Type | Passenger steamer landing stage; tourist attraction |
---|---|
Carries | Steamer passengers; tram; pedestrians |
Locale | East Kent |
Official name | Herne Bay Pier |
Owner | 1899−1909 Herne Bay Pavilion Pier and Promenade Co 1909−1974 Herne Bay UDC 1974− Canterbury City Council |
Toll | 2d (1899) → 1s 6d (1968) |
Characteristics | |
Total length | 3,787 feet (1,154 m) |
History | |
Constructor | Head Wrightson & Co of Thornaby-on-Tees |
Opening date | Easter 1899 |
Closure date | 11 January 1978 |
Coordinates | 51°22′20″N 1°07′14″E / 51.37222°N 1.12056°E |
Herne Bay Pier was the third pier to be built at Herne Bay, Kent for passenger steamers. It was notable for its length of 3,787 feet (1,154 m) and for appearing in the opening sequence of Ken Russell's first feature film French Dressing.[1] It was destroyed in a storm in 1978 and dismantled in 1980, leaving a stub with sports centre at the landward end, and part of the landing stage isolated at sea. It was preceded by two piers: a wooden deep-sea pier designed by Thomas Rhodes, assistant of Thomas Telford, and a second shorter iron version by Wilkinson & Smith.