The 1250 foot pier was opened by the Lord Provost of Edinburgh in 1871. It cost £10,000 and was designed by Mr (later Sir) Thomas Bouch who also engineered the first Tay Bridge.

The pier was initially successful, with attractions including pleasure sailings and a seaward end concert hall. However, the cost of structural alterations and repairs, necessitated by storm damage, caused the pier company to be wound up and sold to a Mr Galloway for just £1,500. It was demolished in 1917.

There were proposals for a new pier from the mid-1920s and a £45,000 scheme was launched in 1939 to give Edinburgh’s seaside resort a 1000 foot pier. However, the outbreak of World War II caused the abandonment of these plans and road signs are now the only indication that a pier ever existed.

June 2015 – Plans for a new Portobello pier
In June 2015, the Big Things on the Beach trust, together with Smith Scott Mullan Architects, showed proposals they had drawn up to create a landmark which would attract beach lovers from across Edinburgh and beyond and incorporate a “multi-function” performance and live events space, together with a cafe, meeting rooms and facilities for sports clubs.

November 2021 – A fascinating insight into 1930s plans for Portobello’s ‘mega pier’
Ambitious plans to build a mighty art deco ‘mega pier’ at Portobello would have seen it become the ‘Brighton of the North’, but the outbreak of war scuppered all hope of regeneration.

National Piers Society

Celebrating Seaside Piers

Portobello

Portobello

Login