History of

Britain’s shortest-lived pleasure pier at just five years was conceived as part of the Ravenscliff Gardens development by the Pegwell Bay Aquarium and Hotel Company. The Company was formed by James Tatnell, who owned the Clifton Hotel in the village, in 1872 to reclaim six acres of foreshore for the gardens. The aquarium part of the scheme was later dropped, but the Clifton Hotel was enlarged, and in addition to the pier, the gardens were also to house a swimming pool, restaurant, skating rink and photographic studio.
An application was forwarded to the Board of Trade in June 1874 and work began on reclaiming the cove the following year. On 16th September 1879 the Ravenscliff Gardens and Pier were formally opened and a basic entrance fee of 2d was charged to use the gardens and pier, although this was increased to up to 6d for special occasions such as regattas. The pier was a rather fragile structure, 300ft in length, constructed of wood with slender iron supporting columns. A kiosk was placed on the pier head, which also had two small landing stages. However, no evidence has come to light that any vessels ever called there and the gardens and pier were a colossal failure; leading to the failure of the Pegwell Bay Aquarium and Hotel Company within a year of opening.
The Clifton Hotel and Ravenscliff Gardens and Pier passed to the mortgage company (the Sheffield & South Yorkshire Building Society) who leased them in 1880 to John Garratt Elliott, who, as a member of the London Swimming Club, was principally interested in the swimming pool. However he departed in the following year and the mortgage company tried unsuccessfully to sell the development. It appears that in 1883-4 the gardens and pier were leased to Jane Carter at the Belle Vue Tavern (famous for its shrimp paste), but the short and rather sad life of the little pier came to an end on 4th December 1884 when the hull of the wrecked barge Usko drove through the shore end of the structure during a gale. In January and February 1885 the surviving portion of the pier was sold off upon the cliff top.
The gardens eventually came into the hands of the Working Men’s Club & Institute Union, which had utilised the former Clifton Hotel since August 1894. A corner was also used by the Conyngham Café for various entertainments between the years 1894-1908. The swimming pool was filled in in1895 and the gardens steadily over the years became unkempt. They were abandoned by the convalescent home in the late 1960s and are now very overgrown. However, at low tide, the piles of the head of the long-lost pier may still be seen.
A booklet by Martin Easdown about this Kentish resort and its failed attempts to become a watering place to rival neighbouring Ramsgate is available via the NPS Shop webpage. The booklet has a particular emphasis on the development and decline of the Ravenscliff Gardens and Pier during the period 1872 to 1908.

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