Worthing Pier

From beach holidays to birdman competitions, Worthing Pier has been collecting delightfully absurd stories since its construction over a century ago. Since 2018, this Victorian marvel has also become a beacon for Worthing Pride, proving that some gathering places just get more fabulous with age.

Designed by Sir Robert Rawlinson and opened in 1862, the pier cost £6,500 to build—a bargain considering the entertainment value it would provide. Within decades, it was witnessing everything from massive storms (hello, “Easter Island” nickname after 1913’s dramatic decking disaster) to WWII sabotage, when authorities blew a 120-foot hole in their own pier to thwart potential Nazi invasion plans. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.

But perhaps the pier’s most serendipitous moment came in 1894, when a certain Oscar Wilde was penning “The Importance of Being Earnest” during his Worthing holiday. Yes, the man who gave us “A handbag?!” literally named his protagonist John Worthing after this seaside town. Meanwhile, a four-year-old named Archie Miles was accidentally stowing away on a steamship from the very same pier, creating Victorian England’s most adorable missing person case.

Today, as rainbow flags flutter past those same Victorian railings during Worthing Pride, there’s something beautifully poetic about the full circle. The pier’s “Windows on the Pier” project now features over 200 colored glass panels that literally make the structure glow every color of the rainbow when sunlight streams through—a not-so-subtle wink to how far we’ve come since Wilde’s era.

These days, when thousands of Pride parade participants pass those same Victorian railings, it’s just another chapter in the pier’s long tradition of bringing communities together—though admittedly, one with significantly better music and far fewer accidental stowaways.