Even with computer simulation, architects don't always get it right.

Look at the alarming wobble on London's £18.2 million Millennium Bridge.

Historian Dr Fred Gray says the wobble problem is nothing new.

A major panic occurred on the West Pier in Brighton on August 2, 1868.

As a brass band played in the early evening, most of the 3,000 visitors started moving in unison to the music.

Then, at 8.30pm, the pier, just two years old, started swaying violently and there was panic.

Dr Gray said: "Children screamed and ladies fainted as everyone made their way as fast as they could to the safety of land.

"There was an outcry. Some people thought the pier was unsafe.

"It was an experimental structure and the engineer, Eugenius Birch, didn't have computers to pre-test buildings like modern architects."

The West Pier, completed in 1866 at a cost of £28,000, had always had a slight sway in poor weather but the new degree of movement caused outrage.

Some blamed a freak squall, others the steam ship which docked at the end pushing against the wrought iron structure.

The movement of people in unison, though, was the accepted explanation.

Birch was called back and the West Pier Company, reliant on entry tolls for its income, spent the next 30 years restoring its reputation.

Dr Gray said: "We think of piers as historic structures. When this opened it was a wonderful modern building.

"It was the first pier built so wide. The Chain Pier before it was 12ft wide. This was 65ft.

"It was an experiment. Pier building was an art, not a scientific process.

"There was a problem with the number of people on board one day and things got out of hand. They didn't have models like they used to test the Millennium Bridge"

The Millennium Bridge problem is known as "unexpected synchronised walking".

According to engineers, as the bridge started to sway on its opening day last month, people tended to walk in step with its movements, worsening the effect.

Those appointed to stabilise it within a few weeks should take heed of Birch's experiences.

Workers began putting in hundreds of braces and horizontal piles to strengthen the pier legs.

Dr Gray, a lecturer at the Sussex University Centre for Continuing Education, said: "Even then they didn't solve the problem. As late as the early 20th century, people complained that the pier was moving.

"Victorians wanted the pier as an extension of the promenade, somewhere to watch the movements of the sea without feeling as if they were on it."

The pier had its busiest year in 1919, with 2.1 million visitors. It was closed in 1975.

Its story is available in Dr Gray's book Walking on Water available at £12 from the West Pier Trust on 01273 207610.