| More information : ST 308624 Pier. (1)
Birnbeck Pier was built in 1867 by the Isca Iron Co. to the plans of
Eugenius Birch and consists of a section 1100 feet (335.3 metres)
long from the mainland to Birnbeck Island and a 200 feet (61 metres)
landing section beyond the island. The pier comprises of an iron
frame-work carried on 15 clusters of cast iron columns which supports
a timber deck with small projecting bays, ornamental lamps and
decorative seating. The landing section was originally timber on iron
piles but now is metal girder. The Island, which has amusement
facilities, bars, a restaurant, a museum and a lifeboat station, had
to be levelled, stepped and bricked to form a suitable base for
these facilities and promenading. It is owned by the Weston Super
Mare Pier Co. (2)
1.
BIRNBECK PIER
5121
ST 3062 SE 5/5 Birnbeck Pier
II* GV
2.
Main pier connects Birnbeck Island to the mainland below the
Prince Consort Gardens. Dated 1862, opened 1867. Designed by
Eugenius Birch. Ironwork by the Isia Foundry of Newport, Gwent. Iron
girder piers with cross girders to side of deck. Deck supports and
tubular iron legs, with outward splay, grouped in fours and linked by
braces. Wooden deck is flanked by continuous cantilevered seating
with curved openwork backs and hand rails and swan-neck stanchions.
Small bays project at intervals along the sides. Cast iron lamp
standards, to sides of pier.
1.
BIRNBECK PIER
5121
ST 3062 SE 5/6 Entrance Gates and Turnstiles
II GV
2.
At landward end of main pier. 1860's. Two cast-iron gatepiers with
moulded capitals and floral lamp bases. Two flanking pairs of
cast-iron turnstiles, attached to original Toll House Lodge (q.v.)
on left, and to altered house on right. Section of floral railing
attached to right pier.
1.
5121 BIRNBECK PIER
Toll House Lodge
ST 3062 SE 5/7 12.11.74
II GV
2.
1860's. Limestone rubble. Low hipped slate roof. Single storey
building attached to left-hand turnstile and built on retaining sea
wall.
1. BIRNBECK PIER
5121
North Jetty
ST 36 SW 1/8
II GV
2.
Probably late 1860's but extensively repaired 1903-1905. Runs north
from the island. Iron cross-girders support the deck. Coupled
tubular shafts with diagonal braces run from the sea to the girders.
At outer end a landing stage, with densely clustered supports with
some diagonal bracing on south side. Tiny pavilion.
1. BIRNBECK PIER
5121
Clock Tower
ST 36 SW 1/9
II GV
2.
Late C19 limestone rubble with tiled ogee roof. Square tower: clock
faces on 4 sides above plat band.
1. BIRNBECK PIER
5121 Lifeboat House and Slipway
ST 36 SW 1/10
ST 3062 SE 5/10
II GV
2.
Dated 1902. Squared rubble, modern tiled roof. Coped gable end has
date stone under pediment. Slipway has paired concreted columns with
girder bracing.
Included for group value. (3)
Additional reference. (4)
Birnbeck Pier, Weston-Super-Mare was built between 1864 and 1867 to a length of 1040 feet with a cantilever construction. The architect was Eugenius Birch. It is the only UK pier linked to an island, and stretches from the mainland, below the Prince Consort Gardens, to Birnbeck Island. In 1872, a 250 feet wooden North jetty was added. This was followed by a lifeboat station in 1882 using davits and a pavilion in 1884. It also had a tramway to carry the luggage of passengers dropped off by steamers at the pier. Fire damage meant that the pavilion and jetty were replaced in 1898. In 1902, a new lifeboat station was built and in 1904 the north jetty was rebuilt in steel to a length of 300 feet. A concrete platform was added on the south side of the pier in 1909, increasing the pier area by half an acre, allowing space for fairground rides. Between 1941 and 1946, the pier was taken over as a naval base known as HMS Birnbeck and used for secret weapons testing. The pier closed in 1994 due to safety concerns following storm damage in 1990. It is Grade II* listed. (2, 5, 6)
The pier appeared on the 2007 Buildings At Risk Register (A register, published annually, of Grade I and Grade II* listed buildings and Scheduled Ancient Monuments known to be at risk through neglect and decay) according to Heritage Today (November 2007), which stated 'Ownership has recently changed hands and negotiations are taking place between the local authority, the owner and English Heritage'. (7)
Birnbeck Pier referred to above (5-6) is visible on aerial photographs during the Second World War when the island and pier was known as H.M.S Birnbeck (5-6). A level roof platform was constructed to the west side of the island and displayed a directional bombing arrow, which pointed northeast. The rest of the military facility used existing buildings. The role of the island and pier as a secret weapons testing facility is well documented by Gerald Pawle. A square building constructed of brick with a concrete roof and footing is centered at ST 3085 6227 and is possibly the Home Guard lookout used during the war to gaurd the pier at night. (8-12)
