On the 14th May 1829, the first Pier Act (Geo.IV, Cap. xlix) received the Royal Assent. On the following 25th July the then Lord Mayor of London, Sir William Thompson MP, laid the foundation stone of the first section of the Pier, which was built of wood, and was opened in June 1930. A further section was constructed in March 1834 (William IV Cap Xc) and the Pier was first marked on the Admiralty charts in 1835. On the 29th March 1887, a further Act of Parliament authorized the reconstruction of the Pier in iron, together with an electric railway thereon, which was opened in 1889 at a total cost of £80,000. The work of doubling the electric railway was completed in 1931 at a cost of £35,000.

In 1895, the Pier Extension was constructed at a cost of £22,000 and further improvements have from time to time been carried out thereon at a cost of £40,000. The Prince George Extension on the east side (length 326 feet) was constructed at a cost of £58,000 and was opened by HRH the Duke of Kent in 1929. The total length of the steamer berths on the south side of the Pier is 540 feet, and is sufficient to accomodate two large pleasure steamers and four small ones. The centenary of the Pier undertaking was celebrated on July 23rd 1935, when Lord Ritchie of Dundee, chairman of the Port of London Authority, unveiled a bronze tablet on the Pier Head enclosure recording the fact.

Grand promenades and lounge decks. Deck area. 30,000 sq. feet. Accommodation for 5,000 persons. Comfortable deck chairs. Bracing air. Sun parlours and shelters affording protection during inclement weather. High-class refreshments served on upper and lower decks.

Taken from The War Story of Southend Pier by A. P. Herbert (1945)

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Published on: 2005-02-23 (2099 reads)