Publications
A Visit to the Regent Iron & Brass Foundery, the Gas Manufactory, and the Royal Chain Pier, Brighton. By the author of the Twin Sisters, by Elizabeth Sandham, published 1824 (Royston : J. Warren) accessible at: British Library
A short account of the failure of a part of the Brighton Chain Pier, in the gale of the 30th of November 1836, by William Reid, published 1844 in Papers on Subjects Connected with the Duties of the Corps of Royal Engineers (vol. 1, article, p.99)
Newhaven Harbour: a collection of reports relative to the harbour and piers of Newhaven in the county of Sussex, by John Rennie and others, published 1846 (Harbour Trustees)
Selsey Railway and Pier Bill, published 1888 (George Kelly & Co.)
The Brighton Chain Pier: in memoriam. Its history from 1823 to 1896, with a biographical notice of Sir Samuel Brown, its designer and constructor, by John George Bishop, published 1896 (xxv + 75 pp, published by the author) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 12322] & R.I.B.A. Library & East Sussex Libraries View Online
The Brighton Chain Pier, by Raymond H. Belton, published 1937 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. XI no. 3, article, p.182) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2316][Lib 9332] & The Keep [LIB/500182]
Brighton's West Pier, by Peter E. W. Best, published 1974 (24 pp., Brighton Society) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/502602] & R.I.B.A. Library
West Pier: Second Engineering Report , by John L. Burdet and the We Want the West Pier Campaign, published 1 October 1975 (14 pp., Brighton West Pier Trust, ISBN-10: 0950408239 & ISBN-13: 9780950408231) accessible at: British Library
The West Pier, Second Engineering Report, by We Want the West Pier Campaign Staff, published 1976 (15 pp., The Campaign, ISBN-10: 0950408239 & ISBN-13: 9780950408231) accessible at: British Library
The Palace Pier, Brighton, by William D. Everest, published 1984 in Sussex Industrial History (issue no. 14, article, pp.2-7) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506525] Download PDF
Abstract:Amusement Piers are a traditional part of the British seaside and Brighton has featured in their history from the beginning.
Until the early part of the nineteenth century, Brighton was an important seaport for the growing traffic of passengers and goods between England and France. For many years, passengers had been ferried to and from packet boats and other vessels by means of local rowing boats called 'punts'. These boats were also used to pull the rafts on which luggage, horses and carriages were loaded. Even then, the passengers often had to be carried on the backs of fishermen the last few feet to the beach. In the days before the railways most of the heavy goods, like coal, were brought by sea and unloaded onto the beach.
A company was formed called the Brighthelmston Suspension Pier Company and Captain Samuel Brown, a specialist in naval architecture and marine engineering, was appointed the engineer to build a suspension pier. Land was purchased under the East cliff, suspension chains were anchored 54 feet into the cliff below New Steine and the other end into the sea bed under the landing stage. Four cast iron towers build on clumps of wooden piles driven into the sea bed held the chains, from which the deck was suspended. A T-shaped platform, 80 feet wide on its own wooden piles, was the landing stage for the boats.
Built in less than twelve months, the Brighton Suspension Chain Pier was an advanced engineering achievement for its day. The official opening was on the 25th November 1823 and in 1825 the first steam vessels began to operate at Brighton. Like many good ideas, another and more popular use was found for the new pier by accident. It was used by the residents and visitors as a way of affording out-of-door recreation for what may be termed select Society. The toll fee of 2d tended to keep it more or less exclusive as a fashionable promenade. The towers were hollow and contained small shops or stalls and at the head of the Pier was a camera obscura. There was also a floating-bath attached to the north-east end of the pier-head for the convenience of bathers and a band played once a week in the season.
Until the early part of the nineteenth century, Brighton was an important seaport for the growing traffic of passengers and goods between England and France. For many years, passengers had been ferried to and from packet boats and other vessels by means of local rowing boats called 'punts'. These boats were also used to pull the rafts on which luggage, horses and carriages were loaded. Even then, the passengers often had to be carried on the backs of fishermen the last few feet to the beach. In the days before the railways most of the heavy goods, like coal, were brought by sea and unloaded onto the beach.
A company was formed called the Brighthelmston Suspension Pier Company and Captain Samuel Brown, a specialist in naval architecture and marine engineering, was appointed the engineer to build a suspension pier. Land was purchased under the East cliff, suspension chains were anchored 54 feet into the cliff below New Steine and the other end into the sea bed under the landing stage. Four cast iron towers build on clumps of wooden piles driven into the sea bed held the chains, from which the deck was suspended. A T-shaped platform, 80 feet wide on its own wooden piles, was the landing stage for the boats.
Built in less than twelve months, the Brighton Suspension Chain Pier was an advanced engineering achievement for its day. The official opening was on the 25th November 1823 and in 1825 the first steam vessels began to operate at Brighton. Like many good ideas, another and more popular use was found for the new pier by accident. It was used by the residents and visitors as a way of affording out-of-door recreation for what may be termed select Society. The toll fee of 2d tended to keep it more or less exclusive as a fashionable promenade. The towers were hollow and contained small shops or stalls and at the head of the Pier was a camera obscura. There was also a floating-bath attached to the north-east end of the pier-head for the convenience of bathers and a band played once a week in the season.
Deckhand, West Pier, by Arthur Thickett, published 1 December 1993 (42 pp., Brighton: Queenspark Books, ISBN-10: 0904733246 & ISBN-13: 9780904733242) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/508088] & The Keep archive of QueenSpark Books & British Library & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Abstract:This is a fresh and often humorous look at a young man who came to Brighton in the summer of 1970, full of hope and optimism - his goal was to find adventure and ultimately love. Written in a witty prose style, we learn that on his first day he found digs, on his second day, he walked into a job, but cupid's arrow was to prove more elusive! Haunted by memories of the Second World War, Arthur Thickett tried to reconcile himself to his past and find friendship and laughter. He describes a town that behind the bright and lively holiday facade was full of lonely people.
