Historic jetty used by Nelson to be demolished
A historic jetty that was used by Lord Nelson upon his victorious return from the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801 is to be demolished, after the restoration and maintenance costs were deemed to be too high.
The jetty, which juts out from the Great Yarmouth seafront, has been deemed to have no historical significance in its current form by English Heritage. Great Yarmouth Borough Council has now applied to demolish the unsafe structure, in a process that is likely to cost around £80,000.
The council's tourism representative, Charles Reynolds, said they had taken the decision very seriously indeed, but it would have cost around £300,000 just to restore the structure, and then the operating costs would have put a constant burden on their budget.
"When we applied for planning permission to remove the old jetty I described it as 'like having to put your old dog down'," Mr Reynolds explained. "The final nail in the coffin was when English Heritage said the jetty as it now stands has no historical interest which means any potential funding stream we had to do anything was not available."
English Heritage explained that the jetty is now made up of replacement timber from the 1960s - not the original beams used in its construction in the 16th century, nor any others added to it at other historical times.
