Brighton Palace Pier

The Brighton Marine Palace and Pier is a pleasure pier in Brighton, England.

Palace Pier

Generally known as the Palace Pier before being unofficially renamed by its current owners as Brighton Pier in 2000 (a change not recognised by the National Piers Society), it was begun in 1891 and opened in May 1899 after costing a record £137,000 to build. A concert hall opened two years later. By 1911 this had become a theatre, but it was later controversially removed, under an understanding that it would be replaced. This never happened, and the present seaward end building looks fairly modern in comparison with the rest of the structure.

It was Brighton's third pier. A condition to be met by its builders, in exchange for permission to build, was that the first, The Royal Suspension Chain Pier of 1823, which had fallen into a state of disrepair, was to be demolished. They were saved this task by a storm which largely destroyed the Chain Pier.

Recent history

Brighton Pier suffered a large fire on 4 February 2003 but the damage was limited and most of the pier was able to reopen the next day. This was a fraught period for Brighton's piers, with much damage occurring to the West Pier (of 1866) shortly before and after this event.

In 2004 the current owners, the Brighton Marine Palace Pier Company (owned by the Noble Organisation), admitted an offence of breaching public safety under the Health and Safety at Work Act and had to pay fines and costs of £37,000 after a fairground ride was operated with part of its track missing. Judge Nicholas Ainley, passing sentence at Hove Crown Court, said that inadequate procedures were to blame for the fact that nothing had been done to alert staff or passengers that the ride would be dangerous to use.

In 2005 the pier was raided by police and immigration officials searching for illegal foreign workers and several people were taken away.

Popular culture

The pier features in the 1971 film, Carry On at Your Convenience, and is frequently shown iconically to "set" film and television features in Brighton.

Palace Pier is also the title of a novel by Keith Waterhouse set in Brighton

Awards

• 1998 National Piers Society - Pier of the Year

External links

• Brighton Pier official site