| Summary : A Post Medieval jetty, visible as a structure, was mapped from aerial photographs taken in 1940. Located on Burnham-on-Sea beach opposite the entrance to Pier Street, the stone-built pier is aligned West-North-West by East-South-East, 244 metres long and about 7.5 metres wide. It runs at right angles from the Esplanade across the beach towards the sea. Built by the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, it was opened in May 1858 for the purposes of connecting with a railway-owned paddle-steamer ferry service to Cardiff in South Wales, which ran from 1858 to carry passengers, livestock and other goods until the service ceased in 1888. From Burnham railway station, the railway track ran across the Esplanade and along the length of the jetty alongside which the ferry berthed although, with the jetty's down gradient of 1 in 23, this required rolling stock to be lowered by wire ropes from the top of the jetty. The Burnham lifeboat also used the jetty for launching. The pier was altered in the late 20th century by the removal of rails and the cobbled surface. |
More information : ST 302488: Pier constructed 1857-8 to allow railway coaches to go alongside steamers sailing from Burnham to Cardiff. This train link was stopped in 1905. The berth for the steamers is completely silted up. (1)
ST 3020 4884 A Post Medieval jetty, visible as a structure, was mapped from aerial photographs taken in 1940. Located on Burnham-on-Sea beach opposite the entrance to Pier Street, the stone-built pier is aligned WNW-ESE, 244 metres long and about 7.5 metres wide. It runs at right angles from the Esplanade across the beach towards the sea. Built by the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, it was opened in May 1858 for the purposes of connecting with a railway-owned paddle-steamer ferry service to Cardiff in South Wales, which ran from 1858 to carry passengers, livestock and other goods until the service ceased in 1888. From Burnham railway station, the railway track ran across the Esplanade and along the length of the jetty alongside which the ferry berthed although, with the jetty's down gradient of 1 in 23, this required rolling stock to be lowered by wire ropes from the top of the jetty. The Burnham lifeboat also used the jetty for launching. The structure was still visible in 1992. (2-4)
The jetty was built in 1857-8 by the Somerset Central Railway (later the Somerset and Dorset) when the railway was extended to run from Glastonbury to Highbridge via Burnham-on-Sea. Local entrepreneur George Reed, who built the Reeds Arms Hotel on the Esplanade close to the jetty, was amongst those who were instrumental in bringing the railway to the town. From the railway station track was laid across the Esplanade and onto the jetty. The 1 in 23 down gradient meant that railway wagons, carrying goods, were lowered up and down the jetty to waiting ships by wire rope. The railway also ran a passenger service to South Wales between 1858 and 1888. During this period the route was one of the quickest means of transporting goods between South Wales and England and the town was described as `the gateway to London and the continent'. The jetty's commercial use ended following the construction of the Severn railway tunnel in 1885, and its use for boats carrying day trippers declined towards the end of the 19th century. The jetty has been used to launch the town lifeboat since it was first constructed, and continues to be used by sea rescue craft. In the late 20th century the rails and cobbled surface were removed from the jetty and its slope was levelled slightly.
A jetty constructed of coursed stone blocks, although built of timber at its landward end. The whole structure is built on a 1 in 23 gradient. The jetty walls have granite copings and are strengthened on each side by a parallel row of timber piles that are fixed to the jetty walls with rivets. These also served as mooring posts. The jetty was originally some 275m long, but a 9m long section at the seaward (west) end was removed in the late 20th century. The surface of the jetty which was originally cobbled is now laid with tarmac. At the same time that the jetty was built a large sluicing pond was constructed alongside which was used to maintain a deep channel on the south side of the jetty for the passage of boats. It is understood that the pond and its sluice gates are no longer extant.
The jetty at Burnham-on-Sea stands in a prominent location on the sea front. However it has undergone change, namely the loss of part of the structure at its seaward end, alterations to the gradient, and the loss of its original cobbled surface and railway track. Those jetties that have been listed are generally associated with other maritime-related structures, are earlier in date or have decent architectural quality. That said it is acknowledged that the jetty is associated with the historical development of the railway/shipping trade between England and South Wales, and has group value with the
unlisted former Reeds Arms Hotel nearby, however these are not sufficient reasons for the jetty to merit statutory designation. (5)
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