The pier from Clevedon seafront |
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| Type | Victorian Pleasure Pier |
|---|---|
| Carries | pedestrians |
| Spans | estuary of the River Severn |
| Locale | Somerset, England |
| Design | Hans Price |
| Construction | John William Grover & Richard Ward |
| Owner | North Somerset Council |
| Longest span | eight 100 feet (30 m) arched spans |
| Total length | 1,020 feet (310 m) |
| Width | 16.5 feet (5.0 m) |
| Clearance below | 14 feet (4.3 m) (high water) |
| Opening date | 1869 |
| Toll | Adults £1.50, Concessions £1.00, Children £0.75 |
Clevedon Pier is a seaside pier in the town of Clevedon, on the English side of the Severn Estuary. It is situated next to the Royal Pier Hotel.
The landing stage at the end of the pier is used throughout the summer season (June to September) by the Waverley and her sister ship, the Balmoral, and is a popular spot for angling. There is a cafe at the pierhead, and a souvenir shop at the toll house. The upper floor of the toll house is an art gallery with a different exhibition every month. The pier is open every day of the year except Christmas Day.
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In November 1866, the Clevedon Pier Company was formed at a public meeting in the town and construction of the pier started at a cost of £10,000, with John William Grover and Richard Ward as the engineers and Hans Price as the architect.[1] By August 1868 600 feet (183 m) of the pier had been built and the completed pier was opened on 29 March 1869. It was partially constructed from Isambard Kingdom Brunel's second-hand railway lines, and is 225 metres (738 ft) long and 14.5 metres (48 ft) tall. The tidal range at this part of the estuary can reach 14 metres (46 ft)[2] and the landing stage at the end of the pier has several levels to allow boats to dock at all stages of the tide. The paddle steamer Waverley first visited the pier to take on passengers in 1886. In 1893 the pier head was replaced in cast iron with a new timber landing stage, and the pier head pavilion was completed in 1894. The Toll House on the pier and the adjacent Royal Pier Hotel were both designed by local architect Hans Price.[3]
In 1899, 20 feet (6 m) of the decking was washed away by a storm. In 1910, part of the landing stage was damaged in another storm and replaced by a concrete landing stage in 1913.
On 16 October 1970, spans 7 and 8 of the pier collapsed during stress testing,[4] which had been introduced in the 1950s to obtain insurance cover, where long polythene tanks resting on the pier were filled with water, to create a pressure of 50 p.s.i. (2.4 kPa).
In 1972, the Clevedon Pier Preservation Society was formed. In 1979, the district council applied for permission to demolish the pier but a public enquiry the following year ruled that it should be retained. In 1982, the pavilions from the end of the pier were taken ashore for storage in anticipation of eventual restoration. Sufficient funds were not forthcoming, however, and the first stage was simply to open the Toll House as an exhibition centre in 1984.
The major breakthrough came in 1984, when English Heritage and the National Heritage Memorial Fund granted a million pounds towards the restoration, with smaller sums from Woodspring District Council and other funding bodies. The trust also obtained a 99-year lease. The pier was dismantled in 1985 and taken to Portishead dock for restoration, and reconstructed in 1986.
After a long campaign by local people to raise funds for restoration (supported by Sir John Betjeman, who described Clevedon as "the most beautiful pier in England"),[5] the pier eventually reopened. One fundraising method was "sponsored planks" — small brass plaques with names or messages are inlaid on the wooden planks and benches, recording donations. On 27 May 1989, the reconstruction of the pier spans and decking was completed and the pier was reopened to great fanfare. The pierhead was still shut, however, and it was not until 23 May 1998 that it was finally restored and opened to the public, thanks to funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.[6] In 2001, the pier was upgraded to a grade 1 listed building,[3][7][8] the only other pier with this status being Brighton's West Pier (largely destroyed by fire and storms between 2002 and 2004).
Scenes from the 2010 film, Never Let Me Go, starring Keira Knightley were filmed near Clevedon pier during the summer of 2009.[9] The pier also featured on the promotional posters.