Margate Jetty

The first jetty on the site was a 1,100 feet (340 m) wooden structure built by the Margate Pier Harbour Company in 1824.

[2] It was known as the Jarvis Landing Stage and allowed ships to load and unload passengers at low tide when Margate Harbour was inaccessible.

[2] On 1 January 1877 the pier was cut through by a shipwreck driven by a storm; between 40 and 50 people were trapped on the seaward side of the break until the next day when they could be rescued.

[5] The Margate lifeboat was one of the Little Ships of Dunkirk that sailed to France in May-June 1940 to assist with Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of members of the British and French armies ahead of the German advance.

[7] The wooden wreckage of the pier was burnt on the beach in the days following the storm surge, though portions were salvaged by local residents.

[1][4] Some relics from the pier structure are held at Margate Museum, these include the entrance plaque and portions of the railings and deck.

[4] In summer 2018 a Dreamland Margate Mural-by-the-Sea art installation was erected at the former landward end of the pier.

[2] The artist J. M. W. Turner boarded for a time in Margate and painted an oil sketch that included the jetty, which he could see from his window.

The remains of the pier after the 1978 storm surge
J. M. W. Turner 's c. 1840 painting