The West Pier in Brighton was constructed in 1866 by Eugenius Birch. Birch was a nineteenth-century English naval engineer, architect and builder of piers. Apart from the West Pier in Brighton, which he built in 1866, he is also credited with building the Hastings Pier, another pleasure pier in Hastings, East Sussex in the United Kingdom.

The Hastings Pier opened on August 5, 1872. The West Pier has been closed since 1975 and has been deteriorating ever since. It has been awaiting renovation for over three decades now. The West Pier is only one of two piers in the United Kingdom that has been graded one, the other being the Clevedon Pier in the town of Clevedon, which is located on the English side of the river Severn’s estuary. The West Pier is also one of three piers in the southeastern English town of Brighton, the others being the Royal Suspension Chain Pier of 1823 and the Brighton Pier of 1899.