Brainy TV legend Carol Vorderman was raised in Prestatyn and when you consider how much this town has to offer it seems a real conundrum that she ever moved away. Plentiful good value accommodation allows the visitor not only easy access to this quintessentially British seaside experience (fondly evoked by the poet Philip Larkin in Sunny Prestatyn) but also places him on the doorstep of some fine scenery and world class long distance hikes (the Clwydian range and Offa’s Dyke respectively).
However, more than 500 years before the Mercian King Offa threw up his famous earthwork to mark the frontier of his Saxon domain against the Brythonic territory to the West the area around Prestatyn was a focus of Roman activity. Lead was mined in the hills above the town to be smelted into pipes and lining for aqueducts.
However the most impressive physical reminder of Roman occupation today is the base of a bath complex. In the Roman fashion this would have consisted of a heated pool and a cold plunge pool which, in this case, was engineered to be fed directly through a spring. It is surmised that the bath house was adjoined to a barracks that would have housed a detachment of the 20th Legion (the main body was based in Chester around 15 miles away). This suggests there are extensive remains still to be excavated. The value that the Romans placed on their industrial enterprises can be deduced from the fact that a sizeable detachment of fighting men was housed here to protect it.
Holiday parks around Prestatyn offer caravan, cottage and tent accommodation to suit all budgets. Those more interested in conventional seaside pursuits might prefer to look at holiday parks nearer to Rhyl a few miles west of Prestatyn. A sort of Welsh Vegas replete with seedy glamour this town has struggled to attract visitors in recent years. However there has now been investment in new attractions, such a brand new aquarium that features a submerged viewing tunnel.
Author : Mark Lauterwein is a UK based writer. He is currently writing articles on a variety of subjects.
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