Building began on this 1760 foot pier in 1891 and it opened on 20th May 1899. The designer was R.St.George Moore. A 1500 seat theatre at the seaward end opened on 3rd April 1901 and there were smaller pavilions for dining, smoking and reading. Ornamental archways carried illuminations. A tramway was used in the construction of the pier in 1899-1901 but was dismantled upon its completion. Construction had cost a record £137,000 and taken 10 years to complete. A pavilion/winter garden was added to the centre of the pier in 1910 followed a year later by a steamer landing stage. The pier was extended in 1938 but was temporarily sectioned as a war precaution in 1940.

After being re-opened after the war, the pier continued to prosper although there were was little significant change until 1973 when a barge being used during demolition of the unused landing stage drifted into the pier causing £100,000 of damage in October 1973. The theatre was closed and the landing stage was wrecked, finally being completely demolished in 1975.

The Noble Organisation took over the pier in March 1984. They dismantled the theatre in 1986, on condition that it would go into storage for eventual restoration. However, it is not now known what happened to the theatre’s remains, which has given rise to protests from the Theatres Trust and other bodies. The site of the theatre is now occupied by a large amusement and pleasure dome.

A £20 million expansion plan announced in 1995 never actually came to fruition although some enhancements, including a Ferris wheel, were introduced. In February 2000, a fire destroyed a number of the amusement rides but new rides were introduced in the summer of that year.
By 2007, several new high ‘thrill’ rides had been introduced, , and new facilities, including a food court,were opened.

The pier continued to thrive under the stewardship of the Noble Organisation, although their decision to rename the pier as simply ‘Brighton Pier’ rather than retaining the full name as ‘Brighton Palace Pier’ was opposed by the National Piers Society.

Then, in a shock announcement made on 30 June 2011, the Noble Organisation revealed that it was putting the pier on the market. The news had been leaked to The Guardian the previous day and was subsequently covered in the rest of the national papers. Purchase by Brighton & Hove Council was quickly ruled out and Leeds-based consultants, GVA Humberts Leisure, were engaged to handle the sale. A worldwide search for prospective buyers was mounted and the asking price was thought to be in excess of £30 million.

At the same time, a campaign was mounted by the local Argus newspaper to have the pier’s name restored to the original ‘Brighton Palace Pier’

Then in October 2012, the pier was taken off the market and the pier’s owners, the Noble Group, said that despite a lot of interest from potential buyers, “… a change in strategy led us to conclude the pier will now form part of the longer term group plans.”

February 2015 – Call for improvements to Brighton Palace Pier
In February 2015, a hard hitting artice in the local press criticised the way the pier had been managed by the tghen owners, the Noble Organisation, and called for them to work with tghe local council and the public to bring about improvements to the pier.

May 2015 – Accident on the pier as decking slat gives way
A young lady was injured in May 2015 when her leg went through the pier decking when one of the slats collapsed beneath her. Megan Wood was taken to the local hospital and was not found to have broken any bones but it was thought might have received some nerve damage. The pier’s General Manager said that an investigation by their health and safety consultant had satisfied them that was an isolated incident, although it was reported that a similar incident had in fact occurred the previous May.

June 2015 – Former pop star seeks that seaside sound
In June 2015, Martyn Ware, former member of the Human League pop group, took part in a unique National Trust/British Library mapping project to capture the sounds of the British coastline. Mr Ware recorded the various different sounds from rides, slot machines and people on the pier and later continued on the beach.

August 2015 – Brighton Palace Pier is officially the fifth most visited free attraction in the country.
In August 2015, Official figures release by VisitEngland showed that Brighton Palace pier was the fifth most visited free attraction in the UK, having attracted 4,5million visitors in 2014.

April 2016 – Brighton Pier sold for £18m to ex-Pizza Express boss
In April 2016, it was announced that Brighton Palace Pier had been sold for £18m to the Eclectic Bar Group, chaired by former Pizza Express entrepreneur Luke Johnson in which the group had entered into a conditional agreement to buy Brighton Marine Palace and Pier Company.

April 2016 – Campaign for the return of ‘Palace Pier’
The Grade II* listed Brighton Marine Palace and Pier, which cost £27,000 to build, opened in 1899 and replaced the old chain pier, dating from 1823. The Eclectic Bar Group announced its acquisition of The Brighton Marine Palace and Pier Company in April. The previous owners had insisted on renaming the pier as just ‘Brighton Pier’ but for many it always remained the ‘Brighton Palace Pier’ Following the change of ownership, hopes were voiced that the new owners would agree to reintroduce the word ‘Palace’ into the piers’s name

April 2016 – A spirited defence of Brighton’s Pier
Also in April, a sneering attack on Brighton’s Pier by the managing director of the city’s Fringe Festival that the pier catered to the wrong class of people, ie. you and me, who like fish and chips, rock and having a jolly time rather than the more highbrow, cultural pursuits, was firmly rebutted in a Guardian article.

