PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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The Phoenix Wharf Pier at Plymouth is just outside the limits of Sutton Harbour and is accessible from Madeira Road. It was in December 1889 that Plymouth Corporation agreed to purchase that area of quayside now known as Phoenix Wharf. They paid £4,200 for it plus a further £2,500 for the storehouse on the wharf. At the time it was purchased to store materials for street making and sewerage works but it was made clear that it was intended to use the area to provide a much needed free landing stage. The conveyance of the property was completed in October 1890. In due course Mr G D Bellamy, the borough engineer, prepared plans for the landing stage and in March 1894 the tender of £4,399 12s 6d from Mr George Shellabear was accepted. (The actual cost of the Pier was £4,223, the remainder being for unspecified extras.) The cost of erecting and maintaining the Pier would be around £475 per annum or one-third of a penny on the rates. It was felt that no-one could grumble at such a small sum. The Phoenix Wharf Pier was officially opened by the Mayor of Plymouth, Mr W Law, on Tuesday September 10th 1895. At 11am the Mayor, in full ceremonial regalia and preceded only by the mace bearers, headed a procession of the great and good of Plymouth from the Guildhall to the entrance to the Pier. Among those present were the Town Clerk, Mr J H Ellis; the chairman of the Landing Stage Committee, Mr Percy T Pearce; Alderman William Derry; Councillor A R Debnam; Mr W Paton, the borough surveyor; Captain Pinkham, the harbour master; and representatives of the Sutton Harbour Improvement Company, the Cattewater Commissioners, the Belle Steamboat Company, the Oreston Steamboat Company, the Bangor Castle, and the Saltash Steamboat Company. It was stated that the dimensions of the Pier were 70 feet in length and 45 feet in width. It was built of concrete blocks with the wooden platform projecting beyond, supported on iron columns. On either side were steps which had been taken out into deep water so that passengers could embark and land at all states of the tide. The Pier was approached from Madeira Road by an 8 feet wide, 110 feet long, gangway. Mr C Winnicott was the clerk of works during the construction. After the Mayor had unlocked the entrance gate, the official party boarded the steamer "Eleanor" for a short rip around the harbour before landing again at the Promenade Pier. They then returned to the Guildhall by the Corporation's horse-drawn trams, presumably with the Mayor still fully robed. The Oreston and Turnchapel ferryboats transferred their service from the Barbican to Phoenix Wharf after the ceremony. The first Piermaster at Phoenix Wharf was 34-years-old Mr Thomas Foster. A former seaman, Mr Foster lived at the Pier. He had given the locks on the entrance gate a good oiling before the Mayor opened it so that everything went without a hitch. He remained for nearly 39 years until his retirement on Saturday June 30th 1934. During his time the Pier was used by the many thousands of troops who were stationed at Staddon or Stamford Forts as well as the residents of Hooe, Oreston, Plymstock and Turnchapel. Mr Foster retired to Oreston. Phoenix Wharf still in use today for boat excursions up the River Tamar or to view the Royal Dockyard and (greatly reduced number of) warships.
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