Roker Pier: A happy 140th birthday to one of Sunderland's most loved landmarks

It is one of the city’s most photographed structures and Roker Pier has seen some of the biggest events in Wearside history.

Blocks weighed up to 45 tons

Built between 1885 and 1903, the pier and its lighthouse were hailed a triumph of engineering.

It was the brainchild of Henry Hay Wake, who was Chief Engineer with the River Wear Commissioners, and it was built using granite-faced blocks, each weighing up to 45 tons.

Its original lantern was gas powered and said to be visible 15 miles out to sea.

In 2018, readers of The Guardian put the Grade II-listed pier up alongside piers in California, Western Australia, Thailand, Cuba, South Africa, Holland, two piers in Poland and closer to home, Clevedon in Somerset as their favourites.

It inspired a musical piece

It ranked in the top 10 of piers in the world as was hailed at the time as ‘a gem’.

That same year, the sight of 50 ships leaving Wearside as they sailed out to sea was seen as the Sunderland leg of The Tall Ships Races came to a close.

Watching them were massive crowds which packed into Roker, Seaburn, the riverside, the coast, Cliffe Park, and further up the seafront to see them off. There were crowds including the 1,000 who packed on to Roker Pier.

Tours planned for 2025

Another big moment in 2018 was when the pier was the inspiration for a musical composition.

A music student at the University of Sunderland Lawrence Chiu, who was also a playing member of Sunderland Symphony Orchestra (SSO), wrote the piece, entitled Roker Pier.

Lawrence said he wrote it to capture the different moods of the sea and weather at Roker Pier, from peaceful calm to rough seas and gales.

The pier was back in the news earlier this year, it was announced that tours of Roker Pier and tunnel would resume once repairs were done.

The tours, which take visitors along the length of the tunnel beneath the pier and up to the impressive lighthouse, are always a popular attraction over the spring, summer months, booking up as soon as dates are released.

But the Roker Heritage Group, who run the tours, had to stop the visitor offering after the historic pier suffered £200,000 worth of damage from Storm Babet in October 2023.

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