Cromer’s 124-year-old pier (pictured) is a symbol of the North Norfolk town’s Victorian heyday as one of Britain’s most elegant and attractive seaside destinations. The pier Is unique in hosting the only remaining end of the pier show in the world.
And Cromer holds a special place in memories of family holidays, sand and sun with a trip on the pier central to those emotions.
The Victorian trend of ‘taking the waters’ to benefit from sea-bathing coincided with the coming of the railways. It saw Cromer boom.
New promenades and new hotels were built in Cromer to cater for visitors between 1899 and 1901 - along with a fashionable new pier.
And the new on-trend Cromer attracted notable visitors of the day such as the poet Lord Tennyson, author and playwright Oscar Wilde, politician Lord Curzon, J.M. Barrie creator of Peter Pan, and a young Winston Churchill.
Cromer’s popularity as a fashionable destination peaked in the early 1900s and the town evolved into a haven for family holidays after the Second World War in 1945.
It is still a traditional, busy and popular seaside resort. It is perched on top of cliffs overlooking the North Sea with blue flag beaches and retains its classic Victorian architecture.
Cromer, famed for Its sweet-tasting Cromer crab, retains a fishing fleet which has worked the North Sea for generations. The fleet still provides visitors with shellfish and the staple for traditional fish and chips.
Cromer ‘s iconic Grade II listed pier juts 496 feet into the North Sea. It was voted Pier of the Year 2024 and has now won the coveted Pier of the Year award for a record third time.
It is one of 55 piers remaining around Britain from more than 100 built during Victorian times. Surviving piers remain all round the UK coast, from Cromer to Llandudno in Wales and Ryde in the Isle of Wight to Saltburn in Yorkshire.
They are impressive feats of engineering built with the sea surging and sweeping beneath them. More than that, they are unique places of both entertainment and peace for holidaymakers all year round.
Cromer’s pier, opened in 1901, offers stunning views of the town and sunsets over the sea. It is also home to Cromer ‘s RNLI lifeboat station and the 510-seat Pavilion Theatre with its traditional family variety shows, restaurant and bar. The booking office is open daily from 10am on 01263-512495.
Its show has run for some 50 years and has received five star reviews as must-see entertainment for the whole family with dancing, music, comedy, song and all the elements of a traditional variety show.
The pier itself has survived storms, tempest and ships crashing into it. But each time it has bounced back to offer entertainment, fresh air, fishing and crabbing spots.
The pier is Cromer’s most famous landmark standing proudly below the Cromer cliffs and the Hotel de Paris where Oscar Wilde stayed in 1892. The pier offers unrivalled views of Norfolk’s coastline looking east or west.
There are records of the town having a pier in 1391 - though it was no more than a jetty. In 1822 a 210feet (64m) cast iron structure was built but it lasted just 24 years before it was destroyed in a storm. It was replaced by another wooden structure but this time it was a little longer being 240 feet (73 m). This soon became very popular for promenading. A keeper was employed to keep order; there were strict rules applied including no smoking, and ladies were required to retire by 9pm. The last wooden pier survived until 1897, when it was damaged beyond repair after a coal boat smashed into it. It was dismantled and the timber sold for £40.
For some time Cromer was without a pier but in 1901 a new pier 450 feet (140 m) long was completed and opened to the public. It cost £17,000 to build. Today it would cost more than £2.6million.
In its early years the pier consisted of glass-screened shelters and a bandstand at the end of the pier.
Storms damaged the pier in 1949, 1953, 1976 and 1978 before gales destroyed the pier’s amusement arcade in 1990. The arcade was never replaced.
Further calamity followed in 1993 when a 100 ton rig crashed through the pier cutting off the theatre and lifeboat station from the land. Major reconstruction work and improvements costing hundreds of thousands of pounds have followed over the last 30 years.
The pier pavilion was re-opened after extensive renovations by Norfolk-born actor Stephen Fry in June 2004, but the pier suffered further storm damage again early in 2005.
More storm damage followed a tidal surge in December 2013 and six people had to be rescued from the pier after becoming marooned when the tidal surge battered the pier.
The box office for the Pier Pavilion Theatre was destroyed in a storm but the debris was cleared and repairs completed in time for the Cromer Pier Christmas Show. Further upgrades took place in January 2023.
The pier, which is open 24 hours a day, is owned by North Norfolk District Council which has invested more than £6million over the last 20 years to protect the pier’s future.
The pier has also been home to the town’s RNLI lifeboats since 1923. The RNLI is an important part of the Cromer community and its ties with the fishing industry which has worked all along the North Norfolk coast. Cromer lifeboatman Henry Blogg, a man who could not swim, was the most famous lifeboatman in England. He was famed for his lifesaving achievements
Henry Blogg was the coxswain at Cromer for 38 years and is the most decorated lifeboatman in the history of the RNLI. In a staggering 53-year career he and his crew saved 873 lives, more than anyone else.
He was born in 1876 in Cromer and joined the crew in a rowing lifeboat when aged 18. He retired as coxswain at the age of 74 - ten years beyond statutory retirement age for lifeboatmen - having been awarded the Royal National Lifeboat's gold medal for gallantry three times, the silver medal four times, the George Cross and the British Empire Medal.
Today you can visit three places to learn about the Cromer lifeboat and its history. The first is the lifeboat station at the end of the pier. You can walk around a viewing platform to see the all-weather lifeboat ready to react to an emergency at sea.
The second place is in the “old” lifeboat house on the gangway, which houses the inshore lifeboat, a much smaller and faster boat which can get much closer to the shore and the cliffs around Norfolk.
And lastly there is the Henry Blogg Museum on Cromer’s promenade which charts his life and achievements. Cromer attracts thousands of visitors to this quintessential Norfolk seaside town every year. Its iconic pier is free to visit all year and in all weather.
No wonder the pier is the most featured scene appearing in countless paintings, postcards, and holiday snaps of Cromer.
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