The Prince Of Wales Pier

The Prince of Wales Pier, Dover Harbour

This harbour pier was designed by Sir John Coode, KCMG (1816-1892) in 1890-92 and completed after his death by the firm Coode, Son and Mathews. The foundation stone was laid on 20 July 1893 by Edward, Prince of Wales, after whom the pier was named. Construction was completed on 31 May 1902 by the contractors Sir John Jackson Ltd. The pier was built by the Dover Harbour Board to provide shelter to the east side of the harbour and to offer berths for cross-Channel steamers and transatlantic liners. When the Admiralty Harbour was completed in 1909, the Prince of Wales Pier became an inner pier. By 1905 a railway track ran along it, connecting with projecting shipping berths.

The pier extends 2,910 feet in length. The entrance section at the landward end and the seaward half are constructed of stone with granite coping. The intermediate section is built on a framework of cast iron trestles on screw piles with lattice girders, though this material is now concealed beneath later twentieth-century concrete on the western side and later piling on the eastern side.

The curved entrance section features cast iron railings with ornate end piers decorated with rosettes and knops, simpler intermediate posts, and horizontal rails. Later twentieth-century cast iron pedestrian and vehicle gates stand at the landward end in traditional style. On the north east side of the landward half are original cast iron railings and thirteen lamp standards bearing the shield of the Dover Harbour Board, with shafts featuring bulbous bases and anthemion decoration. The northern part of the western side is now concealed behind reclaimed land from the former Hoverport Terminal built in 1978, with original railings replaced by tall concrete panels.

At the start of the eastern half of the pier stands a granite plinth with a base and moulded cornice of white granite and the remainder in pink granite. A panel commemorates the opening of the pier and lists the names of the engineers, contractors, and members of the Dover Harbour Board. Along the eastern half, the stone structure with granite coping is visible on both sides and at the end. A further thirteen lamp standards are positioned here. The seaward end terminates in a circular terminus with a flight of granite steps and cast iron cleats supporting a painted granite tapering lighthouse. The lighthouse features a moulded plinth, moulded cornice with handrail, a cylindrical lantern, and is surmounted by a metal weathervane.

The pier survives substantially intact with its end lighthouse, cleats, steps, iron railings, and lamp standards, although the projecting shipping berths have been removed. The 1970s shelters and 1990s cafeteria are not of special interest. Ordnance Survey maps show the pier partially completed in 1898 with three shipping berths on each side, and fully completed by 1907.