Hythe Pier, the Hythe Pier Railway and the Hythe Ferry provide a link between the English port city of

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and the

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

village of Hythe on the west side of

Southampton Water Southampton Water is a tidal estuary north of the Solent and the Isle of Wight in England. The city of Southampton lies at its most northerly point, where the estuaries of the River Test and River Itchen meet. Along its salt marsh-fringed wes ...

. It is used both by commuters and tourists, and forms an important link in the

Solent Way The Solent Way is a long-distance footpath in Hampshire, southern England. With the exception of a few inland diversions, the path follows the coast of the Solent, the sea strait that separates the mainland from the Isle of Wight. The Solen ...

and E9 European coastal paths. The pier, railway and ferry service are currently operated by Blue Funnel Ferries of

. In October 2016 the previous owners ( White Horse Ferries) warned their staff of potential redundancy which suggested an uncertain future from the pier and ferry service. After months of talks Lee Rayment of ''Blue Funnel'' completed negotiations to acquire the Pier, Train and Ferry with operations starting on 21 April 2017. The railway is the oldest continuously operating public pier train in the world. The ferry is due to stop operating from the end of 2022.

Hythe Pier

Hythe Pier stretches from the centre of Hythe to the deep water channel of Southampton Water, making it the 7th longest pier in the British Isles. It is approximately wide, and carries a pedestrian

walkway In American English, walkway is a composite or umbrella term for all engineered surfaces or structures which support the use of trails. '' The New Oxford American Dictionary'' also defines a walkway as "a passage or path for walking along, esp. a ...

and

cycleway Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except wher ...

on its northern side and the Hythe Pier Railway on its southern side. During normal high tides the pier is above the surface of the water. A company was formed to construct a pier in 1870 and in 1871 it obtained an

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

in order to do so. This effort then stalled and a pier was not constructed. A second company called the Hythe Pier & Hythe & Southampton Ferry company was formed in late 1874. A new act passed parliament in 1875 but legal disagreements with the Southampton Harbour and Pier Board delayed royal assent until 1878. Construction started in 1879 and the pier opened on 1 January 1881 having cost £7,000 to construct. Originally there was a toll house at the landward end of the pier, and this was replaced by the present ticket office in the first decade of the 20th century. The original toll house still exists and is occupied by a local travel operator. Large scale maintenance was carried out on the pier in 1896 at a cost of £1,500. The pier and its associated structures were awarded Grade II listed status in August 2021.

Hythe Pier Railway

The 1878 Act of Parliament made provision for the construction of a tramway along the pier, although one was not originally laid. The trucks that carried luggage along the pier were found to be damaging the pier decking, and in 1909 a narrow gauge railway was constructed on the northern side of the pier to replace them. The vehicles were hand-propelled, and the track was laid flush with the pier decking. In 1922, the current electrified railway was constructed on the southern side of the pier. The track is laid to

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

and is electrified at 250 V DC by a

third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway ...

on the seaward side of the track. The line consists of a single track with no passing loops, with two non-electrified sidings at the landward end. One of the sidings enters the line's covered workshop. Stations, equipped with low wooden platforms, exist at both ends of the line. The pier head station has an overall roof, whilst the landward station has a ticket office and waiting shelter. The line is operated by two four-wheeled

electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or g ...

s built in 1917 by Brush with works numbers 16302 & 16307 (simply renumbered as No. 2 & No. 1 - the '7' looking like a '1'.). They were originally battery powered, being used at the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

mustard gas factory at

Avonmouth Avonmouth is a port and outer suburb of Bristol, England, facing two rivers: the reinforced north bank of the final stage of the Avon which rises at sources in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Somerset; and the eastern shore of the Severn Es ...

. They were transferred to Hythe after the war, where they were converted to collect power from a

and had their batteries removed. There was initially a third locomotive, but it was used for spares and finally scrapped in 1935. All that remains of the 3rd tractor is the electric motor bearing the serial number "16304". The line owns four bogie passenger coaches, two of which have a driving cab at their seaward ends. In normal operation the single train is made up of one of the locomotives propelling three passenger coaches, with a four-wheel flat car for baggage. The locomotive is always at the landward end, and the seaward passenger coach must have a driving cab. The line also has a four-wheel oil-tanker, used to carry fuel to the Hythe ferries.

Hythe Ferry

Every train connects at the pier head with an arrival and departure of the Hythe Ferry. The ferry carries passengers and bicycles, and takes about 10 minutes for the crossing. En route, the ferry passes the terminal used by the

passenger liner A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...

s and and by other

cruise ships Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "sho ...

