Time-lapse · idea suggested by a visitor

1866 → this week.

A visitor asked to see the pier as a time-lapse that ends on the latest collapse, for some urgency, with the history along the way. So here it is: 20 views from this gallery in date order, live in your browser, slowing down as it reaches Friday's storm. Click it to pause.

Now: 23 Oct 2026. Storm Austen. More of the West Pier collapsed into the sea. Which section, and how much remains, has not been officially stated. The West Pier Trust's honorary historian, Professor Fred Gray, said: “Storm Austen has caused more of Brighton's West Pier to collapse into the sea… It is far too dangerous (and costly) to try to stabilise the structure. Everyone should stay at a safe distance… We don't know when the pier will eventually disappear beneath the waves, but disappear it will.” (statement of 23 October 2026, as published by ImJustBrighton and quoted by The Independent). Footage of the collapse, filmed by a resident, is on BBC News and ITV Meridian. We link to it rather than copy it: it is not ours to rehost.

No openly licensed photo of this week's collapse exists yet, so the storm over the Dec 2025 photograph is drawn in code. The news footage is linked below, not copied.

Download the video (MP4) A rendered copy for sharing, CC BY-SA 4.0. It contains CC BY-SA images, so it carries their share-alike licence; credit the photographers listed below and "The Latest Damaged View of the Pier".

The dates

  1. 1866 6 October 1866: the West Pier opens. Designed by Eugenius Birch. View: No. 96, Opening of West Pier 1866 by Unknown (Public domain)
  2. 1870 Cast-iron columns screwed into the seabed. 1,115 feet of promenade. View: No. 1, Brighton, East Sussex, from the West Pier by James Webb (Public domain)
  3. c. 1870–98 Gas lamps with serpent designs, toll houses, glass screens against the wind. View: No. 3, Gezicht op de West Pier van Brighton (View of the West Pier, Brighton) by Unknown photographer (Rijksmuseum collection) (CC0)
  4. 1893 The pierhead is extended and a pavilion for 1,400 people is added. View: No. 4, The Pier from the east, Brighton, England by Photochrom Print Collection (Public domain)
  5. 1908 Fresh air gives way to entertainment. View: No. 11, 1908 professor Doughtys Performing Dogs, West Pier Brighton L.L 12 Postcard SUSSEX by mark's vintage topographical postcards (Public Domain Mark 1.0)
  6. 1913 Spencer Gore paints it. 1910–11: about 1.5 million visitors. View: No. 2, The West Pier, Brighton by Spencer Gore (Public domain)
  7. 1916 20 April 1916: the concert hall opens. About 2 million visitors in 1918–19. View: No. 6, West Pier circa 1920 by Unknown (Public domain)
  8. 1975 1970: the pierhead closes for safety. 1975: the whole pier closes to the public. View: No. 12, West Pier, Brighton - geograph.org.uk - 809050 by Slbs (CC BY-SA 2.0)
  9. 1982–1991 1982: Britain's only Grade I listed pier. 1987: the Great Storm. 1991: shore access removed. View: No. 109, West Pier, Brighton (detail) - geograph.org.uk - 3386550 by Christopher Hilton (CC BY-SA 2.0)
  10. 2002 2001: English Heritage names it the most at-risk Grade I structure in England. View: No. 18, Brighton West Pier winter storm by Les Chatfield (CC BY 2.0)
  11. Dec 2002 December 2002: a storm drops the walkway to the pavilion into the sea. January 2003: the concert hall falls. View: No. 14, Brighton West Pier 20021212 detail by Les Chatfield (CC BY 2.0)
  12. 28 Mar 2003 28 March 2003: the pavilion burns. 11–12 May 2003: a second fire takes most of the concert hall. Both thought to be arson. View: No. 15, West Pier fire with boat 20030328 by Mark Harris (Public domain)
  13. 2004–06 June 2004: the middle collapses. English Heritage declares it beyond repair. View: No. 19, Brighton West Pier 20060605 by Les Chatfield (CC BY 2.0)
  14. 2010 February 2010: partly demolished, partly to make way for the i360 tower. View: No. 92, RIP West Pier Brighton - geograph.org.uk - 1696858 by Julian Osley (CC BY-SA 2.0)
  15. 2014 February 2014: storms split the pier in half. View: No. 83, Columns being removed, West Pier - geograph.org.uk - 4016205 by Paul Gillett (CC BY-SA 2.0)
  16. 2016 February 2016: another section collapses. View: No. 85, Brighton's West Pier - geograph.org.uk - 6042185 by Andrew Diack (CC BY-SA 2.0)
  17. 2017 The starlings still come at dusk. View: No. 58, West Pier at dusk with murmuration of starlings by NormanofOxfordshire (CC BY-SA 4.0)
  18. 2024 A skeleton in the sea, still standing, mostly. View: No. 108, The derelict West Pier at Brighton - geograph.org.uk - 7893224 by Mat Fascione (CC BY-SA 2.0)
  19. Nov 2025 DANGER. Keep away. View: No. 41, DANGER banner in front of Brighton West Pier 2025-11-12 by Andy Li (CC0)
  20. Dec 2025 The most recent photograph in this gallery. Ten months before the storm. View: No. 36, Brighton , West Pier at dusk - geograph.org.uk - 8207108 by Jim Osley (CC BY-SA 2.0)
  21. 23 Oct 2026 Storm Austen. More of the West Pier collapsed into the sea. Which section, and how much remains, has not been officially stated. Last frame: No. 36 with a storm drawn in code over it.

Sources

Every date and caption comes from these. None was made up; where something isn't known, the caption says so.

  1. Wikipedia: West Pier (history, dates)
  2. BBC News, 23 Oct 2026: Part of Brighton's iconic West Pier collapses
  3. ITV News Meridian, 23 Oct 2026: Part of historic West Pier in Brighton collapses during Storm Austen
  4. The Independent, 23 Oct 2026: Part of historic Brighton pier collapses as storms bring heavy disruption
  5. ImJustBrighton, 24 Oct 2026: West Pier Trust statement in full
  6. Sussex Express, 23 Oct 2026: Storm Austen footage
  7. West Pier Trust

Code: ai/timelapse.js (no libraries; pauses off screen; one still frame under reduced motion). Captions checked 25 October 2026.