Famous UK seaside town's Victorian pier gets £5.5m boost to restore it to former glory

A funding boost has saved the restoration of a historic Victorian pier Western-super-Mare in North Somerset. National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) delivered a £5.5million funding gap to restore Birnbeck Pier as councillors were expected to vote to cancel the project last month.

After the surprise funding was confirmed, councillor Mark Canniford said he was "delighted" to announce it, telling a local authority meeting: "We made a promise to work right up until the last minute." Originally, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) planned to provide the funding to return its Weston-super-Mare lifeboat station to Birnbeck Island. But the RNLI pulled their funding in June citing viability concerns. Instead of voting to scrap the project, councillors voted to accpet the new funding. The RNLI gave the council the £400,000 it needed to purchase the pier in 2023.

Chair of the council, Clare Hunt, said: "This is not just a local issue. This has got this money because it is of national importance."

The NLHF said the "transformational project" will help regenerate the landscape of the town for generations.

Chief executive, Eilish McGuiness, said: "Birnbeck Pier is a unique part of our coastal heritage that has been at risk of loss for over 25 years. The additional grant reflects our commitment to saving heritage at risk and investing in the communities it belongs to.

"We know that any major project and investment of this scale will have risks, but we are committed to working collaboratively with North Somerset Council, Historic England and the UK Government to make this project happen."

The National Lottery initially gave the pier £10million in 2024 to help bring it "back from the brink of loss".

Opened in 1867, it is the only pier in the UK that links the mainland to an island - Birnbeck Island, a small, rocky island about a small, rocky island about three acres in size.

Originally, the pier once featured amusements, shops, and entertainment facilities.

Over time, however, it fell into disrepair, suffering storm damage and closures. Today, it is in a derelict state and considered one of the most at-risk Victorian structures in the UK.

There have been ongoing campaigns to restore and reopen it, with hopes of preserving its heritage and reviving it as a local attraction.