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Then came the Pier
It was during the first decades of the 19th century that the earliest piers were built, although it was not until the Victorian era that the “pleasure pier” developed. Stone piers and jetties at which ships could berth had existed in various places for many years.

In Brighton, however, passengers were then still embarking and disembarking from ships by rowing boats with their luggage lashed to rafts. Within a few yards of the water’s edge, passengers were hoisted onto the shoulders of boatmen and conveyed to the shore, not a very elegant experience, especially for the ladies. However, in 1821 that plans to build a pier started to take shape, the pier finally being opened in November 1823.

Pier builders during this period were able to capitalise on the huge advances in engineering, which had taken place during the preceding 50 years. The first piers were built at Margate, Ryde, Brighton, Southend, Walton-on-the-Naze, Herne Bay, Deal, Beaumaris and Great Yarmouth. However, apart from being landing places, the piers were seen merely as promenade extensions into the sea, a means whereby the fashionable ladies and gentlemen could walk over the sea without getting wet.

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