Deal Promenade Pier was originally built in 1838 to the design of J. Rennie. Although planned to stretch 445 foot, it was only built to 250 feet due to financial problems. The pier quickly decayed due to storm damage and sandworm attack before finally being swept away in 1857. Between 1863 and 1864, a new cast iron pier was built, which stretched 1100 feet in length. The architect was Eugenius Birch. There were several later additions; a reading room and salt baths were added in the 1870s and a pier-head pavilion was built in 1886. It was damaged by ship collisions in 1873 and 1884 but was subsequently repaired. It was purchased by Deal Council for £10,000 in 1920. On January 29th 1940, the Dutch vessel 'Nora' destroyed 200 feet of ironwork after which, Winston Churchill allowed the army to demolish the pier to give coastal guns a clear line of sight. Only the tollhouses remained until 1954. Between 1954 and 1957, a new reinforced concrete pier was built at a cost of £250,000. The architects were W. Halcrew & Partners and the builders were Concrete Piling Ltd. It reached a length of 1026 feet (312.7m) and was given an official opening by the Duke of Edinburgh on 19th November 1957. It is now (2007) owned by Dover District Council and is the only completely new post-war pleasure pier in the country. Facilities include a bar, café, sun lounge, three-decked landing stage and angling. A £1.6 million bid for Lottery funding for the pier was rejected prior to 1998. However at around the same time Dover District Council pledged £2 million for restoration subject to the results of an underwater survey.