Skip to content

Birnbeck Pier project awarded £235,000 in lottery funding

BBC Birnbeck PierBBC
The pier closed to the public in 1994 and has fallen into disrepair ever since

A Victorian pier at risk of collapse has been awarded almost £235,000 in National Lottery funding.

Birnbeck Pier, which connects with Birnbeck Island in Weston-super-Mare, has been shut to the public since 1994.

It was placed on Historic England's at-risk register in 1999.

It has been completely unused since 2014, when the structure became so unstable RNLI lifeboat crews were forced to stop using the island as a base after 132 years.

The £234,761 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) follows £3.55m in government funding awarded earlier this month.

The funding from the government's National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) will be spent on saving the "legs" of the pier.

It will also reinstate access to the island.

'Open more doors'

The lottery funding is earmarked for conservation work on the pier once structural repairs have been completed.

North Somerset Council plans to apply for a full lottery grant of £4.2m at a later date.

Mark Canniford, executive member for placemaking and economy at North Somerset Council, said: "This money will fund phase one of the project once the initial emergency works are completed, allowing us to start renovating the buildings on the island and the landside, as well as community focused work.

"The funding will open more doors for us and help us to continue momentum in our renovation of Birnbeck, get the RNLI back onto the island and restore public access to this Victorian treasure."

Councillor Mark Canniford
Mr Canniford said the cash will "open more doors"

Stuart McLeod, of the NLHF, said: "Birnbeck Pier is one of the greatest examples of Victorian engineering that we have and it's imperative we work together to save this important heritage for future generations.

"We are delighted to support North Somerset Council and other partners with this important restoration project."

The pier opened in 1867 and went on to play a vital role during World War Two as a site of experimental activities and weapons testing.

It was the backdrop to a famous 1963 publicity photograph of The Beatles.

The Grade II-listed site is the only pier in the UK to link to an island and to serve as an RNLI lifeboat station for more than a century.

Presentational grey line

Follow BBC West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [email protected]