This film is part of Free

Yarmouth. Suffragettes? Yarmouth Pier and Pavilion Burnt Down

Female activists get the blame - unfairly? - for a devastating fire at Yarmouth Pier.

Non-Fiction 1914 1 mins Silent

Overview

This newsreel item shows the twisted metal and smouldering remains of Yarmouth pier, allegedly bombed by suffragettes. At the height of suffragette militancy many fires were blamed on female activists. The discovery on the site of suffragette literature reported by the press seems too convenient and no charges were ever brought. Piers on Britain's coast seemed to burn down quite frequently for buildings surrounded by water. The damage to Yarmouth Pier was quoted at £15,000.