This is a list of extant and former coastal piers in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man and piers on the river Thames. [1]
This is a list of extant and former coastal piers in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man and piers on the river Thames. [1]
| Name | Place | Ceremonial county | Opened | Length | Pier of the Year | Listed grade | Description | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Pier | Blackpool | Lancashire | 30 May 1868 | 1,118 feet (341 m) | Originally 1,518 feet (463 m) long. |  | ||
| South Pier | Blackpool | Lancashire | 31 March 1893 | 492 feet (150 m) | Contains a theme park. |  | ||
| North Pier | Blackpool | Lancashire | 21 May 1863 | 1,318 feet (402 m) | 2004 | II | Eugenius Birch's earliest surviving pier. Originally 1,410 feet (430 m) long. |  |
| Bognor Regis Pier | Bognor Regis | West Sussex | 5 May 1865 | 350 feet (110 m) | 1985 |  | ||
| Bournemouth Pier | Bournemouth | Dorset | 17 September 1861 | 1,000 feet (300 m) | Zip wire installed in 2014, spanning between the pierhead and the beach. Original pier consisted of a wooden jetty opened in 1856. |  | ||
| Boscombe Pier | Bournemouth | Dorset | 29 July 1889 | 720 feet (220 m) | 2010 |  | ||
| Palace Pier | Brighton | East Sussex | 20 May 1899 | 1,722 feet (525 m) | 1998 | II* |  | |
| Burnham-on-Sea Pier | Burnham-on-Sea | Somerset | 1858 | 90 feet (27 m) | Claims to be Britain's shortest pier. It is not recognised by most authorities as it is simply a beach pavilion. |  | ||
| Clacton Pier | Clacton-on-Sea | Essex | 27 July 1871 | 1,180 feet (360 m) | 2020 | II |  | |
| Cleethorpes Pier | Cleethorpes | Lincolnshire | 4 August 1873 | 335 feet (102 m) | 2016 |  | ||
| Clevedon Pier | Clevedon | Somerset | 29 March 1869 | 1,020 feet (310 m) | 1999, 2013, 2021 | I |  | |
| Cromer Pier | Cromer | Norfolk | 8 June 1901 | 495 feet (151 m) | 2000, 2015 | II |  | |
| Deal Pier | Deal | Kent | 19 November 1957 | 1,026 feet (313 m) | 2008 | One of the last pleasure piers to be built in the UK. Pre-dated by two original piers, built in 1838 and 1864. |  | |
| Eastbourne Pier | Eastbourne | East Sussex | 13 June 1870 | 1,000 feet (300 m) | 1997 | II* |  | |
| Prince of Wales Pier | Falmouth | Cornwall | 5 May 1905 |  | ||||
| Felixstowe Pier | Felixstowe | Suffolk | August 1905 | 450 feet (140 m) | Major redevelopments in 2017, involving construction of a new amusement building. There are currently no plans to re-open the seaward end. |  | ||
| Folkestone Harbour Arm | Folkestone | Kent | 1904 | 1,600 feet (490 m) [2] | II(lighthouse) [3] | First used from 1904 as a port pier for ferries to Boulogne, France. Re-opened in 2016. Used as a pleasure pier, and for fishing. | ||
| Gravesend Town | Gravesend | Kent | 1834 | 172 feet (52 m) | On the Thames, and not a seaside pier recognised by most authorities. |  | ||
| Royal Terrace | Gravesend | Kent | 1844 | On the Thames. |  Not recognised as a seaside pier by most authorities. | |||
| Britannia Pier | Great Yarmouth | Norfolk | 13 July 1858 | 810 feet (250 m) |  | |||
| Wellington Pier | Great Yarmouth | Norfolk | 31 October 1853 | 700 feet (210 m) |  | |||
| Ha'penny Pier | Harwich | Essex | July 1853 | Not a seaside pier recognised by most authorities. | ||||
| Hastings Pier | Hastings | East Sussex | 5 August 1872 | 912 feet (278 m) | 2017 | Pier of the Year following extensive restoration. |  | |
| Herne Bay Pier | Herne Bay | Kent | 1899 | Majority of pier destroyed in a storm in 1978. The shoreward 'stub' is still open, and the pier head remains isolated 1 km (0.6 mi) into the sea. |  | |||
| Hythe Pier | Hythe | Hampshire | 1 January 1881 | 2,100 feet (640 m) | II | Oldest continually running pier train in the world. [4] |  | |
| Claremont Pier | Lowestoft | Suffolk | 1903 | 600 feet (180 m) | Pier decking not open for public use. |  | ||