Additional source. In 2007, the new owners of the pier, Urban Splash launched an international architectural competition to design a new 'residential community' of apartments and a hotel on the pier. (13)
In 2008, English Heritage donated an £80,000 grant to the pier owners, Urban Splash to assist with carrying out trial repairs to one of the trestles. (14)
"WESTON-SUPER-MARE. A Lifeboat for Weston-super-Mare. At the monthly meeting of the Royal National Lifeboat Society ... a lifeboat was granted to this town. The boat will be 25 feet long, 15 cwt. in weight, with four pairs of oars. On Tuesday Vice-Admiral Ward visited ... the pier at Birnbeck to select the most available position for the boat, which will be hung on davits " (15)
Between 1870 and 1872, a 250 feet wooden north jetty was added to replace the original west jetty which had proved impractical. (16) The original jetty was constructed into the main tidal flow of the Severn estuary. Steamer berthing was too hazardous and the 250’ jetty was built to the north with Birnbeck Island to provide some protection from the main tidal forces. Construction was almost complete when a storm destroyed the work in 1870, hence the three year construction period.
A lifeboat was first stationed on the pier in 1882 and a pavilion was constructed in 1884, there was no life boats house provided until 1889. (17)
Fire damage meant the pavilion was replaced in 1898. The jetty was unaffected by the Boxing Day 1897 fire. Construction of the jetty did not commence until 1898. (18)
An extension was added to the south side of the pier in 1909. The platform was steel/timber construction. This concessions platform was removed, because of non-compliance with building regulations, in 1912. There was then no platform until 1929, when the existing concrete platform was erected. (19)
Source of general information, note some dating and factual errors (20)
In 1884, the eminent local architect Hans Fowler Price (1835-1912) and his partner Walter H. Wooler designed new refreshment rooms and a concert hall for the pier. The latter came to be used as waiting room for steamer passengers. These buildings were destroyed in December 1897 and Price & Wooler designed a replacement building, comprising refreshment rooms, a waiting room and manager’s accommodation. These buildings survive today, albeit in a derelict state, making them the only confirmed work on the pier by Weston’s most significant Victorian architect. The piermaster’s house of c.1864-7 and the late 19th-century clocktower have been attributed to Price but at present there is no firm evidence for his involvement in their design. (21)
Many of the fairground rides built on Birnbeck Pier in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were early examples of their type. A switchback railway was extant by 1891, only six years after the earliest known example at Skegness. (The Birnbeck Pier example was rebuilt after fire damage in 1895.) A water chute was opened in 1905, one of the earliest constructed in Britain. Another early type of fairground ride was the flying machine, in operation by 1906. For comparison, the famous ‘Sir Hiram Maxim’s Captive Flying Machine’ at Blackpool Pleasure Beach was only opened in 1904. None of the Birnbeck fairground rides survive today. (21)
Of the original pier of 1864-7 the pier bridge survives (albeit altered and now derelict), the pier head, the entrance gates and turnstiles, and two tollhouses, one of which also served as the piermaster’s house (altered, with a later extension). Late 19th-century additions include the northern lifeboat of 1888-9, the clocktower (built sometime between about 1889 and 1903) and the refreshment pavilion and waiting room of 1898 by Price & Wooler. Early 20th-century additions include the southern lifeboat house of 1902-3, the north jetty of 1903-4 with its own ticket booths and turnstiles, gentlemen’s lavatories built sometime between 1903 and 1920, the concrete viewing deck of 1920, the concrete extension to the island platform of 1932, the former souvenir shop attached to the southern tollhouse built sometime between 1903 and 1920, and ‘Pier View’, an Edwardian seaside pavilion. A concrete bench, which may be the remnant of a post-1945 shelter, is at the west end of the pier head. (21)
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