An excellent venue for education
As well as being a tourist attraction and a place of interest, Clevedon Pier is also a very good site for educational purposes. Subjects include history, geography, geology, art, physics, to name just a few.
School & College Visits
We welcome visits from school and college students from all over the country, even the world!! A guided tour of the pier and the and our heritage collection can be given, by prior arrangement.
Special rates are available for groups of students and teachers/helpers. Please contact the Pier office on 01275 878846, or via enquiries@clevedonpier.com to book your visit and discuss further details. There will be a Health & Safety Briefing to all visitors on the pier, prior to the commencement of any tour.
We encourage children/students to go back home and tell their parents/relatives about their visit to Clevedon Pier and persuade them to come back again, this time with a member of their family!!
Teachers Information
We have a number of pieces of information that may be useful for teachers/lecturers prior to attending the pier, if perhaps, the visit is to be incorporated into a specific project. The following three sections are also available in PDF format for printing as work sheets.
For other resources, see Further Reading at the bottom of this page.
If you require any specific information, please do not hesitate to contact us prior to your visit and we will endeavor to do our best to help you out.
Some interesting facts and figures…
- The deck is made from Opepe, an African hardwood.
- Some of the fish caught from the pier are; Bass, Cod, Conger, Dab, Flounder, Lesser Spotted Dogfish, Pouting, Rocking, Silver Eel, Sole, Tub, Gurnard, Thornback Ray, Turbot and Whiting.
- Ships which dock at the pier are; PS Waverley, MV Balmoral and MS Oldenburg. These ships take on water and supplies, as well as passengers.
- The pier was designed by R.J. Ward and J.W. Grover. Ironwork was by Hamiltons of Liverpool.
- The Toll House was designed by Hans Price.
- The pier is 312 metres long, from the gates to the rails at the end.
- It is constructed of cast iron, wrought iron, steel, wood and glass.
- Average rise and fall of the tide, ordinary spring tide – 14 metres (47 feet), the second highest tide in the world.
- Depth of water at high tide, ordinary spring tide – 16 metres.
- Depth of water at low tide, ordinary spring tide – 2 metres.
- Distance to Cardiff from the pier head – 21 kilometres.
- Distance to Severn Crossing – 18 kilometres.
- It took 60 men, 18 months to build the pier.
- 350 tons of wrought iron was used in the building of the pier.
Clevedon Pier… Fact Sheet
| 1847 | Railway reaches Clevedon offering possible link to South Wales by steamer. |
| 1863 | Application for the construction of a pier at Clevedon. |
| 1866 | Clevedon Pier Company formed with Sir Arthur Elton as Chairman. |
| 1867 | Construction of the pier started, by Hamilton’s Windsor Ironworks of Liverpool. Total cost: £10,000. |
| 1869 | The official opening of Clevedon Pier, on Easter Monday 29th March. |
| 1892 | Original wrought iron pier head was replaced. |
| 1893 | Rebuilt in cast iron and reopened on 3rd April.New timber landing stage added. Regular steamer traffic began at the pier. |
| 1894 | Two storey pavilion and two shelters were completed. |
| 1913 | Pre-cast concrete landing stage was built, to replace original timber one, which was in poor condition. |
| 1950 | Introduction of weight testing to obtain insurance cover. |
| 1970 | The furthest two spans of the pier collapsed during loading test for insurance purposes. Estimate for repairs – £75,000. |
| 1971 | Clevedon Pier Preservation Trust is established on 6th September. |
| 1979 | Application made to demolish. Estimate for restoration – £379,000. |
| 1980 | A public enquiry saves the pier from demolition. Fundraising starts. |
| 1981 | Clevedon Pier Trust Ltd. Is formed. |
| 1985 | Rebuilding started and pier taken down to be restored. |
| 1986 | Pier contractor went in to administration |
| 1988 | Pier Promenade rebuilt. |
| 1989 | Pier re-decked and opened on 27th May |
| 1998 | Restoration of Pier head and pagodas completed and reopened on 25th May |
| 1999 | Pier of the year |
| 2013 | Pier of the year |
| 2014 | Funding secured for >£2m Visitor Centre. |
| 2015 | Work on the new Visitor Centre started. |
Clevedon Pier… A Question of History
- When was Clevedon Pier opened?
- What happened in 1970?
- When was the promenade restored & reopened – 1973, 1989 or 1995?
- Who owns the pier?
- How high can spring tides rise from low water?
- Who sponsored the pier gates?
- On 23rd May 1998 Sir Charles Elton Bt unveiled a plaque. What did it commemorate?
- What is the name of the paddle steamer that sails from the pier?
- How many men did it take to build the pier, and how long did it take them?
- How much wrought iron was used in the building of the pier?
- What is the pier mainly built of?
- What was the role of the Toll House?