st leonards pier ?

[bigchris]

looking at old pics i noticed a pier at st leonards ?

what happened to it, and where was it ? _ _ _ i am very interested as i used to stay close to the beach at lovat mead when i first discovered hastings_ _ _

thanks, chris

[Felicity]

Hi Chirs.St Leonards Pier was opened by Lord and Lady Brassey in 1891. Its exact location im not sure of but it was around the Warrior Square area but it could have been further west as that would have been awfully close to the Hastings pier.(Sorry, that's not very helpful is it!) The pier was damamged during WW2 and was finally dismantled in 1951.
Make sure you have a good look at Hastings pier because that one will probably be lost to the sea within a few years if the council don't get it sorted.
Anyway, the refererce library in Claremont is great for studying local history and the museum, when it reopens later this year after a 2 year refurb has a study room and hoards of interesting books, photos, directories realting to the towns history.

[crazy_sussex_lad]

Hi, not being picky but I was sure that St Leonards pier was closer to the Royal Victoria hotel.

CSL



Why is "abbreviation" such a long word?

You'll Never Walk Alone

[Felicity]

Hi Crazy, you know im not sure. I've had a look at some old photos but from the angle at which they are taken it's really difficult to tell. I didn't think it was that far west but you may well be right. Scant info on the net about this. Interesting that it was cut in half during the war. But Hastings pier wasn't. it looked far more ornate than Hastings was, even in its hey day.

[Geoff]

Good subject!

I too was fascinated with St Leonards Pier when I first started researching local history for the website. There doesn't seem to be a lot of info on it on the internet at all, but I have written a paragraph or two in the St Leonards History section for anyone who's interested

See http://www.hastingschoice.co.uk/HASTING ... istory.htm

The actual position of the pier was west of the Victoria Hotel by about 50 yards. There is a plaque on the railings of the promenade where it was situated so you can check if you're down that way.

If any of you find anything out that I haven't mentioned in the history bit, I will be glad to add it for everyone to read.

Geoff

[marie_salmon]

Was there are St Leonards pier? 8|

[marcia_diamant]

Sorry to butt in to this discussion, but I believe you are 100% right Geoff.

As a child I lived in St Leonards and I recall that when we first moved down there used to be a large Red Bouy out to see which was there to keep boats away from some undersea wreckage. This would have been in 1956.

[Polseven]

Yes_ _ _
The First section of the pier was cut away by the Army in WW2 to stop Germans using it as a landing pier..It also suffered some bomb damage and was never repaired after the war

[Terry once Again]

Sorry it's such a lousy photo, but this shows the remains of the pier in about 1950 shortly before they were removed. It stood slightly to the west of the Royal Victoria Hotel on the other side of the road (obviously). There's a plaque attached to the sea front railings marking its position.

[Geoff]

Welcome back to the Forum Terry. Great to see you posting again

I found this pic on Britain from Above which shows the (very) damaged St Leonards Pier in 1946.

Damaged St Leonards Pier