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.
