Hythe Pier
Author: B Norman
Hythe Pier is a 640 metre long Victorian structure of cast iron and timber. It was built between 1879 and 1881 at a cost £7000.
The pier allowed safer and easier access to the ferries running between Hythe and Southampton.
A 2ft gauge railway was added in 1909 on the northern side for hand propelled trolleys and this was later replaced with the current railway on the Southern side (1922). Brush locomotives were acquired from the Avonmouth gas factory just after WW1.
The cast iron structure has remained mostly intact. The timber moorings and decking have been renewed and modified many times over its life. This link is a 3D model of the pier end support structure detail as it was originally designed.
Date: 1878