Mumbles Pier was designed by W. Sutcliffe Marsh and officially opened on 10 May 1898. Pier specialists Mayoh and Haley built the pier to a cost of £10,000, with construction beginning in 1892. Originally 254m long, it was constructed of cast-iron piles supporting a lattice steelwork superstructure with a pitch pine deck. It was commissioned as the terminus for the Swansea to Mumbles Railway (nprn 34832), the first regular passenger rail service in the world, and was the embarkation point for paddle steamer trips to other resorts including those in Devon and Somerset. A lifeboat station and walkway was added at a right-angle to the main pier neck in around 1920. The pier was cut in half during the Second World War as a temporary measure to obstruct any attempts of an enemy landing. The pier was rebuilt from the cast-iron piles upwards in the 1950s at a cost of more than £80,000 and officially re-opened in 1956. Following the closure of the Mumbles Railway, the pier gradually fell into disuse but repair and renovation work has taken place over recent years and will comprise three major phases. The second phase, costing £3.5 million, is scheduled to be completed by summer 2021. A new Mumbles Lifeboat station was opened at the end of the pier in 2014, and current pier oweners, Bert & Fred Bollom, hope period features such as the ornate kiosks and shelters can be re-introduced as part of the restoration work. Mumbles Pier is one of only six surviving iron piers in Wales and is Grade II Listed.

RCAHMW, 30 July 2008.

Updated by Meilyr Powel, RCAHMW. May 2021.