A new exclusive apartment block on the site of a former well known property is already a striking addition to the seafront. But a skilfully crafted sculpture is also catching the eye of passers-by.

This boat-shaped centrepiece at the multi-million pound development is a poignant tribute to an ancient Welsh mariner. The striking cove-like bench in Rhos-on-Sea marks the spot where Prince Madoc is reputed to have sailed from Wales to the New World.

After an epic voyage, he is said to have landed in Alabama in North America in 1170. This was 322 years before Italian explorer Christopher Columbus arrived in the New World in 1492 on the first of four voyages to the Americas.

The boat-themed bench adorns the front of 12 individually-designed luxury apartments in a complex called Prince Madoc Cove on Marine Drive in Rhos-on-Sea. A plaque on the ground there has the inscription: "Prince Madoc sailed from here Aber - Kerrick - Gwynan 1170 AD and landed at Mobile (Bay), Alabama with his ships Gorn Gwynant and Pedr Sant."

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The prince, whose full name was Madoc ab Owain Gwynedd, was said to have left our shores to flee violence at home. The complex is on the site of a former building called Odstone House.

Many locals who had wanted to keep it had been up in arms at the thought it could be bulldozed and a 2,000-name petition was raised in objection. But conservationists at Cadw ruled it had no special architectural interest - paving the way for it to be demolished.

A plaque under a bench outside new luxury 'Prince Madoc' apartments in Rhos-on-Sea has the inscription: "Prince Madoc sailed from here Aber - Kerrick - Gwynan 1170 AD and landed at Mobile Alabama with his ships Gorn Gwynant and Pedr Sant"
A plaque under a bench outside new luxury 'Prince Madoc' apartments in Rhos-on-Sea has the inscription: "Prince Madoc sailed from here Aber - Kerrick - Gwynan 1170 AD and landed at Mobile Alabama with his ships Gorn Gwynant and Pedr Sant"

The building work had been delayed by the Covid pandemic but now the three and four-bedroomed apartments are ready. One of the 12 apartments have been sold so far and there is interest in the remaining properties.

The new boat feature outside the Prince Madoc Cove luxury apartments in Rhos-on-Sea
The new boat feature outside the Prince Madoc Cove luxury apartments in Rhos-on-Sea

On the boat-shaped bench Alan Kenny, a support manager for new occupiers at Prince Madoc Cove apartments, said: "The house that was there - there was like a cave that went under (what is now) the road and led out to the beach. The bench is there because that's where Prince Madoc sailed from."

Fletcher & Poole estate agents are selling the "ultra-luxury" three and four-bedroomed apartments. The properties - six ground floor apartments with private terraces and gardens, and six penthouses - range in price from £550,000 to £995,000.