Today marks 200 years since Brighton’s first pier opened to the public, with visitors enjoying its attractions. However, this pier is not the Brighton Palace Pier or the West Pier, but rather the long-forgotten Royal Suspension Chain Pier.
Used as a landing stage for boats to and from France, the pier was destroyed by storms with no remains of the pier visible today.
On this historic anniversary, The Argus looks back at the history of Brighton’s first major pier.
The growth of cross-Channel traffic via Brighton and Dieppe in France after the Napoleonic Wars required a more suitable space for passengers to embark and disembark.
A pier opposite the Steine was proposed, with the New Steine chosen later after objections from fishermen and bathers.
Construction began in September 1822 and was completed the following year at a cost of £30,000.
The pier stretched 1,134 feet (346 metres) out to sea, supported by chains suspended from four cast-iron towers.
The Chain Pier opened on November 25 1823 with a procession and firework display but without any royalty present, much to the disappointment to the assembled crowds.
The pier proved a success among travellers and those visiting the coast, with kiosks selling souvenirs, shells and toys at the base of its towers.
Other attractions also included a camera obscura, a bazaar and a saloon room.
Several steamships operated daily to Dieppe from the pier, with Brighton becoming the busiest cross-Channel port in England for a time.
However, when the railway to Newhaven opened in December 1847, it brought an end to most of the passenger traffic to Brighton.
The Chain Pier stood side by side with the West Pier when it opened in 1866, but when planning permission was granted to build the Palace Pier, a condition was that Brighton’s original pier would be demolished.
However, a severe storm would eventually destroy the pier on December 4 1896, two months after the pier had been closed to the public on safety grounds.
Some of the debris from the pier damaged the then-under construction Palace Pier.
Remains of some of the pier’s foundations used to be visible at very low tide but have since been lost to history.
Those keen on learning more about Brighton’s first pier can visit the World Above the Waves exhibit at Brighton Museum, with a display of paintings, prints and collectable items from the era.
The exhibit is open until January 14 next year.
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