Royal Pier, Aberystwyth

The Royal Pier, Aberystwyth is a pleasure pier located in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales. The first pier to open in Wales in 1865, after a series of storm attacks, it is now a much shortened version of its originally constructed length of 242m. ConstructionIn the health conscious Victorian era, Aberystwyth had developed quickly as a holiday resort. Lying at the centre of the West Wales coastline, with Cardigan Bay beyond, it was billed as the "Biarritz of Wales. " Commissioned by a consortium of local business people under the name of the Aberystwyth Pier Promenade Company, the pier was designed and constructed by noted pier-engineer Eugenius Birch, in conjunction with local contractors J. E. Dowson. The structure had iron rod braces, cast iron piles and supporting columns concreted into the rock. Total construction costs were £13, 600. OperationsOpened on Good Friday in 1865, the 242m pier attracted 7, 000 toll paying visitors on its first day of opening, the same day that the Cambrian Railways line from Machynlleth officially opened. However, this was the high point of the pier under its original owners, when seven months later in January 1866, a severe storm washed away a 30m section at the seaward end. The original owners could not afford to replace the lost section, and so sold the pier in 1872. The new owners replaced the lost section with a new 70m thinner section, and built a new head gallery and refreshments stall.

The Royal Pier, Aberystwyth is a pleasure pier located in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales. The first pier to open in Wales in 1865, after a series of storm attacks, it is now a much shortened version of its originally constructed length of 242m. ConstructionIn the health conscious Victorian era, Aberystwyth had developed quickly as a holiday resort. Lying at the centre of the West Wales coastline, with Cardigan Bay beyond, it was billed as the "Biarritz of Wales. " Commissioned by a consortium of local business people under the name of the Aberystwyth Pier Promenade Company, the pier was designed and constructed by noted pier-engineer Eugenius Birch, in conjunction with local contractors J. E. Dowson. The structure had iron rod braces, cast iron piles and supporting columns concreted into the rock. Total construction costs were £13, 600. OperationsOpened on Good Friday in 1865, the 242m pier attracted 7, 000 toll paying visitors on its first day of opening, the same day that the Cambrian Railways line from Machynlleth officially opened. However, this was the high point of the pier under its original owners, when seven months later in January 1866, a severe storm washed away a 30m section at the seaward end. The original owners could not afford to replace the lost section, and so sold the pier in 1872. The new owners replaced the lost section with a new 70m thinner section, and built a new head gallery and refreshments stall.