Remains Of Pier Wall

SS 22 SW 3/178

HARTLAND HARTLAND QUAY Remains of Pier Wall

GV II

Pier wall. Originally built in late C16 by William Abbott inheritor of Hartland Abbey and its estate, what now survives however is likely to be the work of one of several subsequent rebuildings or repairs throughout the C17, C18 and C19 until 2 severe storms in 1887 and 1896 effected the 2 stage destruction of the pier. Large grounders with stone rubble blocks above. Hartland Quay was probably at its most prosperous during the C18 and early C19 - in 1841 after the damage to its pier-head during gales its owner Lewis William Buck was confident enough of the quay's future to raise £1200 for its repair. However in the 2nd half of the C19 the fortunes of the quay declined, augmented by the arrival of the railway in Bideford in 1855 and the climate of agricultural depression. When therefore further considerable damage was suffered in 1887 Sir George Stuckley refused to rebuild, merely re-facing the stump of the pier and the remainder was swept away in 1896. Already business in the Quay had ceased, with the last ship, the Rosamund Jane, departing in 1893. Source: Hartland Quay - The Story of a Vanished Port: M. Nix and M. R. Myers

Listing NGR: SS2231224806