The rise and fall of Hastings Pier as it faces closure again

After success through the early part of the last century, playing host to music legends such as Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd, it was struck by tragedy after tragedy, including storm damage, fire and bankruptcy.

The Argus looks back at Hastings Pier’s history over the last 151 years.

Hastings Pier in 1880 (Image: NMR Photographic Services)

The pier opened in August 1872, designed by Eugenius Birch - the man behind the design of the Eastbourne Pier and the ill-fated West Pier in Brighton. The design was considered innovative at the time due to the technical constraints of the era.

Despite being opened to the public on a wet and windy bank holiday Monday, the ceremony was said to have been a grand affair with a celebratory banquet attended by hundreds of guests.

The pier was an immediate success, attracting almost half a million people in its first 12 months with entertainment and music in its pavilion attracting scores of visitors. The pier’s landing stage also enabled ferries to take passengers to nearby piers along the south coast, as well as to Boulogne in northern France.

Hastings Pier’s original 2,000-seat pavilion was destroyed in a fire in 1917, which was replaced in 1922 and given an art deco revamp in the 1930s - an era when Hastings Pier saw tens of thousands of people pass through the turnstiles each week.

Like most piers in Sussex, Hastings Pier was closed during the Second World War amid fears that it could be used as a landing platform for invading ships. Although the Nazis did not attempt an invasion of Hastings, a large number of French and Belgian refugees were reported to have landed on the pier during the war.

Pink Floyd were among the musical acts to perform at Hastings Pier over the 1960s and 1970s (Image: free)

Post-war, the pier entered a new era and became a prominent centre for live music in the 1960s and 1970s. Among the famous faces to perform included The Rolling Stones, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, The Sex Pistols, The Clash and Pink Floyd. The pier also housed the Hastings Embroidery, intended to be a modern-day equivalent of the Bayeux Tapestry, to celebrate the 900th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings.

Hastings Pier became a Grade II listed building in 1976, but the 1980s saw the pier change hands on a regular basis and fall into disrepair as piers became unfashionable.

Hastings Pier in 2006 (Image: Argus archive)

The pier suffered storm damage in 1990, requiring a £1 million refurbishment and, after serious financial losses leading to the appointment of liquidators who closed the pier in 1999.

Hastings Pier reopened under new ownership in 2002, but was forced to close again in 2008 amid fears that two support columns were in imminent danger of collapse.

Most of Hastings Pier was gutted by a devastating fire in 2010 (Image: Andy Wilson)

Efforts to save the pier began in earnest, but restoration plans were set back after a devastating fire destroyed 95 per cent of the pier in October 2010. Two people were arrested on suspicion of arson but no charges were made.

A compulsory purchase order in 2013 saw the pier returned to local ownership. A £14 million renovation project saw the pier reopen to the public in April 2016 and win the prestigious title of Pier of the Year by the National Piers Society in 2017.

Hastings Pier following its most recent renovation

However, the troubled pier once again faced hardship after the organisation running the pier went into administration in November 2017. Hastings Pier was purchased by local businessman Abid Gulzar, who also owns Eastbourne Pier, in June 2018 and reopened the following month.

Hastings Pier now once again faces an uncertain future after Lion Hastings filed for liquidation in September, with filings revealing the company owed over £300,000 to creditors.