Wellington Pier, Great Yarmouth

An eminent local businessman, and two-times Mayor of Great Yarmouth, Charles John Palmer had lobbied the town's residents for several years before the Great Yarmouth Wellington Pier Company was formed in 1852. The company's sole aim was to build a pier, firstly as a memorial to the recently deceased 'Iron Duke', and secondly to provide an added attraction to the seaside town. Charles Palmer's argument for a new pier was based around the fact that the town, having already remembered Admiral Nelson, should honour the Duke of Wellington in a similar manner. Judging by the length of time that it took to reach an agreement, the townsfolk were not necessarily of the same opinion.

P Ashcroft designed the Great Yarmouth Wellington Pier, and the 700ft (212m) wooden structure finally opened on 31st October 1853, having cost some £6,776. Boasting ornamental railings and a 100ft (30.3m) long promenading platform at the pier head, the pier made a commendable £581 7s 6d in its first year. However, the Great Yarmouth Wellington Pier Company's profits were soon to be hit by the construction of a second pier just five years later. With their finances stretched, the Company never recovered and very few additional facilities were built on Great Yarmouth Wellington Pier. By the turn of the century there was only a small 'flattened' pavilion (noted for its square portholes) at the seaward end, in which variety concerts were often held.

As visitor numbers grew substantially, and better entertainment facilities were desperately required, the Great Yarmouth Corporation purchased the Wellington Pier in 1899 for £1,250. By 13th July 1903 a brand new pavilion had been opened, and the pier gardens, together with a bandstand, had been created on the southern side. Many notable military bands played at Great Yarmouth Wellington Pier until it became unfashionable, and then the area was transformed into an outdoor ice-skating rink. Another noteworthy piece of municipal enterprise was the purchase of a Winter Garden from a failed project in Torquay. For a sum of £2,400 this structure was incorporated into the pier complex, slightly to the north of the pier.

During the first half of the 20th century Great Yarmouth Wellington Pier provided a real diversity of entertainment. Concerts and variety shows, firework displays, speedboat trips, whist drives, roller-skating, boxing, indoor bowls, miniature golf, dancing and children's races to name but a few. The pavilion at Wellington Pier was affectionately known by artistes as 'the cow shed' due to its tarred, rustic roof and glass-topped partition walls. Dressing room windows were conveniently located facing the sea, and fishing lines would be thrown out at the beginning of a show to be hauled in again at the interval.

In the early 1970s major renovation work costing some £30,000 was carried out at the seaward end of the pier. This work included the replacement of timber piles, steelwork and decking. In 1986 the council's commercial management recommended demolition of Great Yarmouth Wellington Pier due to the continued losses that made further redevelopment monies unjustifiable. Public protests thankfully caused the council to consider new ideas, and the pier was subsequently leased to the entertainer, Jim Davidson in 1996. He relinquished his lease just six years later, and Family Amusements took it over. Currently, the theatre remains closed but the Victorian Winter Gardens were refurbished during 2002, and in the Autumn of 2003 the first phase of the pier's redevelopment commenced. Of course, there is no guarantee of a long term future for Great Yarmouth Wellington Pier, although it is providing the type of family entertainment that it was always renowned for.