 The entrance to Britannia Pier in 2012 | |
| Locale | Great Yarmouth, Norfolk |
|---|---|
| Characteristics | |
| Total length | 810 feet (250 m) |
| History | |
| Designer | Joseph and Arthur Mayoh |
| Opening date | 1901 |
Britannia Pier is a pier located at the seaside town of Great Yarmouth in the English county of Norfolk.
A new pier in Great Yarmouth was first proposed in 1856 with building work commencing in September 1857 with engineer, surveyor and antiquary Alfred William Morant (1828–81) as the designer. [1] [2] A. W. Morant went on to become City Surveyor for Norwich.
The completed pier opened on 13 July 1858 at cost of £6,000 and was originally 700 feet long but this length was reduced by about 80 feet in 1859 when the sloop James and Jessie collided with the structure during the Royal Charter Storm. The length was again reduced as the result of storm damage in 1868. The pier was demolished in 1899. [3] [4] [5] [6]
| Great Yarmouth New Britannia Pier Act 1899 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act to incorporate a Company for the purpose of acquiring the existing Great Yarmouth Britannia Pier and of constructing a new and improved Pier in lieu thereof and for other purposes. |
| Citation | 62 & 63 Vict. c. civ |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 13 July 1899 |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
The building of a new pier was commenced on 13 December 1900 to a design by engineers Joseph and Arthur Mayoh. This 810 foot pier deck with a temporary pavilion at the pier's far end opened in 1901, with the temporary pavilion eventually being replaced with a Grand Pavilion which opened on 21 June 1902. This Grand Pavilion was destroyed in a fire on 22 December 1909. A second pavilion designed by Douglass & Arnott was completed in 1910 but this too was to burn down on 17 April 1914 as a result of an arson attack by militant suffragettes Hilda Burkitt and Florence Tunks, both of whom received prison sentences. A third pavilion was hastily constructed and opened on 27 July 1914. [3] [4] [5]
The pier's Floral Hall Ballroom opened in May 1928 but was destroyed by fire in August 1932. A new Grand Ballroom opened in 1933, but this too was destroyed by fire in April 1954, along with the third pavilion. The pier was closed and sectioned during World War II and re-opened in 1947 after essential repairs including replacing sections removed during wartime to prevent enemy troops using the pier as a landing station. [3] [4] [5] [7]
The present pavilion opened on 27 June 1958 and was home to the Pavilion Theatre (today called the Britannia Pier Theatre), [5] but the ballroom (called the Ocean Ballroom from 1947) was never replaced.
Britannia Pier was previously owned by First Leisure plc. It was purchased by Family Amusements Ltd who also own the Wellington Pier further south along the seafront. In 2022 it was purchased by Triangle Amusements. Today the pier continues to provide live theatre shows and has a variety of food outlets, bars, amusements and fairground rides. [3]
Norfolk is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and east, Cambridgeshire to the west, and Suffolk to the south. The largest settlement is the city of Norwich.
Great Yarmouth, often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located 20 miles (32 km) east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, mainly for herring, shrank after the mid-20th century and has all but ended. North Sea oil from the 1960s supplied an oil rig industry that services offshore natural gas rigs; more recently, offshore wind power and other renewable energy industries have ensued.
Hunstanton is a seaside town in Norfolk, England, which had a population of 4,229 at the 2011 Census. It faces west across The Wash. Hunstanton lies 102 miles (164 km) north-north-east of London and 40 miles (64 km) north-west of Norwich.
Gorleston-on-Sea, historically and colloquially known as Gorleston, is a seaside town in the borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England. It lies to the south of Great Yarmouth, on the opposite side of the mouth of the River Yare. Historically in Suffolk, it was a port town at the time of the Domesday Book. It was incorporated into Great Yarmouth in 1836. Gorleston's port became a centre of fishing for herring along with salt pans used for the production of salt to preserve the fish. In Edwardian times the fishing industry rapidly declined and the town's role changed to that of a seaside resort.
Cromer is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk. It is 23 miles north of Norwich, 116 miles north-northeast of London and four miles east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline. The local government authorities are North Norfolk District Council, whose headquarters is on Holt Road in the town, and Norfolk County Council, based in Norwich. The civil parish has an area of 4.66 km2 and at the 2011 census had a population of 7,683.
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St Annes Pier is a Victorian era pleasure pier in the English seaside resort of St Annes-on-the-Sea, Lancashire. It lies on the estuary of the River Ribble. The pier, designed by Alfred Dowson, was completed in 1885 and was one of the earliest public buildings in St Annes, a 19th-century planned town. The pier was originally intended to be a sedate promenading venue for the resort's visitors, but attractions were later added. Changes made to the estuary channels to improve access to Preston Dock left the pier on dry land and ended its steamer services to Blackpool and Liverpool.
Central Pier was one of two piers in Morecambe, Lancashire, England. Built during the late 1860s, it was 912 feet (278 m) long and featured a large pier head served by steamboats. Two significant fires occurred during its lifetime, one in 1933 destroying the pavilion then dubbed the "Taj Mahal of the North", and another in 1991, the latter which condemned the pier as unsafe and demolition took place the following year in 1992.
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