| South Pier | Lowestoft | Suffolk | 1846 | 1,320 feet (400 m) | ||||
| St Annes Pier | Lytham St Annes | Lancashire | 15 June 1885 | 600 feet (180 m) | II |  | ||
| Paignton Pier | Paignton | Devon | June 1879 | 780 feet (240 m) |  | |||
| Ryde Pier | Ryde | Isle of Wight | 26 July 1814 | 2,234 feet (681 m) | II | The UK's oldest pleasure pier. Island Line runs along entire length. |  | |
| Saltburn Pier | Saltburn-by-the-Sea | North Yorkshire | May 1869 | 681 feet (208 m) | 2009 | II* |  | |
| Culver Pier | Sandown | Isle of Wight | 29 May 1878 | 870 feet (270 m) |  | |||
| Skegness Pier | Skegness | Lincolnshire | 4 June 1881 | 387 feet (118 m) | Seaward section destroyed in a 1978 storm. |  | ||
| Royal Pier | Southampton | Hampshire | 8 July 1833 | 900 feet (270 m) | II | Closed 1980. Currently in very poor condition. Now classified as a Lost Pier. |  | |
| Southend Pier | Southend-on-Sea | Essex | 1830 | 6,900 feet (2,100 m) | 2007 | II | The longest pleasure pier in the world, extending 2.1 kilometres (1.3 mi) into the Thames Estuary. |  |
| Southport Pier | Southport | Merseyside | 2 August 1860 | 3,536 feet (1,078 m) | 2003 | II |  | |
| South Parade Pier | Southsea | Hampshire | 26 July 1879 | 600 feet (180 m) | Re-opened 2017. |  | ||
| Clarence Pier | Southsea | Hampshire | 1861 | 203 feet (62 m) | Three times wider than it is long, going along the beach rather than out to sea. The full pier is an amusement park. |  | ||
| Southwold Pier | Southwold | Suffolk | 1900 | 623 feet (190 m) | 2002 | Includes a collection of modern coin-operated novelty machines. |  | |
| Swanage Pier | Swanage | Dorset | 29 March 1897 | 643 feet (196 m) | 2012 |  | ||
| Grand Pier | Teignmouth | Devon | 1867 | 696 feet (212 m) |  | |||
| Princess Pier | Torquay | Devon | 1890 |  | ||||
| Totland Pier | Totland Bay | Isle of Wight | 1880 |  | ||||
| Walton Pier | Walton-on-the-Naze | Essex | 1871 | 2,610 feet (800 m) | Originally built to a length of 530 feet (160 m) in 1871. The pier was extended and re-opened in August 1898. |  | ||
| Grand Pier | Weston-super-Mare | Somerset | 11 June 1904 | 1,201 feet (366 m) | 2011 |  | ||
| Birnbeck Pier | Weston-super-Mare | Somerset | 5 June 1867 | 1,150 feet (350 m) | II* | Closed since 1994. One of the few surviving Eugenius Birch piers. Restoration underway. |  | |
| Weymouth Pier | Weymouth | Dorset | 1860 | 787 feet (240 m) | Weymouth Stone Pier is a breakwater. Weymouth Pleasure pier is described as a "man-made peninsula". |  | ||
| Worthing Pier | Worthing | West Sussex | 12 April 1862 | 960 feet (290 m) | 2006, 2019 | II |  | |
| Yarmouth Pier | Yarmouth | Isle of Wight | 1876 | 610 feet (190 m) |  |
| Name | Place | Opened | Length | Pier of the Year | Listed grade | Description | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunoon Pier | Dunoon | 1889 | 370 feet (110 m) | Not recognised a seaside pier by most authorities. Built as a working pier rather than a pleasure pier. |  | ||
| Helensburgh Pier | Helensburgh | 1860 | 804 feet (245 m) | Not recognised a seaside pier by most authorities. Category C listed structure. [5] Closed to marine traffic since October 2018. [6] |  | ||
| Kilcreggan Pier | Kilcreggan | 279 feet (85 m) | Not recognised a seaside pier by most authorities. Passenger-only ferry to Gourock. [7] |  | |||
| Rothesay Pier | Rothesay | 433 feet (132 m) | Not recognised as a seaside pier by most authorities. Serves as a ferry terminal and small marina rather than a pleasure pier. |  | |||
| Fort William Pier | Fort William | 1,538 feet (469 m) | Not recognised as a seaside pier by most authorities. |  |
| Name | Place | Opened | Length | Pier of the Year | Listed grade | Description | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Pier | Aberystwyth | 1865 | 794 feet (242 m) |  | |||
| Garth Pier | Bangor | 14 May 1896 | 1,510 feet (460 m) | 2022 | II* | Reopened in 1988. |  |