Oh! What a lovely pier, by Daphne Mitchell, published 1996 (43 pp., Queen Spark Books, ISBN-10: 0904733513 & ISBN-13: 9780904733518) accessible at: R.I.B.A. Library
Abstract:Working on the West Pier from 1956 to 1970, Daphne Mitchell's story evokes the atmosphere of the seaside in bygone times. Daphne recalls seaside shows that featured acts, such as the Great Omani, floating by on a bed of nails. She describes scenes with dolphins basking in the sea and aerial displays by the Red Arrows; all things that made the West Pier 'the pier of piers.' During the season, it was so hectic that Daphne comments `you didn't know whether to laugh or cry'. In this account, the life of the West Pier is vividly brought to life for the modern reader, who today can only view a ghostly wreck that echoes to the seabirds' sad songs. The subject is of particular relevance in view of the current debates that are taking place over the future of the West Pier.
Worthing Pier: A History, by Dr. Sally White, published July 1996 (10 pp., Worthing Museum & Art Gallery, ISBN-10: 0906834112 & ISBN-13: 9780906834114) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries
Romance of the Old Chain Pier at Brighton, by Ernest Ryman, published 1 August 1996 (32 pp., Brighton: Dyke Publications, ISBN-10: 0950975680 & ISBN-13: 9780950975689) accessible at: R.I.B.A. Library & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Walking on Water: The West Pier Story, by Fred Gray with a foreword by Asa Briggs, published 31 December 1998 (Brighton West Pier Trust, ISBN-10: 0950408255 & ISBN-13: 9780950408255) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/503767] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Palace Pier, Brighton in Old Photographs, by Albert Bullock and Peter Metcalf, published 8 April 1999 (160 pp., Stroud: Sutton Publishing Ltd., ISBN-10: 0750919744 & ISBN-13: 9780750919746) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Salvaged: cast up by the waves between two piers, by Denis Doran, published 2004 (looseleaf, 62 leaves, Brighton: Photoworks, ISBN-10: 1903796113 & ISBN-13: 9781903796115) accessible at: British Library
52 objects collected during walks on Brighton beach in Sussex, and Whitley Bay beach, Tyne & Wear
Brighton's West Pier, by Fred Gray, published 2006 in Designing the seaside: architecture, society and nature (article, pp.207-227)
Piers of Sussex, by Martin Easdown, published 18 May 2009 (160 pp., History Press, ISBN-10: 0752448846 & ISBN-13: 9780752448848) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Abstract:Remembering the glory days of Sussex piers including Hastings and Brighton.
Incident reports Reports from Cornwall on their highly praised flooding intervention, East Sussex's response to the Hastings Pier fire, and Northumberlands' swiftwater rescue provision, published July 2011 in Fire : the voice of firefighting and fire prevention since 1908 (article, pp.13-19) accessible at: British Library
Brighton Pier, UK - innovation in renovation, by Nigel Winterbottom, published 2014 in Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers (vol. 167, no. 2, article, pp.100-110)
Fire on the pier: Fire reports on how East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service dealt with this summer's devastating fire on Eastbourne Pier, published September 2014 in Fire : the voice of firefighting and fire prevention since 1908 (article, pp.19-24) accessible at: British Library
Worthing Pier Past, Present & Future Book, by Worthing Youth Council, published 2016 (96 pp., ISBN-13: 9781897739075) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries
Abstract:Illustrated colour book about the Heritage Lottery Funded Young Roots Worthing Pier Past, Present and Future project.
Packed with information about the Pier's history and including Art and Poetry work produced by pupils in schools across the Borough.
Packed with information about the Pier's history and including Art and Poetry work produced by pupils in schools across the Borough.
The battle of Hastings Pier; Original architect: Eugenius Birch, 1872, architects for restoration: dRMM [de Rijke Marsh Morgan], by Oliver Lowenstein, published May 2016 in Blueprint (n. 346, article, pp.118-130) accessible at: R.I.B.A. Library
Abstract:Restoration of the fire damaged Hastings Pier, dubbed the 'People's Pier' after attracting much support from the public for its revival. The new visitor centre in the middle of the pier, constructed in CLT, boasts a roof-top viewing platform. A sliding canopy that moves along the pier was part of the scheme and will hopefully be built in phase two of the restoration project.
Pier review; Original architect: Eugenius Birch, 1872, published September 2016 in Architectural review (vol. 240, no. 1434, article, pp.72-78) accessible at: R.I.B.A. Library
Abstract:On the restoration and regeneration of Hastings Pier, a Victorian landmark which was severely damaged by arson. The 272m-long pier now features a refurbished pavilion and new visitor centre, as well as a pavilion bar and restaurant, vintage funfair rides, a pop-up Hastings Pier shop, rickshaw rides and a selection of retail kiosks
A Pier Without Peer: The History of Hastings Pier, by Steve Peak, published 30 December 2016 (208 pp., Primo, ISBN-10: 099353273X & ISBN-13: 9780993532733) accessible at: East Sussex Libraries
Abstract:Tracing the iconic life of Hastings Pier, from its Victorian heyday to its resurrection as a much-loved landmark in 2016. Lavish full-colour hardback book telling the remarkable story of Hastings Pier. Hundreds of beautiful photographs and illustrations presented together for the first time in large format. Features a Roll of Honour containing the names of all those whose contributed to the Pier's re-birth. Published in Partnership with The Hastings Pier Charity.