A small seaside town in Yorkshire was once home to the world's unluckiest pier. During the Victorian era, piers became a popular attraction for those visiting the seaside, and one was built in the town of Withernsea.

Constructed between 1875 and 1877, the Withernsea Pier was remarkably short-lived, closing by 1893 and being subsequently dismantled by 1903. Now all that stands on the site are the distinctive castellated pier towers, which lead down to the beach. The pier's short life was due to a number of incidents, which saw it dubbed the "unluckiest pier in the world", with numerous ships colliding with the structure during its years of operation.

The pier's rather unlucky history began during its construction in 1875, when a crane collapsed, crushing and killing a 17-year-old boy.

Then in 1877, a storm loosened some of the construction, which then slipped into the sea, demolishing one strut and bending girders. This delayed the official opening of the pier and cost £200 to fix.

And the disasters didn't stop there, on October 28, 1880, a terrible storm in the North Sea saw two ships crash into the pier. Fishing vessel Jabaz hit the pier and sank, with four sailors on board dying in this tragedy.

While a coal barge named Saffron hit the pier, gouging a 150-180 foot gap in the centre. On this night, the same storm washed away the nearby Hornsea Pier and drove another ship into Redcar Pier.

Three years later, on March 6 1883, another storm hit and washed away part of the pier, including the section that had been hit by the Saffron years earlier.

The ill-fated pier would then be hit by another tow ship, with the fishing vessel Genesta crashing on October 20 1890. This crash washed away over half of the pier.

On this occasion, there was just one casualty, the captain of the ship, while the crew were luckily rescued from the sea.

What little was left of the pier was wrecked even further on March 22 when the Henry Parr crashed into the pier on a stormy night. After which, just 50 feet of the pier remained.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, what was left was deemed unsafe and the last sections were dismantled by 1905.

In recent years, there have been plans made to rebuild the structure with funding from the East Coast Communities Fund, the National Lottery and local fundraising.

In January 2020 the costs of rebuilding were estimated at £8 million, however, they were later abandoned in 2023 after East Riding Council found the plans "no longer viable."

While the plans to rebuild the pier may have been scrapped, the unique castle towers still remain, now leading down to the seafront.