Listed Building record MDO22199 - Old Pier, Swanage

The remains of a timber pier built in 1861 to serve both the stone trade and leisure boats. The pier is visible as a structure on aerial photographs of the 1940s.

The original Swanage Pier was built in 1859 by Mowlem's to a length of 750 feet. It was of timber construction and used for shipping Purbeck stone and as a landing stage for passenger steamers visiting Swanage. It was presumably also used for promenading. According to one source, Swanage Swimming Club made use of the pier up until the 1950s as a diving platform, although it appears on a 1928 Ordnance Survey map (1:2500) as 'disused'. It was replaced by a new pier to the North in 1895 and gradually fell into disrepair. In 2007, all that appeared to remain of the pier on modern digital Ordnance Survey mapping (1:2500) was a few posts. <1-4>
<5>[6]

The remains of a timber pier built in 1861 to serve both the stone trade and leisure boats. The pier is visible as a structure on aerial photographs of the 1940s. A section of the pier was demolished during the Second World War as a defensive measure and this can be seen on aerial photographs of the 1940s. A section measuring approximately 21 m by 8 m was demolished at the landward end of the pier. <6> The original Swanage Pier was built in 1859 by Mowlem's to a length of 750 feet, of timber construction. It was used up until around the late 1920s. It was replaced by a new pier to the north (see 6 020 213) in 1895 (see NMR record for more details). This site was digitally plotted during the South West Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey (Dorset).

<1> Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 scale, 1899 (Map). SWX1197.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 scale, 1902 (Map). SWX1197.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 scale, 1928 (Map). SWX1197.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 scale, 2007 (Map). SWX1197.

<5> Mawson, C, and Riding, R, 2008, British Seaside Piers, 100-101 (Monograph). SDO19011.

<6> Royal Air Force, 14-MAR-1945, RAF 106G/LA194 275-6 (Aerial Photograph). SDO12875.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1457864 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 23 2024 4:52PM