Grand Pier, Teignmouth facts for kids
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| Official name | Grand Pier |
|---|---|
| Type | Pleasure Pier |
| Design | J W Wilson |
| Total length | 212 metres (696 ft) |
| Opening date | 1867 |
| Coordinates | 50°32′41″N 3°29′39″W / 50.5447°N 3.4942°W |
The Grand Pier, also known as Teignmouth Pier, is a cool structure that stretches out into the sea. You can find it in the town of Teignmouth, Devon, England. It's like a long walkway built right over the water! This pier is about 212 meters (or 696 feet) long. An engineer named J. W. Wilson designed it, and it was built between 1865 and 1867.
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Building the Teignmouth Pier
Did you know that many piers were built in England and Wales a long time ago? Between 1814 and 1910, 89 piers were constructed. Today, only about 50 of them are still standing. Teignmouth Pier was built in 1865 by Joseph Wilson. He was an engineering expert from London.
What Was the Pier For?
When it was first built, the pier was mainly a "landing stage." This means its main job was to help steamboat passengers get from their boats to the shore easily. Imagine a big boat pulling up, and you could just walk off onto the pier!
In March 1870, there was a notice in The London Gazette about the company that owned the pier.
How the Pier Was Built
The pier is built using strong cast-iron screw piles. These are like giant screws that are twisted deep into the sand until they reach a firm clay layer. More recently, new steel piles have been added. These go even deeper, about 80 feet, all the way down to the bedrock.
The top part of the pier, where people walk, is called the deck. It's made of wood from a very hard tree called Yellow Balou, which comes from Borneo. This deck was replaced not too long ago, in 2019.
Teignmouth Pier During World War II
During the Second World War, something interesting happened to the pier. A 60-foot section of its deck was removed. This was done so that if German forces tried to invade England, they couldn't use the pier to get to shore. Many piers along the East and South coasts of England had similar sections removed for safety.
The pier owners received money to replace the missing section. However, it took a long time for many piers to be fully repaired. The Grand Pier wasn't brought back to its original width until the early 1960s.
