Project of the week

Clevedon Pier was from its birth an engineering marvel, sculpted from iron bars originally rolled to be rail tracks. Opened in 1869, it originally connected London travellers with South Wales trains and later hosted rock and roll dance parties. After the collapse of two sections in the 1970s, however, plans were made to demolish the structure.

After nearly three decades of campaigning, planning and fundraising – with supporters including the Poet Laureate, Sir John Betjeman, who hailed Clevedon as ‘the most beautiful pier in England’ – the pier was restored. It reopened in 1989, with paddle steamers setting off from its pierhead and a Victorian-themed party along the beachfront. Further work to conserve the pierhead continued to 1998, when the project was declared complete – an exceptional Grade I-listing followed to recognise the pier’s extraordinary quality. 

Since then, the Clevedon Pier and Heritage Trust has focused on securing a sustainable business model, installing a new pavilion housing a restaurant, an interpretation centre, visitor facilities, a meeting room and a shop.

Today, the pier welcomes over 100,000 visitors per year, which has so far generated sufficient income to support the structure’s extensive conservation management programme, and to keep the pier structurally sound and beautiful for many decades to come.