| Beaumaris Pier | Beaumaris | 1846 | 570 feet (170 m) | Refurbished 2011–2012. |  | ||
| Llandudno Pier | Llandudno | 1 August 1877 | 2,295 feet (700 m) | 2005 | II* |  | |
| Mumbles Pier | Mumbles, Swansea | 10 May 1898 | 835 feet (255 m) | II |  | ||
| Penarth Pier | Penarth | February 1895 | 650 feet (200 m) | 2014 | II |  |
| Name | Place | Opened | Length | Pier of the Year | Listed grade | Description | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Queen's Pier | Ramsey, Isle of Man | 22 July 1886 | 2,241 feet (683 m) | Closed June 1990; restoration started 2016; first three bays reopened July 2021. [8] |  |
| Name | Place | Opened | Length | Pier of the Year | Listed grade | Description | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Pier | Brighton | 6 October 1866 | 1,115 feet (340 m) | I | Closed in 1975 and subsequently fell into disrepair. Now classified as a lost pier. |  | |
| Victoria Pier | Colwyn Bay | 1 June 1900 | 750 feet (230 m) | II | Closed since 2008. Partial collapse in 2017, leading to the demolition of the seaward end. |  | |
| Leith Trinity Chain | Edinburgh | 14 August 1821 | 627 feet (191 m) | Effectively closed in the 1850s and described as "deserted and ruinous" then destroyed by a storm on 18 October 1898. [9] | |||
| Portobello Pier | Edinburgh | 1871 | 1,250 feet (380 m) | Designed by Sir Thomas Bouch, engineer who also designed the infamous Tay Bridge. Demolished in 1917 after repairs to storm damage bankrupted the owner. [10] |  | ||
| Fleetwood Pier | Fleetwood | 16 May 1910 | 492 feet (150 m) | Destroyed by fire in 2008, hence a lost pier. |  | ||
| Lytham Pier | Lytham | 17 April 1865 | 914 feet (279 m) | Closed to the public before World War II following a period of decline. Demolished in 1960 despite protests from thousands of local residents. |  | ||
| Central Pier [11] | Morecambe | 25 March 1869 | 912 feet (278 m) | Demolished 1992. |  | ||
| West End Pier [12] | Morecambe | 1896 | 1,800 feet (550 m) | Demolished 1978. |  | ||
| New Brighton Pier | New Brighton | 1867 | 600 feet (180 m) | Demolished 1978. |  | ||
| Aberavon Pier | Port Talbot | 1898 | 900 feet (270 m) | Owned by British Transport Commission after being lost in 1962. Now a breakwater. | |||
| Redcar Pier | Redcar | 2 June 1873 | 1,300 feet (400 m) | Closed and demolished in 1980. |  | ||
| Rhos-on-Sea Pier [13] | Rhos-on-Sea, North Wales | 1895 | 1,300 feet (400 m) | Lost in 1954. | |||
| Rhyl Pier | Rhyl | 19 August 1867 | 2,355 feet (718 m) | Demolished in 1973. |  | ||
| Scarborough North Pier | Scarborough | 1868 | 1,000 feet (300 m) | Lost in 1905. | |||
| Shanklin Pier | Shanklin | 1890 | 1,200 feet (370 m) | Demolished in February 1993. |  | ||
| St Leonards Pier [14] | St Leonards-on-Sea | 1891 | 950 feet (290 m) | Damaged by bombing, gales and fire during WW2. Demolished 1951–55. |  | ||
| Royal Victoria Pier [15] | Tenby | 1899 | 330 feet (100 m) | Constructed as 230 feet (70 m) structure and later extended. Lost in 1953. | |||
| Weymouth Pier Bandstand | Weymouth | 25 May 1939 | 200 feet (61 m) | Majority of pier demolished in 1986; only the entrance building remains on 48 feet (15 m) of the pier. [16] Thus not a seaside pier any longer. |  | ||
| Withernsea Pier [17] | Withernsea | August 1877 | 1,196 feet (365 m) | Partial destruction by storm in 1882 and ship collisions in 1890 and 1893. Last remaining section removed in 1903. |
Portsmouth is a port city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent. This means Portsmouth is the only English city not located primarily on the mainland. Located 74 miles (119 km) south-west of London, 50 miles (80 km) west of Brighton and Hove, and 22 miles (35 km) south-east of Southampton; Portsmouth is part of the South Hampshire conurbation. It is the most densely populated city in the United Kingdom, with a population last recorded at 208,100.
