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Brighton West Pier (Drone filming)

Brighton West Pier

A ruin by the coast of Sussex in Brighton was once a  pleasure pier; now, a skeleton of history left as a decaying monument.  You will notice the landmark monument when leaving Brighton Station and heading to the Sussex coastal line. It becomes an object of wonder once you are by the sea.  


History in summary

It was designed by Eugenius Birch, a renowned nineteenth-century seaside architect, civil engineer and expert in designing seaside piers and created in the 1860s to attract tourists to Brighton after the arrival of the railway to the city in the 1840s.


The number of visitors peaked just before the First World War when it attracted nearly 2 million per year. After the Second World War, its popularity declined. Once, a place of concerts was replaced by funfairs and tea rooms. Its future was looking bleak. A local company later took over the ownership of it, but the firm filed for bankruptcy due to the sheer cost of maintaining it.  Since then, it has fallen into disrepair and gradually began to collapse. The main section of the pier fell into the sea during a series of storms in late 2002, and on top of that, it faced two separate fires that nailed its fate. 


The English Heritage declared the pier as beyond repair.  In 2010, structural demolition took place and then paved the way for i360 to be the prime attraction of Brighton. 


Current times

According to West Pier Trust, which owns the rights to the pier, states that the pier is 'unstable, ...unsafe and liable to collapse….In the seabed, many sharp obstructions could cause serious injury. Often they are beneath the water and not visible.'


From a bird's eye view, the above video (completed filming in June 2023) will give you a feel of the current state of the pier.

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