier Hotel....
, which at 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, with daily summer sailings to and from Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
Clevedon
Clevedon
Clevedon is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, which covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset, England...
and Penarth
Penarth
Penarth is a town and seaside resort in the Vale of Glamorgan , Wales, 5.2 miles south west from the city centre of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff and lying on the north shore of the Severn Estuary at the southern end of Cardiff Bay...
suspended indefinitely. It continues to decline and as a consequence English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
have placed it on the Buildings at Risk Register. In 1999, the lifeboat station installed a walkway across the pier to allow them safe access to the island, at a cost of £20,000.
In 2006 the pier was sold to new owners, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
company Urban Splash
Urban Splash
Urban Splash is a British company which regenerates decaying industrial warehouses, mills, Victorian terraced houses and other buildings. These buildings have mainly been converted into housing...
. As of 2010 the people of Weston-super-Mare are waiting to see the company's plans for the future of the pier, the island and its buildings. In 2007 the repair work required was estimated at £4 million.
A competition was launched in August 2007 by new owners Urban Splash, inviting people to submit ideas for the regeneration of the pier and island.
In March 2008 the winners of the design competition were announced. There were 95 entries for the competition from around the world and from these, a shortlist of six was chosen with Levitate Architecture and Design Studio Ltd emerging as the eventual winners, who won £25,000 and will be paid a commission fee for their work. The winning design included a dozen luxury apartments and a 50-room hotel.
In August 2008, the Royal Institute of British Architects
Royal Institute of British Architects
The Royal Institute of British Architects is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally.-History:...
(abbreviated RIBA) announced a campaign to redesign the buildings on the island, and six designs were submitted. One of the designs removed the existing buildings and piers to replace them with walking paths, and added a large, curvilinear, concrete building to the island. The design calls for many windows in the building to create a large panorama of the surrounding seascape.
In September 2010 Urban Splash placed the pier up for sale as they are no longer in a position to redevelop the pier due to a downfall in business caused by the recession.
In September 2011 Wahid Samady and Michael Ross have purchased Birnbeck Pier for an undisclosed sum. Mr Samady has also been awarded planning permission for a new development at the nearby Royal Pier Hotel site, just yards from the pier.
Weston lifeboat
The extreme tidal range in the Bristol Channel made it difficult to find a site from which a lifeboat
Lifeboat (rescue)
A rescue lifeboat is a boat rescue craft which is used to attend a vessel in distress, or its survivors, to rescue crewmen and passengers. It can be hand pulled, sail powered or powered by an engine...
could be easily launched at all states of the tide. In 1882 davits were installed on the pier which allowed the town's first Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Royal National Lifeboat Institution
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, as well as on selected inland waterways....
(RNLI) lifeboat to be launched like a ship's lifeboat into the water below, even at low tide.
This lifeboat was only involved in two rescues, although one involved taking 40 passengers off the SS Welsh Prince which got into difficulties after leaving Birnbeck Pier on 22 September 1884. In 1889 it was replaced by a larger lifeboat for which was built a new lifeboat house with a 100 feet (30.5 m) slipway on the north east side of the island. The present lifeboat house was built on the south east side of the island in 1902 and has the longest lifeboat slipway in England, measuring 368 feet (112.2 m). Boats are launched from trolleys moved up and down the old northern slipway by tractors.
Television
Birnbeck Pier was used as a night club in Find the Lady, a 1979 episode of the television detective series Shoestring. Trevor EveTrevor Eve
Trevor John Eve is a British film and television actor. In 1979 he gained fame as the eponymous lead in the detective series Shoestring and is also known for his role as Detective Superintendent Peter Boyd in BBC television drama Waking the Dead.-Early life:Eve was born in Sutton Coldfield,...
, who played Eddie Shoestring, was supported by guest star Toyah Willcox
Toyah Willcox
Toyah Ann Willcox is an English actress and singer. In a career spanning more than thirty years Toyah has had 13 top 40 singles, released 22 studio albums, written two books, appeared in over forty stage plays and ten feature films, as well as voicing and presenting numerous television shows...
who played the singer of a punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band.