South Pier, Bridlington Harbour, Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire

Summary

Pier and attached slipway forming the southern side of Bridlington Harbour, built to the design of James Walker in 1843-1848.

Description

Harbour installation, 1843-1848 by James Walker, C20 alterations.

MATERIALS: substantial sandstone ashlar blocks.

LAYOUT: the pier forms the southern side of the harbour, extending about 460m westward from below South Cliff Road, the landward end of the pier merging with the upper, western portion of Gummer’s Landing. Extending south westwards to the beach is a slipway. On the harbour (northern) side of the pierhead is a flight of steps down to the harbour bed. Just west of these steps is the 85m long section of the pier widened on the harbour-side in the C20 to accommodate the fish market. A second widening of the pier, a 32m long section also on the northern (harbour) side, is sited half way along the pier.

FORM: both sides of the pier have curving batters, that on the harbour side being smooth-faced, the seaward side being stepped except for the top four courses which forms a wave return coving. The base of the seaward face of the pier, at the western end, is protected by an apron of stone blocks that sweeps round to also protect the base of the slipway. The slipway is mainly surfaced with large granite blocks, this surfacing extending to the landward end of the pier and part of Gummer’s Landing, this latter area extending beyond the boundaries of the listing. On the landward side of the slipway, integral to it, is an early C19 stone ashlar revetment wall that is topped by a C20 concrete revetment including a wave return coving. The seaward face of the pier is topped by a substantial two-course parapet, the lower course forming a raised walkway above the main deck of the pier. About mid-way along the pier, on the harbour side, the pier is widened by about 5m for a length of about 30m, 22m of this being a sheet steel-piled extension to an original stone-built offshot that is still exposed at the west end of the widening. Towards the eastern end of the pier, two further stone offshots are now encased in a further sheet-piled widening to provide a quayside in front of the two storey fish market building that is built on top of the original pier. This building is a steel-framed utilitarian structure, and along with the sheet-piled extensions, is not considered to positively contribute to the special interest of the pier (see below).

FITTINGS: on the pierhead beyond the fishmarket building, arranged to form a right angled triangle, there is a cast iron capstan, octagonal bollard and a rope guide chock. At the landward end of the pier, at the head of the slipway, there is a simple timber post that was used for horse-powered haulage of boats on the slipway.

* Pursuant to s1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’), it is declared that certain features are not of special architectural or historic interest: Gummer’s Landing, although part of the later C19 development of the harbour, is not part of the South Pier and has been extensively altered and built over in the C20. It is not included in the mapped extent of the listing.

The sheet piled widenings to the pier and the fish market building, although materially and stylistically at odds with the historic character of the pier, are now integral to its physical structure. Although they are not in themselves of special architectural or historic interest, they are included in the mapped extent of the listing as changes to them are likely to impact on the pier’s special interest. Other features within the mapped area of the listing which are C20 and later additions such as street lighting, cranes and fuel tanks are not of special architectural or historic interest.

History

Bridlington Harbour
The mouth of the Gypsey Race river is thought to have been used by shipping from antiquity, with owners of the port being known from before the Norman Conquest, and the harbour being documented from 1113 when it was granted to the Augustinian Priory at Bridlington. Taken over by the Crown at the Dissolution, the piers enclosing the harbour were rebuilt in 1538 as rock-filled timber frameworks. Constant erosion by the sea at the landward end of both piers required frequent additions to the structures to reconnect them to the retreating cliffs. A board of commissioners were established by an Act of Parliament in 1697 to take responsibility for the harbour: this board pursued various schemes of rebuilding and improvement. Increased shipping from the tropics brought with it 'ship worm' (Teredo Nevalis) which attacked the structural timbers of the piers: this increased maintenance costs, prompting various remedial schemes, ultimately leading to the C19 reconstruction of the piers using stonework.

By the early C19, Bridlington Harbour was busily engaged in trade, supported a small amount of ship and boat building, and serviced the coastal traffic plied by colliers between the North East and London. Following other Acts of Parliament, construction of the current North Pier started in 1816, to the design of Simon Goodrick, being completed by 1843. Improvements to Crane Wharf, the section of quay adjacent to and west of the root of the North Pier, were included in the same scheme. This work was probably completed by about 1819, being shown on John Wood’s 1828 map of Bridlington. In the first half of the C19, the western end of the harbour saw the development of what became known as Langdale’s Wharf, an area of industrial concerns that have subsequently been redeveloped. The current South Pier was built in 1843-1848 to the design of James Walker on an alignment some 75m to the south of the old pier, following the 1837 Piers and Harbours Act that authorised the doubling of the size of the harbour. Unfortunately it was found that this new alignment meant that the North Pier no longer overlapped the seaward end of the South Pier, resulting in excessive wave energy entering the harbour, making many berths unusable except in very calm weather. This problem was resolved by Sir John Coode in 1866 with the construction of the southern extension to the North Pier. The difficulties with the harbour and the arrival of the railway into Bridlington in 1846 resulted in a marked decline in trade as the export of local agricultural produce switched to the better facilities provided at the port of Hull. The railway however brought increasing numbers of tourists to Bridlington, with the harbour becoming an attraction in itself with the offer of boat trips around the bay. A small coastal fishing fleet also started to develop with small tonnages being landed at Crane Wharf which was modified in the 1870s. Gummer’s Landing, the broad slipway at the west end of the harbour, to the north of the South Pier, was added in 1885, providing further facilities used by the fishing fleet. The stepped timber landing stage at Crane Wharf first added around 1900 (but subsequently rebuilt) was mainly used for boat-tripping tourists.

Developments in the C20 included the Fish Market on the South Pier and the construction of the Chicken Run Jetty on the approximate line of the earlier South Pier. The open framework jetty extending south from the Crane Wharf’s stone jetty was also reconstructed. Most of the northern quayside of the harbour was fronted in sheet steel piling in the 1950s-1960s. The far north western portion of the harbour was infilled in 1998-1999, the outlet of the Gypsey Race being culverted.

South Pier
The South Pier was included in the 1816 plan for the harbour, but construction did not start until after the 1837 Piers and Harbours Act. It was built 1843-1848 to the design of James Walker, employing simpler and cheaper detailing to that which had been used for the North Pier. The three cast iron features on the pierhead (a capstan, bollard and rope guide) are thought to be C19, the capstan being a late C19 addition. In 1932 part of the pier was widened with a timber structure spanning between two original stone offshots on the harbour side of the pier. This allowed space for a fish market and resulted in Bridlington overtaking Flamborough as a fishing port. In the second half of the C20 the market building was rebuilt and the timber widening was extended and replaced with a concrete and a sheet-piled structure, a smaller similar widening being added to a third stone offshot from the pier to the west.

Reasons for Listing

South Pier, Bridlington Harbour, built 1843-1848, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest:

* As one of the two key structures forming Bridlington Harbour which has a long and well documented history, the extensive archive held by the Harbour Commissioners significantly contributing to the special interest.

Architectural interest:

* A well-preserved, impressive piece of C19 harbour engineering retaining some C19 pier fittings;
* An example of the work of James Walker, a nationally notable mid-C19 civil engineer.

Group value:

* With the listed North Pier and Crane Wharf (Grade II).

External Links

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