Packed house hears extraordinary history of pier
13/11/09Over 200 people crammed into the Ballroom at the Queen's Hotel yesterday evening to hear a leading historic building specialist describe the South Pier of Penzance harbour as one of the most important historic structures in Cornwall.
Nick Cahill, author of the Penzance Harbour South Pier “Historic Building Analysis”, presented his report and answered questions from the audience. The Historic Building Analysis is part of the documentation that accompanies the Cornwall Council application for "listed building consent" in respect of plans to build on Battery Rocks beach. It is an up-to-date and comprehensive assessment of the South Pier’s heritage status.
Amongst other things the report concludes that the South Pier should be elevated from it’s current Grade II listing to at least Grade II*, which would place it among the top 8% of historic buildings nationally.
If Cornwall Council proceeds with plans to build on Battery Rocks beach the scheme will encase the most historically sensitive parts of the pier in concrete, entirely and permanently obscuring them from view. The plans also include the demolition of sections of the parapet wall to allow lorry access to the proposed new freight handling facility.
The deadline for objections to the application for listed building consent is November 19th. Help with objecting can be downloaded from our home page; see “How to Help” document in the “Materials” section.
Historic Building Analysis : download pdf | view pdf
Slides from the presentation