History - Part 1: The building of Clevedon Pier

The building of Britain's seaside piers was a direct legacy of the industrial revolution. The fruits of that revolution, often harshly exacted and only slowly shared, were wealth and leisure and new demands for entertainment and travel.

Almost every pier of note around the coast of Britain, seventy-eight all told, were built between 1854 and 1904. During this time there was also a rise and expansion of the regional pleasure steamer fleets. However, the most important catalyst for the pier builders, was the arrival of the railways. Until the Severn Tunnel was opened in 1886, Brunel's Great Western line from London to South Wales took the "Great Way Round" (via Swindon and Gloucester) - Clevedon's closeness to the main line from London to Bristol and the South-West, and the opening of the branch line to Clevedon from Yatton in 1847 offered the exciting possibility of a faster route to South Wales by steamer from a pier at Clevedon.

A pier for Clevedon had been under consideration for some time and on a Wednesday in November 1866, a meeting took place at the Public Hall, Clevedon. A proposed scheme for a pier was accepted and The Clevedon Pier Company was formed, the board of directors made up of Sir Arthur Elton, Richard Godwin, Samuel Ransford and John Maynard. By July 1867 work had begun.

Elegance was important for the new pier but it also had to be strongly constructed for commercial use in a fairly exposed position. The actual construction work was entrusted to Hamilton's Windsor Iron Works of Liverpool.

The contractors had been lucky to find some large quantities of Barlow rail, discarded from Brunel's broad-gauge South Wales Railway. It may not have been successful as railway line, but it could be used to make superbly slender and strong supports for the pier. For almost two years, slowly diminishing stacks of the ironwork were stored along The Beach, Esplanade and Wellington Terrace. The construction of the pier was a very laborious task as every section of ironwork had to be manhandled before the crane could raise it into position. Approximately 370 tons of wrought ironwork were required. Gales regularly halted the work, but the structure held firm.

Picture: The Toll House The construction of the abutments to the pier was not as hazardous as the pier itself. However, the design had changed from its original form and now included a Toll House, with accommodation for the Piermaster. The Toll House was built by Clevedon builder, W. Green, who was also responsible for building the bandstand further along the beach. It was designed by architect Hans Price of Weston-super-Mare, in a Scottish baronial style, much favoured at that time for bridge abutments. The romanticism of its design, contrasted strongly with the functional engineering of the pier. The entrance gates and railings were made in Clevedon in the foundry of Turner and Sons.

In all, the total cost of building the pier was £10,000 and employed an average workforce of sixty men. On the 6th February 1869, the contractors were able to hand the completed structure over to the Directors of the Pier Company.

Gala opening

The official opening of Clevedon pier was held on Easter Monday, 29th March 1869. Throughout the morning, large numbers had congregated at Clevedon railway station. The 10.15 train from Bristol alone had brought five hundred passengers!!

Lady Margaret Ann Elton recalls:

"There was a general holiday and floral arches had sprouted up all over the town. Altogether, two thousand people came by the Bristol and Exeter line, along with hundred of carts poured in from the country.

Finally assembled, a great procession left the terminus, consisting of twelve policemen, fifty-four members of the Clevedon Artillery and Band, ninety-four Nailsea Engineers and their Band, the directors of the Clevedon and Weston Pier Companies, twenty-eight members of the Committee of Demonstration, inhabitants and visitors, the Bristol Artillery Band, ninety Odd Fellows, the Axbridge Drum and Fife Boys, and five hundred school children."

Echoing the profound wishes of this great concourse, a huge triumphal arch astride the Marine Parade, carried the inscription, 'SUCCESS TO THE PIER'.

At 1.30pm the five hundred children burst into the singing of Psalm 148, and there was a short service of dedication, in which the local clergy also hinted that the opening of the pier should not be allowed to interfere with the observance of the Sabbath. There was then a cannon volley fired by the First Somerset Artillery, the massed bands played the National Anthem, and Clevedon pier was open for the good of the townspeople and the benefits which commerce would bring.

Victorian Age

For twenty years Clevedon pier provided a new, fast route over to South Wales. However, the opening of the Severn Railway Tunnel on 1st December 1886 began to snatch away the passengers that might have travelled to Clevedon for the transfer via the steamers. Business on the pier faltered and in 1891 the pier was transferred to Clevedon Council, just at a time when costly pierhead improvements had become essential.

However, it was not all doom and gloom. The sum of £10,000 was borrowed from the town, to pay for a new pierhead and a landing stage. These consisted of twenty-four massive iron columns and forty-two greenheat piles, 25 foot long. The new landing stage was built at an angle to the pierhead, in order to align with the prevailing Bristol Channel current. The rehabilitated pier was re-opened on 3rd April 1893 by Lady Elton.

The role of the railways may have reduced the fortunes of the pier, but the steady rise in the number of excursion ships in the Bristol Channel opened up a flourishing new traffic flow. The White Funnel Fleet paddlers were regular callers, and Peter and Alec Campbell also arrived with the paddle steamers Waverley in 1886, Ravenswood (1891), Westward Ho (1894), Cambria (1895) and Britannia (1896).

In an article in the Clevedon Mercury, Clifton Smith-Cox, Chairman and Managing Director of the White Funnel Fleet, recalled his company's interest in using Clevedon pier. After the reopening of the improved landing stage in 1893, Campbell's association with Clevedon began when the P.S. Ravenswood called on 1st April that year.

Other excursion steamers, owned by Edwards, Robertson & Co., who ran the paddle steamer Lorna Doone, also called at Clevedon pier. There were also visits from the P.S. Lady Moyra and P.S. Evelyn.

In 1913, the timber landing stage, which had deteriorated, was replaced by the present pre-cast concrete structure.

History - Part 2: Collapse and Restoration