pier
Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century.">England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th ...
located in
Saltburn-by-the-Sea
Saltburn-by-the-Sea, commonly referred to as Saltburn, is a seaside town in Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England, around south-east of Hartlepool and southeast of Redcar.
It lies within the historic boundaries of the North Ridin ...
,
Redcar and Cleveland
Redcar and Cleveland is a borough with unitary authority status in North Yorkshire, England. Its main settlements are Redcar, South Bank, Eston, Brotton, Guisborough, the Greater Eston part of Middlesbrough, Loftus, Saltburn and Skelton. Th ...
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...
, England. It is the last pier remaining in
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
Saltburn
Saltburn-by-the-Sea, commonly referred to as Saltburn, is a seaside town in Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England, around south-east of Hartlepool and southeast of Redcar.
It lies within the historic boundaries of the North Rid ...
from Redcar on 17 August 1861, prompting a growth in day trippers and holiday travellers.
The engineer for the railway line was John Anderson, who saw the investment opportunities in the new town, buying land from the ''Saltburn Improvement Company.'' He bought plots in Milton and Amber Streets, as well as Brittania Terrace/Marine Drive - both now Marine Parade - where he designed and erected the Alexandria Hotel. Appointed resident engineer of the SIC in 1867, he designed the town's sewerage system.
Construction
In October 1867, Anderson formed the ''Saltburn Pier Company,'' to undertake construction of a suitable pier. Contracted as designer and chief design engineer, Anderson followed the new pier format developed by
Eugenius Birch
Eugenius Birch (20 June 1818 – 8 January 1884) was a 19th-century English seaside architect, civil engineer and noted builder of promenade-piers.
Biography
Both Eugenius and his elder brother, John Brannis (born 1813), were born in Gloucester ...
in his ground breaking design for
Margate Pier
The Margate Jetty (also known as Margate Pier) was a pier in Margate, Kent, in England initially constructed of wood in 1824. It was rebuilt in iron in 1855 and extended and added to over the years. It closed in 1976 over safety concerns and w ...
, by specifying iron screw-piles to support a metal frame and wooden deck.
Deliveries of iron work from the
Ormesby
Ormesby is an area which is split between Borough of Middlesbrough and Borough of Redcar and Cleveland in North Yorkshire, England. It is in the Middlesbrough part of the Teesside built up area.
Spencer Beck to the east and the B1380 road to ...
Foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...
began in December 1867, with the first pile drive started by Mrs Thomas Vaughan of Gunnergate Hall on 30 December. But construction was delayed by the fact that the Board of Trade did not grant an order for the construction until 6 April 1868, while the foreshore land was not transferred to the company until 3 July 1868.
The pier opened in May 1869, with a steamer landing stage at the head of the pier and two circular kiosks at the entrance. The first steamers left the pier on 14 May 1870, with service to
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
. In the first six months of operation, there were 50,000 toll-paying visitors.
But access to the pier was difficult from the town via the steep cliff, so Anderson was contracted to build the Cliff Hoist. Constructed of wood, it allowed 20 people to be placed in a wooden cage and then lowered by rope to beach level. It opened on 1 July 1870, some 14 months after the opening of the pier, it was approached from the town by a narrow walkway. The passengers then descended , after water had been added to or taken away from a counterbalance tank.
Operation
Steamer excursions added to the companies revenue, with new seasonal trips to Hartlepool and
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
. This financial success enabled the Pier Company to announce profitable dividends for its shareholders, and by October 1873 it was announced that all the shares had been disposed of.
However, on the night of 21/22 October 1875, a
gale
A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ).Sir Richard Tangye's company, who had built the two earlier vertically inclined water powered funicular railways in
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
, to build a replacement. Tangye had appointed
George Croydon Marks
George Croydon Marks, 1st Baron Marks, CBE (9 June 1858 – 24 September 1938), known as Sir George Marks between 1911 and 1929, was an English engineer, patent agent and Liberal (later Labour) politician.
