Southwold Pier is a

pier image:Brighton Pier, Brighton, East Sussex, England-2Oct2011 (1).jpg, Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century. A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of ...

in the coastal town of

Southwold Southwold is a seaside town and civil parish on the English North Sea coast in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk. It lies at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is a ...

in the

English county The counties of England are areas used for different purposes, which include administrative, geographical, cultural and political demarcation. The term "county" is defined in several ways and can apply to similar or the same areas used by each ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

. It is on the northern edge of the town and extends into the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

. Whilst many English seaside piers are in decline, Southwold Pier is enjoying renewed popularity. It includes a collection of modern coin-operated novelty machines designed and constructed by the inventor

Tim Hunkin Tim Hunkin (born Timothy Mark Trelawney Hunkin, 27 December 1950 in London) is an English engineer, cartoonist, writer, and artist living in Suffolk, England. He is best known for creating the Channel Four television series ''The Secret Life of ...

History

The pier was built in 1900 as a landing stage for

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

s that brought tourists from London Clacton and Great Yarmouth until the 1930s. It was in length and finished with a T-shaped end. The ownership of the pier transferred from that of the Coast Development Company following its winding up in 1906, to The Amusement Equipment Company. The landing stage of the pier was destroyed during a storm in 1934, with the T-shaped end being swept away. An addition to the pier of a concert hall and amusement arcade was made during 1937 at the shore end of the pier. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the pier had a section removed due to the fear of its use during an invasion. Further damage occurred from an impact with a

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

. The pier was rebuilt after the war at a cost of £30000. Further damage caused by storms in October 1955 and February 1979 left the length of the pier at . In 1960, a part of the pier pavilion was transformed into the Neptune Bar

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

. Parts of the pier were further restored during 1987 where additional work was carried out to both the theatre and function room. After the reconstruction the pier then reopened in December 1988.

Restoration

The pier was bought by Chris Iredale in 1987 and he first spent five years turning the pavilion into a profit-making business. A major refurbishment program was started in 1999 in order to rebuild the pier. This was completed to a design by Brian Haward ARIBA AABC Architect of The Rope House Southwold and constructed by Nick Haward outhwoldLimited in 2001 almost 100 years after it was first opened. In 2002 a new T-Shaped end was added, bringing the pier to a total length of . This additional length now allows the pier to accommodate visits by Britain's only surviving sea-going steam passenger ship, the PS ''Waverley'' paddle steamer and its running mate the MV ''Balmoral''.

Attractions

The pier is home to several shops and attractions including traditional souvenir shops, cafés, restaurants and amusement arcades.

The Under The Pier Show

Since 2001 the pier has hosted an arcade with a range of

automata An automaton (; plural: automata or automatons) is a relatively self-operating machine, or control mechanism designed to automatically follow a sequence of operations, or respond to predetermined instructions.Automaton – Definition and More ...

, machines and games designed by

. Tim originally approached the owner of the pier after his original location for one of his arcade games drew local complaints

Awards

*2002

National Piers Society The National Piers Society (NPS) is a registered charity in the United Kingdom dedicated to promoting and sustaining interest in the preservation and continued enjoyment of seaside piers. It was founded in 1979, with Sir John Betjeman as the fi ...

- Pier of the Year

Gallery

Image:Southwold Pier1 KevinScottNL 2005.jpg, Southwold Pier Image:Southwold Pier2 KevinScottNL 2005.jpg, Southwold Pier Image:Southwold pier sieges bis.JPG, Southwold Pier Image:1-southwold pier bw.JPG, Southwold Pier entrance sign

References

External links

The Southwold Pier website
{{Piers in the United Kingdom Piers in Suffolk Tourist attractions in Suffolk Southwold