A Short History of Hastings Pier
With thanks to the National Piers Society (www.piers.org.uk)
Work on the 910 foot pier, designed by Eugenius Birch, began in December
1869 and it opened on the first ever August Bank Holiday (1872) at a cost of
£23,250, incorporating a very handsome 2000-seat pavilion at the seaward
end. One of the tollhouses was damaged by a storm in 1877 but was
repaired.
In 1885, a £2,000 landing stage was built. In 1910/11, a small building
housing a shooting gallery, 'animated pictures' and slot machines was added,
followed in 1912 by a rifle range/bowling alley. This shoreward end of the pier,
known as the 'parade extension', was sold to the council in 1913 to finance a
new arcade, shops and tea-room.
The pavilion was destroyed by fire on 15th July 1917 but replaced in 1922,
albeit in a less elaborate style. A shoreward end pavilion was built in 1926. An
Art Deco facade was added in the 1930s. The pier's seaward end was
damaged by storms in 1938, closing the pavilion and costing £22,000 to
repair. The pier was sectioned during World War Two and taken over by the
armed forces. It suffered some bomb damage during the conflict and
reopened in 1946. The West View and East View solaria were added in 1951
and 1956 respectively.
In 1966, Hastings Council built the 'Triodome' on the parade extension to
house a special embroidery marking the 900th anniversary of the Battle of
Hastings. The extension and Triodome were sold to the pier company in
1968. In 1969, the Triodome was converted into an amusement arcade and
the bandstand shelters became kiosks and shops.
In 1993, Humberglow Ltd paid £196,000 to acquire the Hastings Pier
Company and in the same year storms caused £100,000 of damage. An
application for millenium funding was unsuccessful and the pier was put up for
sale in 1996.
In June 2006, following the serving of a closure notice by Hastings Council,
the pier was closed. However, in 2007, Stylus Sports paid for repair work to
be carried out beneath the former theatre. The central section of the pier was
then re-opened in July 2007, only to be temporarily closed again a few weeks
later following a storm.
In March 2008, further damage was caused to the seaward end of the pier
during strong winds and very rough seas and in September that same year,
the Hasting Pier and White Rock Trust , a local campaign group, submitted a
bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for the rescue and redevelopment of the pier.
In July 2010 Hastings Borough Council pursued a compulsory purchase order
for the pier. If successful the council would then hand over the keys to
Hastings Pier and White Rock Trust, which had begun looking for funding for
structural repairs and refurbishment.
Then, in the early hours of October 5th 2010, a devastating fire swept through
the pier, destroying most of the super-structure. The destruction of most of the
pier was an immense tragedy for the people of Hastings and particularly the
members of the Hastings Pier and White Rock Trust who had fought so hard
to have the pier restored and brought back into public use.
Throughout 2011, the local Council employed experts to assess the full extent
of the damage to the pier and attempted to get the owners, the Panamanian
registered Ravenclaw, to carry out repair work to stabilise the structure. When
this proved unsuccessful, the Council began steps to compulsorily purchase
the pier, the intention being to work with the Hastings Pier and White Rock
Trust to restore the pier to its former glory.
In October 2011,Simon Opie, who had worked successfully improving Euro
Disney in Paris and set up Madame Tussaud attractions around the world was
appointed as the Chief Executive of the Hastings Pier and White Rock Trust.
The following month, Hastings Borough Council agreed to serve a formal
repairs notice on the pier owner, Ravenclaw, giving them 2 months to start
repair work or they would seek a compulsory purchase order to save the pier.
By March 2012, Ravenclaw had failed to respond to the Council's approaches
and so solicitors issued a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO).
Also in May 2012, the first plans of the restored pier were published and made
available on the Hastings Pier & White Rock Trust website
In November 2012 it was announced that the Heritage Lottery Fund had
awarded Hastings Pier a grant of £11.4 million towards the total project cost of
£13.9 million for the rescue and restoration of the Pier.
On Thursday 15th. August 2013 the Compulsory Purchase Order was
enforced and ownership passed to the Hastings Pier charity.
15th August 2013
For further information please contact:
Dani West : WixHill PR : 01483 203992 / 07852 109802 dani@wixhill.co.uk, or
Tim Fordham-Moss : WixHill PR : 01483 203992 / 07710 491788 tim@wixhill.co.uk
For more information and graphics of the new pier go to
http://www.hpcharity.co.uk/media-centre/photography - Password: press-pier (case
sensitive).