The origin of the name Birnbeck is unknown but may take the 'beck' from the Scandinavian word 'bekk', a bench in literary Old Norse. Alternatively Birnbeck could be from the Old Irish 'berna bec', a 'little gap' because of the narrow channel separating the island from Worlebury Hill.. The rock is
limestone, giving rise to the geological term "Birnbeck Limestone Formation". Prior to the construction of the pier, Birnbeck Island could be accessed by a natural causeway at low tide. A proposal was made in 1845 to connect Birnbeck Island to the mainland at the western end of
Worlebury Hill. Work commenced on a
suspension bridge two years later under a design by
James Dredge, architect of the
Victoria Bridge in
Bath. He patented the
taper principle based on using chains rather than cables, as is more common in
suspension bridges. Dredge's bridge design was considered "a very significant yet relatively short-lived phase in suspension bridge development". During a strike by stonemasons, what little had been built was damaged during a storm, bringing about the end to the suspension bridge scheme.
Construction In 1864, a new proposal was made to build a pier across to the island, funded by 2,000 shares which raised £20,000. Cecil Hugh Smyth Pigott, the four-year-old son of the lord of the manor, laid the foundation stone on 28 October 1864 when a public holiday was declared in the town and a celebratory dinner was held in the town hall. The main pier was originally long, and it is wide with a
cantilever construction. However the low water jetty was damaged in a storm in 1903, rebuilt in 1909 and finally dismantled in 1923 meaning that the pier is now long, Due to architectural features such as abutments at either end of the pier, the pier resembles a bridge more than other pleasure piers. Fifteen groups of piles support a continuous lattice girder, each set comprising four piles screwed into the river bed at an angle with an X-brace between each adjacent pair. The fitting of screw blades to iron piles, as opposed to the then accepted wooden pile, created a deeper and far more resilient base support. This was one of the innovations brought by
Eugenius Birch which have enabled many of the piers he designed to survive. There were problems with oscillations in the structure when bands marched on the pier, both on the opening day and again in 1886. As a result, further horizontal cross braces were added to the piles, and a law was passed banning marching on the pier. The gothic toll house and pierhead buildings were designed by local architect
Hans Price. To allow
steamers to bring
day trippers to Weston-super-Mare from ports on both the English and Welsh side of the Bristol Channel, a landing jetty was extended on the west side of the island. The Severn Estuary has the second highest tidal range in the world second only to the
Bay of Fundy in
Eastern Canada. The estuary's funnel shape, its tidal range, and the underlying geology of rock, gravel and sand, produce strong tidal streams and high
turbidity, giving the water a notably brown colouration. The tidal range means that the legs of the pier are largely exposed at low tide and hidden at high tide.
Operation When the pier opened on 5 June 1867, again by Cecil Hugh Smyth Pigott, many of the people of Weston-super-Mare were given a holiday and a banquet was held in the Town Hall. The toll to walk on the pier was 1d (an
old penny), but this was quickly raised to 2d, which was the maximum fee permitted by the
General Pier and Harbour Act 1861 (
24 & 25 Vict. c. 45). 120,000 people paid the toll in the first three months. A tramway system was installed to carry the luggage of passengers arriving at the pier. A second pier, known as the "
Grand Pier", was opened in the centre of Weston-super-Mare in 1904. Although it had the capacity to accommodate steamers, it was seldom used due to difficult currents around the structure. An electric
tram along the seafront ran to and from the pier approach road at Birnbeck. Many visitors arriving on the steamers never left the pier and Birnbeck Island which between them housed the cafe, pavilion, amusements and funfair. These were destroyed by fire on 26 December 1897 and replaced by the present buildings, although these have been altered over the years. The attractions included
Mutoscopes, a shooting gallery,
merry-go-round, park swings, a theatre of wonders and a licensed bar. In 1891 a telephone was installed only six months after the first one was installed in the town. In 1909, the amusement area was expanded by an extension on iron supports along the south side of the island. However, this was not built to the proper specifications so was demolished in 1912; a larger concrete platform was added in its place in 1932. The pier was taken over by the
Admiralty in 1941 as an outpost of the
Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development (DMWD). It was commissioned as HMS
Birnbeck and was used for secret weapons development and storage with testing. The "
bouncing bomb" was tested at the
Brean Down Fort on the opposite side of
Weston Bay. After the war, the pier resumed its role as a tourist attraction, but business declined due to competition from the
Grand Pier which opened its amusement arcades in 1946. In 1962 the Birnbeck Pier Company sold the pier to P & A Campbell, the steamer operators. The pleasure "steamers"
PS Waverley and
MV Balmoral still operate in the Bristol Channel, but any calls at Weston are made by a connecting tender from Knightstone Harbour.
