Additional funding acknowledges unique restoration challenge of Grade II* Victorian pier, enabling North Somerset Council to award contracts for bridge work.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund has granted an additional £5.54m to North Somerset Council to save Birnbeck Pier, acknowledging the unique challenge and urgent need to preserve the Grade II* listed Victorian structure.
The pier has been on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk register since 1998. Designed by Victorian engineer Eugenius Birch and constructed between 1862 and 1867, is one of only six Grade II* listed piers in England and the only pier in the UK to link to an island. It closed to the public in 1994 for safety reasons.
The additional investment, which supplements the Heritage Fund’s initial £10m commitment from October last year, was required to enable the restoration project to proceed. The funding will restore the bridge of the pier structure as part of the wider regeneration project for Weston-super-Mare.
Eilish McGuinness, chief executive of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said 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 UK Government to make this project happen.”
The funding proved critical for the project’s viability. Following a North Somerset Council’ meeting on 16 September, the project was agreed to proceed thanks to this additional support, with contracts for work on the pier structure now being awarded.
The Heritage Fund’s additional investment joins previously announced funding of £5.4m from the UK government, £3.55m from the National Heritage Memorial Fund through the UK government Cultural Assets Fund, and £1m from Historic England.
Lou Brennan, director of regions at Historic England, said Birnbeck Pier was “one of England’s most distinctive and vulnerable coastal landmarks” and additional funding “marks a vital step towards securing its future”.
“Alongside the wider restoration, we are proud that our Heritage at Risk Capital Fund is supporting the repair of the historic Toll House at the pier entrance — an important gateway that will once again welcome volunteers, locals and visitors.”
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