The Prince of Wales Pier c.1905.
The Prince of Wales Pier was named
after Edward VII who, when Prince of Wales, laid the
foundation stone in 1892.
The landward end of the pier was
a lattice work of iron, as is commonly associated
with Victorian seaside piers, this connected with
the seaward end which was built of stone and provided
with berths for shipping on either side. These berths
were capable of accommodating some of the largest
ships then afloat as they had a depth of 40 feet even
at low tide.
The pier opened in 1902 and in 1905
a railway track was laid along it to connect with
the berths. For a brief period (1903-1906) Dover was
a port of call for German liners on their way to New
York. Unfortunately as the outer harbour was nearing
completion, and the gap between the Southern Breakwater
and the Admiralty Pier
was narrowing, the currents through the newly formed
western entrance made handling these large vessels
difficult. On one occasion the Hamburg-Amerika line's
"Deutschland" crashed into the pier.
In the mid-1970's work started to
replace the open ironwork section with a solid pier.
The harbour to the west of this section was reclaimed
for the building of the new hoverport, which opened
in 1978. In 1993 a catamaran
berth was built alongside the pier as part of the
Hoverport complex.
