The Seaside Pier, A Burning Question.

The devastating fire which destroyed ninety-percent of the buildings on Hastings pier on the night of the fifth of October 2010 was only one example of a number of conflagrations which have devastated seaside piers across the UK since these iconic structures began appearing around the British coast in the nineteenth century.   The over water position of piers means they could be expected to suffer the ravages of water, weather and occasional collisions with shipping, but fire might seem to be less probable.

The difficulty in some instances is a direct consequence of the leisure use they are put to. People at work tend to pay attention and take more pride in their workplace, casual visitors are relaxed, mainly on holiday and their concentration is elsewhere.  Some pleasure-pier fires may have been caused by discarded cigarettes, matches etc., soft furnishings in ballrooms and theatres, the timber decking and many wooden structures built on the piers make them particularly vulnerable.

Beware of falling debris, Hastings 2012

Today the smoking ban might make a thoughtless smoker surreptitiously discard a lit match in a hidden location, with disastrous results, though most are more sensible. However the sheer number of serious fires on seaside piers is far larger than can be blamed purely on the tobacco industry.  Past fires on piers have been started by anything from casual vandalism and ineptly used kitchen equipment to gas lamps and electrical faults, though deliberate arson is suspected to be the cause at Hastings and this wasn’t the first case of a pier subjected to a criminal attack.

Britain’s seaside piers are passed down to us from the era of the Victorian enthusiasm for trips to the seaside, made possible in most cases by the equally Victorian enthusiasm for railways.  Without the railways most seaside resorts would have remained the small ports or quiet fishing villages which they were in previous eras and would have no use for the expensive luxury of a pleasure pier.  Some ports, such as Southampton, had become popular spa towns in the Regency period, but no piers intended principally for purposes other than serving shipping were constructed until Victorian times.







Ryde Pier on the Isle of Wight was the first built, in 1814 though it was little more than a transport link for its first twenty years.  Many pleasure piers were originally intended to also act as ferry or rail terminals, adding to the risk of fire from steam engines and careless passengers.  By the beginning of the 20th century there were over one hundred piers dotted around our coastline, but the number surviving to the present day has dwindled to less than seventy. 

The most northerly surviving is at Dunoon, on the Firth of Clyde, an unusual pier in that it is not straight but forms a rectangle connected to the land at two points, with an extension to the North.  It was built this shape to accommodate two ferries at berth simultaneously and a train track ran out to the terminal. Dunoon suffered a severe fire in 1937 but was swiftly reconstructed and in 1949 a late-night guard on the pier was able to call the fire brigade to a blaze in the Dunoon Pavilion by the shore end of the pier.

Blackpool is famous for having three piers all of which have been struck by fire, most recently in 1985 with the third of three fires on the North Pier. Singer Vince Hill had been performing at the North Pier Theatre and noticed smoke after his set. He raised the alarm and then stayed to help fight the blaze.

Southend pier has been particularly unlucky, suffering three serious fires in the last thirty-five years alone. Originally constructed in 1830, it became world famous as the longest pleasure pier on the planet, at 1.3 miles and had electric trains running its length from1899.  July 1976 saw the start of the worst chapter in Southend Pier’s long history, when a fierce fire took rapid hold at the busiest time of day and completely devastated all the structures at the pier head.  Destroyed businesses included amusement arcades, numerous small shops and kiosks, cafes, bars, toilets and the ghost train as well as Victorian features such as ornate ironwork and phone boxes.  Also lost were a diving school, a radar school for ship’s officers and the pier-head coastguard station.

Miraculously nobody was killed at Southend, more than 500 people were evacuated by boat and on the pier train which kept running for as long as possible. Whilst firemen tackled the inferno from the pier itself, fire-fighting tugs hosed  from the sea and a crop spraying light aircraft was used overhead, dropping 400 gallons of water at once into the heart of the flames.  Later in 1977 the bowling alley at the promenade end was badly damaged in another fire and the railway was closed for safety reasons.  Considerable reconstruction took place but was jeopardised by a further fire in 2005 and though since re-opened, Southend  pier’s facilities remain a shadow of their former selves.

As famous are Brighton’s two piers, the Grade I listed West Pier has been reduced to a shell of a structure, cut off from the land after years of neglect and ravaged by two serious fires in 2003, by suspected arsonists opposed to its redevelopment. Despite its Grade I listing it is hard to see where the funds will come from to undertake the huge task required to reinstate the West Pier to the standard required by its listing, meanwhile its sister the Palace Pier still operates, despite fires in 1995 and 2003.

Palace pier, Brighton C1970 

Back in Hastings the same problem has arisen which afflicted Brighton West Pier. Neglect caused Grade II listed Hastings Pier's closure in 2006, leading to further decay.  Campaigners in Hastings have been trying to raise money and support to refurbish the pier with modern attractions. The Hastings Pier and White Rock Trust (HPWRT) was formed, hoping to secure community ownership of the pier.

Hastings pier was designed by Eugenius Birch, a former railway engineer and the same man who designed Brighton West, Eastborne and seven other pleasure piers along the South coast of England. Hastings opened in 1872 and was originally 277 metres (910ft) long. A detailed history of Hastings pier is available from the National Piers Society  http://www.piers.org.uk/pierpages/NPShastings.html

Hastings pier has most recently been owned by a Panamanian registered company called Ravenclaw Investments, who have made no attempt to begin regeneration or even the necessary repais to stabilise the structure.  Consequently the pier is subject to a compulsory purchase order issued on 21 March 2012 by Hastings Borough Council, who intend to hand it over to HPWRT.  The stated goals and aims of the trust are:-

- Restore the Pier to local ownership
- Stabilise the structure and develop effective fixed assets, now and in the future
- Provide a viable and sustainable economic purpose for the Pier
- Engage in Education and participation activities that value the Heritage of the Pier
- Engage and enlighten schoolchildren in ‘Science you can Stand On’®
- Involve the Community in the operation of the Pier
- Attract inward investment and offer training opportunities that make the Pier a gateway to employability
- Attract large numbers of visitors on to the Pier
- Provide inspiration and learning for other piers and seaside towns in need of regeneration

Hastings Pier, with pigeons Feb 2012

The Trust (http://hpwrt.co.uk/) have already obtained Heritage Lottery funding of £357,400 and following an RIBA competition have appointed de Rijke Marsh Morgan as architects. They are currently conducting public consultations regarding the future of the Pier, as part of the Trust's obligation to Hastings Borough Council in their applications for listed building and planning consent. Work is scheduled to begin soon after the compulsory purchase process is completed, which is expected to be by the end of this year.

Watch this space for updates...