Changing Shoreline
collection

Also known through the years as: The Promenade, Sea Wall, Foreshore, Footpath, Cycle Path, Rail Track, The Concrete and Burrows or Dunes.
Work on the project has begun at Castle Hill terminus.

The Changing Mumbles Shoreline >

by John Powell

 In the 1890s the shoreline was completely altered by the extension of the railway to Southend.  

Later, the Knab Rock development at Southend also changed the shore.

The horsepool harbour, c1870

The Horsepool Harbour: A Vanished Landmark 

By Carol Powell M.A.

... have been the lively fascinating centre of our past sea-going community

After the railway extension, the horsepool harbour has gone, 

The Mumbles Railway-the route from Oystermouth to Mumbles Pier 

Many Mumbles fishermen would lay up their craft all along the shore as far out as Southend (outalong) and by the mid 1800s, had been in use for at least 200 years. Prior to the 1890's a high tide would have reached the edge of the road.

The foreshore before 1890

Horsepool & Marepool: A Mumbles mystery solved? by Carol Powell

Horsepool Harbour and Marepool were two, now vanished landmarks.

We suggest possible explanations for the names.

The Marine Hotel, Southend

The Mumbles Oyster Trade 

Its Decline and the Loss of the Old 'Horsepool' Harbour

This 1870 view shows Horsepool and the shoreline at the roadside. Horsepool House (The Marine Hotel in the photo) looked out over the wrecks of Oyster Skiffs.