The aim of this thesis is to initially establish the existence of a class of monument, the timber-built seacoast pier, which has heretofore received virtually no investigation by archaeologists and been merely briefly referred to by a handful of historians. Data sources for this topic are diverse and include documentary sources, material remains, cartographic and pictorial evidence, coastal geomorphology and place-names. Investigation is perforce multi-disciplinary. This study will show that such structures were once quite widespread within the study area of eastern England, and indeed further afield. These structures were far from identical and the varying technical forms of the piers are determined and explanations sought to account for these. The physical backdrop to these piers was the varied and dynamic coastal environment of the eastern seaboard of the North Sea and it is not possible to gain a broad understanding of the piers without reference to this environment