Dereliction In 1984, £1 million of damage was caused to the pier by drifting equipment during engineering work in
Sand Bay, to the north of the pier. The damage was quickly repaired, despite fears that Birnbeck might become like nearby
Clevedon Pier, which at the time was severed by a collapsed span. In 1999, the lifeboat station installed a walkway across the pier to allow them safe access to the island, at a cost of £20,000. In 2006 the pier was sold to
Manchester company
Urban Splash. The new owners and the
Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) launched a competition in August 2007, inviting people to submit ideas for the regeneration of the pier and island. At the time, the repair work required was estimated at £4 million. There were 95 entries for the competition from around the world. Architect
Antonino Cardillo's design included the existing buildings and added a large curvilinear concrete building to the island. The design called for many windows in the building to create a large panorama of the surrounding seascape. The winner of the design competition, Levitate Architecture and Design Studio Ltd, was announced in March 2008. The winning design included a dozen luxury apartments and a 50-room hotel. In September 2010 Urban Splash placed the pier up for sale, citing a downfall in business caused by the recession as their reason. In September 2011 Wahid Samady and Michael Ross were reported to have bought Birnbeck Pier for an undisclosed sum; Samady had also been awarded planning permission for a new development at the nearby Royal Pier Hotel site, just yards from the pier. In August 2012 further reports suggests the sale had not proceeded and that Urban Splash were still the owners. It was bought by CNM Estates of which Wahid Samady is chairman and Michael Ross is a director in 2014. In 2015 the
Victorian Society included the pier on its list of the ten most endangered buildings. Part of the north pier collapsed during storms on 30 December 2015. In May 2019, Neil and Ryan Andrews were each sentenced at
Bristol Crown Court to 18 months imprisonment for the attempted theft of the clock face from the pier's tower. The judge, noting that the tower and clock had survived the 1897 fire, an attack by the
Luftwaffe and an accidental mine attack, said the damage caused was "highly visible and irreparable" and that the Andrews "will always be known as the two men who destroyed the history; it was vandalism and theft for greed".
Restoration plans In February 2020, North Somerset Council started a compulsory purchase order on the pier. In November 2021, it was announced that CNM Estates had agreed to sell the pier to the council. The council bought the pier in July 2023, with the intention of repairing and restoring it, allowing the lifeboat station to relocate back to Birnbeck Island. Architects and engineers were appointed in September 2023. Restoration work was planned to be carried out in phases between 2024 and 2027 and was to be funded by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), the government's levelling-up fund, the National Heritage Memorial Fund, Historic England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The RNLI withdrew from the project in June 2025 due to concerns over funding. A planning application for the first phase (repairs and alterations to buildings at the landward end) was submitted in April 2024, and work had started on the island by October 2024. In early September 2025, the council announced that the restoration attempt had failed following the RNLI’s withdrawal, stating that no further work would resume for the foreseeable future. At the same meeting, councillors voted to award the contract for the restoration of the pier structure to Mackley, a specialist marine and heritage contractor. Work on the pier structure is scheduled to begin by the end of 2025 and is expected to be completed by late 2026. ==Weston Lifeboat Station==