Birnbeck Pier, also known as the 'Old Pier', is a pier situated on the Bristol Channel in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England, approximately 18 miles (29 km) south-west of Bristol. It is the only pier in the country which links the mainland to an island, linking to Birnbeck Island, a 1.2-hectare (3-acre) rocky island just to the west of Worlebury Hill. The grade II* listed pier was designed by Eugenius Birch and opened in 1867. Birnbeck Pier is one of only six Grade II* piers surviving in the country.[2] The refreshment and waiting rooms of 1898 were designed by local architect Hans Price and the clocktower and the piermaster's house have been attributed to him.
During the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries the pier was popular with locals and tourists. As a boarding point for steamers plying their trade in the Bristol Channel, it underwent various extensions and modifications over the years. During the Second World War the pier was commissioned as HMS Birnbeck by the Admiralty as part of the Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development (DMWD) for research into new weapons. Its work included conducting trials on the Barnes Wallis 'bouncing bomb'.
The pier reopened after the war, but the number of visitors and steamer passengers declined. The final excursion visited the pier in 1979. The pier has been closed to the public since 1994 and is on the Buildings at Risk Register and part of it collapsed during storms in 2015. The pier was purchased by North Somerset Council in July 2023 with the aim of restoring it and reopening the lifeboat station which was moved off the pier in 2011.
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^"Fresh plan to save crumbling Victorian pier announced". ITV News. 10 November 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
BirnbeckPier, also known as the 'Old Pier', is a pier situated on the Bristol Channel in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England, approximately 18...
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English seaside architect, civil engineer and noted builder of promenade-piers. Both Eugenius and his elder brother, John Brannis (born 1813), were born...
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piers stick out into the bay. The grade II* listed BirnbeckPier was designed by Eugenius Birch and opened in 1867. The early 20th century Grand Pier...
summer daily service to Weston-super-mare ceased in 1994 when Weston's BirnbeckPier was damaged in a storm, declared unsafe and closed to visitors. The...
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Weston-super-Mare Tramways network opened on 12 May 1902. The main route ran from BirnbeckPier along the sea front to the Sanatorium (now Royal Sands); a branch line...
at Sand Point, in association with the base at BirnbeckPier which was commissioned as "HMS Birnbeck" by the Admiralty as part of the Department of Miscellaneous...
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House and Piermaster's House (1867) and Birnbeck Pierhead buildings (1897). The pier links Worlebury Hill and Birnbeck island at the northern limit of the...
weapons were trialled at Brean Down Fort, a satellite unit of HMS Birnbeck (Birnbeckpier taken over as a base for DMWD) in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset...
1996, ISBN 1-85753-080-2, Annexes H and M. "Birnbeck Island Pier — A short history". Friends of the Old Pier Society. Archived from the original on 28 September...
includes Clouds Hill. Episode 6: 4 July 1996. This episode includes BirnbeckPier. Episode 7: 11 July 1996. This episode includes the Palace of Whitehall...
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