June 2016 – An analysis of Brighton Pier Group shares
In June 2016, the Telegraph published a detailed analysis on the likely returns on investments in Brighton Pier Group shares. Their recommendation was to excercise caution pending the results of an underwater survey.

June 2016 – Filming of TV police drama underway at Brighton Palace Pier
Also in June, armed police officers were seen near the Palace Pier, but it turned out to be just filming for the ITV drama The Level.

July 2016 – NPS welcomes Brighton Palace Pier name change
The following month, the National Piers Society welcomed the decision by the new owners to use the original name of the pier, which was changed in 2000. A spokesman for the society said: “We are delighted that the new owners have recognized the strength of feeling demonstrated in the campaign to have the name Palace restored. The previous owners, in a fit of pique, erected the sign Brighton Pier directly facing the West Pier, an action which infuriated local residents and pier historians alike. The society looks forward to working with managing director Anne Martin and her team in this new era for the UK’s most popular pier.”
Entries soon began to flood in to the competition to design a sign for the newly re-named pier.

September 2016 – Brighton Pier owners are back in profit
Eclectic reported a pre-tax loss of £6.2m for the year ending in June 2015, but the annual result published in September 2016 showed a swing to a modest pre-tax profit of £47,000, aided by a £2.3m contribution from its bar division, partly as a result of students mid-week visits.

October 2016 – Fantastic virtual tour of Brighton Pier
Mark Thorley, events and marketing manager for Brighton Pier, narrated the video and shared some of the Pier’s rich history which dates back over 117 years.

November 2016 – Brighton’s Palace Pier reveals plans for the future
In November 2016, ITV News reporter Andy Dickenson had an exclusive interview with the managing director of Brighton Palace Pier, Anne Martin. Anne said that although the heritage aspects of the pier were very important this had to be balanced with the expectations of visitors on what a traditional seaside pier should offer. Investment in maintenance was crucial but the new owners would also be providing new children’s features and developing the restaurant facilities on the pier.

November 2016 – Restoration works begin on Brighton’s Volk’s Railway
Also in November, work began on the major restoration of the Volks Railway which runs along Brighton seafront from the pier to Black Rock. Opened in 1883, it is the world’s oldest electric railway and the first public electric railway in Britain.

January 2017 – Palace Pier set to make a historic return to Brighton!
In January 2017, the new design for the main entrance sign for the pier with the word Palace brought back was finally revealed. The new design was chosen from hundreds of entries. The winning design was by Lucy Williams of Five Ways Brighton, who also created the Open Market sign.

February 2017 – New ride based on the i360 takes off at pier
February 2017 saw the i-220, a new ride based on the i-360 tower, introduced on the Palace Pier. However, this ride would only be taking visitors to the somewhat lower height of eight metres. This would be the first of three new children’s attractions at the pier, including the return of the Dolphin Derby.

February 2017 – New fun bus celebrates pier’s rich history
Also in February, a new brightly coloured bus designed to reflect the attractions on the pier, entered service on a variety of city routes.

March 2017 – Grand plans for Palace Pier revealed as it opens Brighton’s largest soft play area
March 2017 saw an announcement by the new owners of the Palace Pier of their plans to revamp its bars and fish and chip restaurant as part of a long term overhaul of the attraction. Since taking over the pier, they have replaced some older attractions with new features and opened a new soft play area and cafe in The Dome. Further improvements were also planned.

April 2017 – Palace Pier in top 4 of Britain’s top free attractions
In April 2017, in a survey of 1,000 UK adults by National Express, the Palace Pier was voted the fourth most favourite free attraction in the country, behind the Lake District, the Peak District Hills, and Snowdonia.

May 2017 – Pier to have its own walk of fame for stars of music scene
In May 2017, it was reported that the Palace pier would be getting its own Walk of Fame as a tribute to the region’s many musicians, artists, composers and DJs from the early Sixties to the present day. David Courtney, chief executive of Walk of Fame Ltd, said: “It will be a great addition to the city’s culture, allowing the stars of yesterday and today to be paid tribute to in a very public and memorable way.”

August 2017 – Palace Pier Britain’s most visited tourist attraction outside London
In August 2017, the annual survey of visitor attractions conducted by Visit Britain found that the Palace Pier was the most visited tourist attraction outside London, with an estimated 4,650,000 people visiting the pier in the previous year.

September 2017 – Bumper year for Brighton Pier Group
In the company’s first full 12 months of trading since buying The Brighton Marine Palace and Pier Company, chairman Luke Johnson said the iconic landmark benefited from the extensive experience of the Anne Martin-led management team.

October 2017 – Brighton Palace Pier boss wins BACTA Award!
Anne Martin who was made chief executive officer of The Brighton Pier Group plc in June, received the British Amusement Catering Trade Association (Bacta) Community Award.

April 2018 – Putting the Palace back into Brighton Pier!
In April 2018, the owner of the pier, Luke Johnson, who had announced in 2016 that he would return the word Palace to its rightful place in the name of the attraction, released the first images of plans for the new BRIGHTON PALACE PIER sign.

Brighton Palace

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