Brighton West Pier, Sussex

Construction of Brighton West Pier, designed by Eugenius Birch, began in March 1864 at a cost of £21,890. It opened to the public on 6 October 1866. The pier was an open deck with two toll houses and six ornamental octagonal kiosks. A central bandstand was added in 1877 and the pierhead pavilion was added in 1893. By 1916 a concert hall was added. Some 2,074,000 visitors came to the pier in 1920 but by 1939 this had declined to 760,000. With the outbreak of the Second World War the pier was closed. Visitor numbers declined after the war and in 1970 the pier head was declared unsafe and closed. By 1975 the owners declared the whole structure unsafe. On 30 September 1975 the pier was closed to members of the public after nearly 109 years. The West Pier fell into disrepair and two arson attacks, the ravages of time and the weather have left just the burnt our pierhead and pavilion surviving.