Ghostly ruin on beach is a warning from the past

A house that fell into the sea was built by a hydro power engineer who was unable to tame the power of the water. Andrew Forgrave reports

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Outline of the ruined Salem Bungalow on the beach in east Rhyl. It's thought two adjacent buildings were also claimed by the sea, including one for Salem's domestic staff. Close by is one of the groynes installed in the late 1940s to prevent further coastal erosion

AMONG the jumble of rocks on the sandy foreshore it's easy to miss the presence of an historical building that was lost to the sea.

Only from above can the ghostly outline of a building be clearly seen, part submerged beneath the incoming tide.

What happened on this Denbigh-shire beach is a lesson from the past and, possibly, a warning for the future. It is also the story of an engineering titan who tamed the force of water but was bowed by the power of nature.

In the late 1930s, civic leaders in the major seaside resorts of Rhyl and Prestatyn watched on in alarm as the sea began to devour large chunks of coastline.

Two lines of huge sandhills up to 40ft tall had begun to erode in spectacular fashion, particularly near Rhyl golf course. Fed by wind-borne sand, these defended the two towns by stretching in an unbroken line from the River Clwyd to the Point of Ayr.

Belatedly, it was realised that Rhyl's sea wall, built in 1913, was to blame for restricting the supply of sand. A finger was pointed at other developments too.

In February 1939, the Prestatyn Weekly reported: "The process is likely to be accelerated by the present transformation of the remaining dunes at Rhyl into gardens."