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Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre.
Folkestone is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour, shipping port & fashionable coastal resort for most part of the 19th and mid 20th centuries.
The Isle of Dogs is a large peninsula bounded on three sides by a large meander in the River Thames in East London, England, which includes the Cubitt Town, Millwall and Canary Wharf districts. The area was historically part of the Manor, Hamlet, Parish and, for a time, the wider borough of Poplar. The name had no official status until the 1987 creation of the Isle of Dogs Neighbourhood by Tower Hamlets London Borough Council. It has been known locally as simply "the Island" since the 19th century.
Canary Wharf is an area of East London, England, located near the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Canary Wharf is defined by the Greater London Authority as being part of London's central business district, alongside Central London. Alongside the City of London, it constitutes one of the main financial centres in the United Kingdom and the world, containing many high-rise buildings including the third-tallest in the UK, One Canada Square, which opened on 26 August 1991.
London River Services Limited is a division of Transport for London (TfL), which manages passenger transport—leisure-oriented tourist services and commuter services—on the River Thames in London. It does not own or operate any boats itself, except those of the Woolwich Ferry, but licenses the services of operators.
Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 24,096 according to the 2021 Census. Its growth as a seaside resort came after the villages of Upper Ryde and Lower Ryde were merged in the 19th century, as can still be seen in the town's central and seafront architecture. The resort's expansive sands are revealed at low tide. Their width means the regular ferry service to the mainland requires a long listed pier – the fourth longest in the United Kingdom, and the oldest surviving.
Ramsey is a coastal town in the north of the Isle of Man. It is the second largest town on the island after Douglas. Its population is 7,845 according to the 2016 Census. It has one of the biggest harbours on the island, and has a prominent derelict pier, called the Queen's Pier. It was formerly one of the main points of communication with Scotland. Ramsey has also been a route for several invasions by the Vikings and Scots.
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Swanage Pier is a Victorian pier which extends into the southern end of Swanage Bay near the town of Swanage, in the south-east of Dorset. It was built in 1895 for passenger ship services. It is situated on the eastern coast of the Isle of Purbeck, approximately 6+1⁄4 miles (10.1 km) south of Poole and 25 miles (40 km) east of Dorchester in the United Kingdom.
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 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. The pier has been closed to the public since 1994 and is now on the Buildings at Risk Register.
Morecambe is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea.
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Withernsea Pier was a pier in the town of Withernsea, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The pier was constructed between 1875 and 1877 to attract daytrippers, but was beset by accidents from the outset. Storms and ship-caused damage led to the pier being closed by 1893, and it was completely dismantled by 1903, leaving only the distinctive castellated pier towers on the seafront, which are still there to this day.
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| Former piers |
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