page_title: Bournemouth
section_title: Landmarks
hierarchical_section_title: Bournemouth / Landmarks
caption_attribution_description: English: The grade II listed entrance to Boscombe Pier, Bournemouth.
context_page_description: Bournemouth is a coastal resort town on the south coast of England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest in the administrative county of Dorset. With Poole to the west and Christchurch in the east, Bournemouth is part of the South East Dorset conurbation, which has a population of 465,000.
  Before it was founded in 1810 by Lewis Tregonwell, the area was a deserted heathland occasionally visited by fishermen and smugglers. Initially marketed as a health resort, the town received a boost when it appeared in Augustus Granville's 1841 book, The Spas of England. Bournemouth's growth accelerated with the arrival of the railway, and it became a town in 1870. Part of the historic county of Hampshire, Bournemouth joined Dorset for administrative purposes following the reorganisation of local government in 1974. Through local government changes in 1997, the town began to be administered by a unitary authority independent of Dorset County Council, although it remains part of that ceremonial county.
context_section_description: Bournemouth has three Grade I listed churches, St Peter's and St Stephen's in the town centre and St Clement's in Boscombe. St Peter's was the town's first church, completed in 1879 and designed by George Edmund Street. In his book, England's Thousand Best Churches, Simon Jenkins describes the chancel as "one of the richest Gothic Revival interiors in England", while the 202 feet (62 m) spire dominates the surrounding skyline. When the architect, John Loughborough Pearson, designed St Stephen's his aim was to "bring people to their knees". It has a high stone groined roof, twin aisles and a triforium gallery, although the tower lacks a spire.
  The borough has two piers: Bournemouth Pier, close to the town centre, and the shorter but architecturally more important Boscombe Pier. Designed by the architect Archibald Smith, Boscombe Pier opened in 1889 as a 600 feet (180 m) structure which was extended to 750 feet (230 m) in 1927 when a new head was constructed. Added in 1958, the boomerang-shaped entrance kiosk and overhanging concrete roof is now a Grade II listed building. In 1961 a theatre was added but this was demolished in 2008 when the rest of the pier was renovated. In 2009, fashion designer Wayne Hemingway described Boscombe Pier as "Britain's coolest pier". It was also voted Pier of the Year 2010 by the National Piers Society.
  In 1856, Bournemouth Pier was a simple, wooden jetty. This was replaced by a longer, wooden pier five years later, and a cast-iron structure in 1880. Two extensions to the pier in 1894 and 1905, brought the total length to 305 metres (1,001 feet). After World War II, the structure was strengthened to allow for the addition of a Pier Theatre, finally constructed in 1960. This survived until the 2000s when it was turned into a climbing adventure centre. Between 1979 and 1981, a £1.7 million redevelopment programme, saw a great deal of reconstruction work, and the addition of a large two-storey, octagonal-shaped entrance building.
  Built as the Mont Dore Hotel in 1881, Bournemouth Town Hall was designated a Grade II listed building in 2001. Designed by Alfred Bedborough in the French, Italian and neo-classical styles, the foundation stone was laid by King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway and the hotel opened in 1885. The buff brick exterior features Bath stone dressings and terracotta friezes. The main entrance is sited within a projected façade that reaches to the eaves and is topped with a pediment, while above sits a belvedere with turrets and a pavilion roof. During the First World War the hotel was used as a hospital for British and Indian soldiers and after as a convalescent home. It never opened as a hotel again and was purchased by Bournemouth Borough Council in 1919.
  Built in the Art Deco style in 1929, situated close to the seafront, the Pavilion Theatre was at the time considered to be the greatest ever municipal enterprise for the benefit of entertainment. Built from brick and stone, the frontage features square Corinthian columns. Still a popular venue, it is today a Grade II listed building.
  The Bournemouth Eye was a helium-filled balloon attached to a steel cable in the town's lower gardens. The spherical balloon was 69 metres (226 feet) in circumference and carried an enclosed, steel gondola. Rising to a height of 150 metres (490 feet), it provided a panoramic view of the surrounding area for up to 28 passengers.  After the balloon suffered damage in 2016, the Bournemouth Borough Council, Lower Central Gardens Trust and S&D Leisure announced in 2017 that the contract for operating the Bournemouth Eye would not be renewed due to "increased operating costs."
caption: The Grade II listed entrance to Boscombe Pier.
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