How a Victorian pier is being saved from the sea after decades-long fight

On Tuesday, councillors looked set to cancel the restoration of a crumbling Victorian pier when news broke of some 11th hour funding from the National Lottery Heritage fund.

More than 30 years after it closed, Birnbeck Pier had been saved.

In its heyday, the 19th Century pier hosted funfair rides and drew crowds of visitors who stopped off in Weston-super-Mare on pleasure steamers.

It opened in 1867 and was visited by millions before safety concerns saw the pier closed in 1994.

Since then it has been battered by storms, partially collapsed into the sea, and become too unsafe for the former resident RNLI lifeboat crews to use.

After multiple failed attempts, the latest funding announcement means Birnbeck’s restoration is set to go ahead – but it has been a long journey to get to this moment.

Birnbeck – also known locally as ‘The Old Pier’ – is the only pier in the UK to link to an island, connecting Weston-super-Mare with a small, rocky piece of land known as Birnbeck Island.

The pier was a popular attraction until it was taken over during World War Two and used for weapons testing.

When it reopened after the war, visitor numbers declined and the last steamer visited Birnbeck Island in 1979.

The council had secured more than £20m for the project from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the government, the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Historic England.

In September 2024, the RNLI published plans to return to Birnbeck Island, and offered £5m towards the project. However, in June 2025, the lifeboat charity pulled out of the scheme.

The RNLI’s chief executive Peter Sparkes said the pier would present an “unacceptable ongoing financial risk” for the charity.

The council faced having to plug the shortfall itself, and a report earlier this month recommended the restoration plans should be scrapped, as the amount needed was too much for it to afford.

But just as councillors were about to vote to abandon the restoration, the National Lottery stepped up to provide the money.

Councillor Mike Bell, leader of the council, said: “We had a setback earlier in the summer, but we promised to work right up until the eleventh hour to try to find a solution, and I am delighted our efforts have paid off.

“We are incredibly grateful to The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

“Put simply, this lifeline has saved the day. Without it, the future of Birnbeck Pier would have been in real danger.”