Weston-super-Mare

Weston comes from the Anglo-Saxon for the west tun or settlement. Weston's oldest structure is Worlebury camp, on Worlebury Hill, dating from the Iron Age.
Early in the 19th century, Weston-super-Mare was a small windswept village of about 30 houses behind the sand dunes which had been created as an early sea wall after the Bristol Channel floods of 1607.
Weston owes its growth and prosperity to the Victorian boom in seaside holidays. The first hotel was built in 1808 which is now the Royal Hotel.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel and his family lived in Weston for a number of months whilst he was supervising the construction of the Bristol and Exeter Railway.
The Grand Pier was opened in 1904 after local traders were unhappy that visitors were not coming as far as the centre of Weston-super-Mare. On July 28, 2008, the pavilion at the end of the Grand Pier was completely destroyed by a fire.