Promenade along historical seaside fronts, watch cheeky gulls attempt the theft of chips and ice cream cones. The Victorians and Edwardians were famous for another seaside structure the seaside pier, of which three survive in Norfolk. A fourth pier at Hunstanton was destroyed in a winter gale during the 1970’s. The two piers at Great Yarmouth, the Wellington and the Britannia, still entertain visitors today. The idea to build a pier at Gt Yarmouth was suggested as early as 1843, but nothing materialised until 31st October 1853 when the 700-foot-long Wellington pier opened. Designed by P. Ashcroft, it cost the princely sum of £6776. The pier was named after the famous Duke who had died the previous year. The original wooded pier was reconstructed in 1900 and a pavilion added. Its neighbour, the Britannia Pier, was to become embroiled with the struggle for women’s equality. The 810-foot Britannia Pier opened in 1901, complete with pavilion, which was later replaced with a Grand Pavilion which was later replaced after a fire burnt it down. However, its replacement was to meet a similar fate after an arson attack by militant suffragettes Hilda Burkitt and Florence Tunks, both of whom received prison sentences.
Cromer Pier also played a role in women’s suffrage as its was the starting point for the Norfolk branch of the Great Crusade to Hyde Park in 1913. This was the last major protest before the outbreak of World War One and proved to be the turning point for the right for women to vote.