Background and education
Marks was ...
head of the lift department, in which role he was in charge of the design and installation at Saltburn. Marks designed and constructed the
Saltburn Cliff Lift
The Saltburn Cliff Lift is a funicular railway in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Redcar and Cleveland in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. It provides access to Saltburn Pier and the seafront from the town. The cliff lift is the oldest op ...
, a
funicular
A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite e ...
with a height of and a track length of , creating a 71% incline. Opened on Saturday 28 June 1884, it remains today the world's oldest water-balanced cliff railway.
The opening of the Cliff Lift allowed the pier company to undertake a development of facilities. As had originally been intended, a saloon was built at the pier head, while gas lighting was provided along the entire length. In 1884, the pier head was widened and windshields, a
bandstand
A bandstand (sometimes music kiosk) is a circular, semicircular or polygonal structure set in a park, garden, pier, or indoor space, designed to accommodate musical bands performing concerts. A simple construction, it both creates an orname ...
, a refreshment rooms added, and the entrance kiosks replaced to match the style of those used on the new Cliff Lift. In July 1887 the gas lighting was replaced by electricity.
After suffering slight storm damage in 1900, the pier was struck by the
china clay
Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedra ...
vessel (formerly the
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
n registered ), in May 1924. The collision left a gap in the promenade, leaving the bandstand inaccessible. The gap was replaced from March 1929, with a new
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
also built on the landside, completed in 1930 enabling the full length of the pier to open.
Post World War Two
Purchased by the council in 1938, the pier like others was sectioned during
World War II
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 opposing ...
, by having part of the deck removed by the Royal Engineers to guard against
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
invasion. But due to its poor post war condition, repairs were not granted planning permission until 1949, and due to a shortage of steel not completed until April 1952. Officially reopened for the first time since the war on 31 May 1952, over 25,000 visitors walked the pier during the first month.
In 1953, gales resulted in £23,000 worth of repairs, which took a further five years to complete. But after completion, in 1958 two piles were lost, costing a further £6,000. In 1961 another twenty piles were twisted in storms, but repairs kept the structure open enabling 90,000 people to visit during the 1960s.
After severe storms in 1971 and 1973, piles were lost at the seaward end leaving the pier in a dangerous state. Further damage in 1974 culminated on 29 October, when the pier head was lost and the deck damaged, leaving a length of .
In 1975 the council submitted an application to the
Department of the Environment
An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...
to have the pier demolished. A "Save the Pier" campaign led to a
public enquiry
A tribunal of inquiry is an official review of events or actions ordered by a government body. In many common law countries, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and Canada, such a public inquiry differs from a royal commission in that ...
, which concluded that only the final thirteen piers could be removed. This left a length of refurbished pier, which reopened on 29 June 1978. In 1979, the council undertook a complete refurbishment of both the pier and the Cliff Lift to reflect the Victorian/Edwardian character, by: ordering new
aluminium
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...
cars for the Cliff Lift, reinstating to the design stained-glass windows; new distinct white-red cladding to all the structures; a pier head
cafe
A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...
.
Post 2000
In 2000, the council was successful in gaining a £1.2M National LotteryHeritage Grant, enabling the cast iron trestles that support the pier to be conserved, and the steel deck beams replaced with traditional hardwood timber to reflect the pier’s original appearance. Reopened as a
Grade II* listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...
on 13 July 2001, by MPChris Smith, the restored structure won a top placing in the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Heritage awards. In October 2005, the pier was greatly enhanced by the installation of under deck lighting which illuminates at night, and in 2009, the
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 f ...
awarded it pier of the year. The pier celebrated its 150th Anniversary on 11 May 2019 when a new lighting system was switched on.
Gallery
Saltburn Pier 1.jpg
Saltburn Pier (geograph 5353954).jpg, Saltburn Pier, as seen from the promenade above