, giving good views of the vessels when they are in port. The Southampton terminal is at the Town Quay, also the terminal of the Red Funnel ferries to the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

. Town Quay is a short walk from the city centre, and is linked to both the city centre and

Southampton Central railway station Southampton Central railway station is a main line station serving the city of Southampton in Hampshire, southern England. It is on the South West Main Line and also serves the Wessex Main Line and the West Coastway Line. The station is appr ...

by bus. A ferry has operated from Hythe to Southampton since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, and it is marked on a map by

Christopher Saxton Christopher Saxton (c. 1540 – c. 1610) was an English cartographer who produced the first county maps of England and Wales. Life and family Saxton was probably born in Sowood, Ossett in the parish of Dewsbury, in the West Riding of Yorkshire ...

of 1575. Steam vessels were introduced in 1830. From 1889, the

Percy family The English surname Percy is of Norman origin, coming from Normandy to England, United Kingdom. It was from the House of Percy, Norman lords of Northumberland, derives from the village of Percy-en-Auge in Normandy. From there, it came into use ...

were involved in the running of the ferry, and from 1900 to 1980 the service was run by the General Estates Company, owned by the Percy family. As a consequence of this, many of the ferries used carried the name ''Hotspur'', named after Henry Percy or Hotspur, who was immortalised by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

.Hythe, Old Hampshire Gazetteer
/ref> The current owners, Blue Funnel, have two regular vessels providing the ferry service with a 3rd, ''Ocean Scene,'' as cover when necessary. * ''Hythe Scene'' (formerly known as ) is a catamaran ferry originally used on the White Horse Ferries service across the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

from

Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a 16th century fort and an ancie ...

to Gravesend. *Jenny Ann (formerly known as Faldore II and Puffin Belle) Previous ferries to have operated on the service include: * ex Gosport Ferry, ''Southsea Queen'' bought in 1978 to operate cruises and act as standby vessel for the ferry. * introduced in 1982. She utilised the engines removed from ''Hotspur III''. * was borrowed from the Hurst Castle ferry service in 2013. * removed from service following a collision with the pier on 13 May 2016. As a result of the collision the Maritime and Coastguard Agency withdrew the vessel's passenger safety certificate and vessel was later sold. * was built in 1946 and served on the service until 2014. ''Hotspur IV'' was the last in a line of similar ferries. One of her earlier half-sisters, ''Hotspur II'' of 1936, saw further service as a ferry on the

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde is the mouth of the River Clyde. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and constitutes the deepest coastal waters in the British Isles (it is 164 metres deep at its deepest). The firth is sheltered from the Atlantic ...

under the name ''Kenilworth''.

Change of pier ownership

A local community group held a public meeting on 24 November 2016 and announced its intentions to "Save Hythe Pier and ferry" by setting up a Charitable Community Benefit Society under the name of "Hythe Pier Heritage Association. In February 2017

Hampshire County Council Hampshire County Council (HCC) is an English council that governs eleven of the thirteen districts geographically located within the ceremonial county of Hampshire. As one of twenty-four county councils in England, it acts as the upper tier of ...

made an emergency payment to White Horse Ferries to allow them to charter a replacement ferry while ''MV Great Expectations'' underwent maintenance. On 6 February 2019, 140 years after the original pier construction, Blue Funnel announced they intended to hand over the pier to the Hythe Pier Heritage Association.

Collisions

On 30 July 1885, the pier was hit by the schooner ''Annie'', damaging five of the pier's piles. On 26 August 1915 the pier was hit by the sailing barge ''Itchen'' although on this occasion there was no damage to the pier. The pier's piles were again damaged in 1945 when an infantry landing craft collided with it. Donald Redford

In the evening of 1 November 2003 at 18:08, the

dredger Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...

collided with the pier, tearing a hole through the midsection and isolating the pier head from the land. The dredger did not collide with the pier train, and there were no casualties. The incident occurred a few minutes after a crowd of people were heading home after a football match. Repairs to the pier were carried out by Dudley Barnes Marine with Beckett Rankine as the designer; the cost was £308,000 and the pier reopened on 7 January 2004. The

master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

of the dredger was sentenced to eight months in prison after pleading guilty to ''an act likely to cause the death of or serious injury to any person while under the influence of drink'' and ''causing damage to a structure while under the influence of drinking''. On 13 May 2016, the ferry ''Uriah Heep'' collided with the pier damaging the ferry's wheelhouse and requiring it to be withdrawn from service. The

Marine Accident Investigation Branch The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) is a UK government organisation, authorised to investigate all maritime accidents in UK waters and accidents involving UK registered ships worldwide. Investigations are limited to establishing cau ...

report concluded the loss of control leading to the collision was ''almost certainly from a mechanical failure within the hydraulic circuit that powered the thrust deflector''. The report also noted the ferry berth at Hythe afforded little space to abort an approach in the event of a malfunction.

References

External links

*
Hythe Ferry websiteMAIB report on the 2003 collisionMAIB report on the 2016 collision

Blue Funnel Cruises
*Map sources for: ** ** ** {{Piers in the United Kingdom Heritage railways in Hampshire Ferry companies of England Ferry transport in England Piers in Hampshire Pier railways 2 ft gauge railways in England Transport in Southampton Buildings and structures in Hampshire Hythe, Hampshire Grade II listed buildings in Hampshire