Have you seen the public art trail at Cleveleys? There’s a number of huge pieces on Cleveleys beach and seafront for you to explore. Find the Mary’s Shell sculpture at the northern end of the promenade, opposite Jubilee Gardens near to the seafront cafe. You can use postcode FY5 1LG which is for The Venue, just across the road.
Have a walk along the seafront at Cleveleys in this video – it shows you where to find the Shell and other pieces in the Mythic Coast Trail –
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What is Mary’s Shell on Cleveleys Beach?
Mary’s Shell is a huge piece of public art. A metal sculpture, it’s part of the Mythic Coast art trail which brings the story of the Sea Swallow to life!
The Sea Swallow is Wyre’s own story book. Written for children, it blends local legends and folklore with real local features. Each primary school child in Wyre received a copy of the book back in 2011. In it you’ll explore sunken villages and the petrified forest – which you can still see on the beach today. The story comes to life through different artworks in the Mythic Coast trail.
Enjoy Exploring Mary’s Shell
It’s completely visible once the tide goes out, and large enough for you to climb inside it and take a really good look.
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At a whopping 8m long and 4m tall, the shell weighs in at 16.5 tonnes. It sits on a concrete foundation, cast into the beach. Originally, the Shell stood alone in the beach, meaning that rough weather often eroded the sand and shingle around it. This would frequently expose the metal brackets which fasten it to it’s concrete base, leaving a huge pool of water around the base.
To prevent this erosion, during the Wyre Beach Management Project works, a semi-circle of rocks was placed around the sea-ward side. It’s worked exactly as expected, reducing the turbulence and erosion of the waves, allowing the sand to build up to the correct level. Once again you can walk inside the Shell – without wading through knee deep water!
Once the tide goes out, you can climb inside the shell. Listen for the sounds of the sea and read the words from the story of the Sea Swallow, etched inside. It’s a great feature on the beach, drawing people from far and wide to see its curious shapes – set against sunset and storm! It also makes a great playground too, especially as it’s in a popular area for beach-goers, near to the cafe. Take a look at the next short clip of families enjoying an old fashioned afternoon on the beach. Summer’s made for this!
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There’s one thing for sure, photographers love it! You’ll often see people with some serious camera gear, waiting for the right conditions for a perfect picture. The shell is certainly a destination to visit and photos of it often feature in glossy magazines and travel websites.
When Mary’s Shell on Cleveleys Beach goes Underwater…
Once the tide comes in, the shell fills with water. Only the very top of it remains visible, poking through the waves. Here’s a photo taken on one of those lovely sunny, blowy days that you get in spring and autumn –
And here it is in the next clip, with the tide lapping round it, on another of those lovely sunny, blowy day summer days!
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When it’s rough it’s really, really rough…
So that’s what a lovely – but windy – day looks like! But rough weather here at Cleveleys can be really, really rough, and Mary’s Shell gets a real battering then!
Have you seen stormy weather in summer? It can be just as bad as it is in the winter. There’s just no telling. The next film is from 21 August 2020 – and the Shell has just about disappeared under the water!
And here’s rough weather at high tide in December. August storms are bad enough but winter storms are something else altogether. It’s certainly a sight to watch!
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Installation of Mary’s Shell on Cleveleys Beach
It was 8 July 2013 when the solid concrete foundation was cast in the beach for the sculpture. Workmen were already on site, carrying out beach nourishment works. Workmen had been importing shingle from Fleetwood beach by truck. The aim was to adequately cover the bottom (the ‘toe’) of the sea wall to protect it from erosion. It also meant that big machines were on hand and available for use!
The sand is first dug away and a form (mould) positioned in the hole. Like all beach works, it’s a race against the tide, with the diggers taking the form out onto the beach as the tide retreated. As soon as the sea’s gone, they dig the hole.
Delivered to site in concrete mixers, dumper trucks carried the wet cement across the beach. From there it’s poured into the mould and left to set, making the stable base for the shell to sit on. Here’s the invisible work, now hidden beneath the sand –
Friday 13th…
After delivery, Mary’s Shell spent a couple of weeks perched on a trailer on the shingle at Rossall Beach, awaiting transportation to its proper spot on the sand.
The original day of delivery and installation, Friday 13th September, turned out to be an unfortunate choice of day. The crane brought to site to do the lift wasn’t suitable for use on the sand, so installation couldn’t take place that day as planned.
Delivered to its spot near the cafe on a trailer, and in a race against the tide, the team finally heaved Mary’s Shell into place on the morning of Wednesday 25 September 2013. Old fashioned technology, pulling, shoving and steel plates completed the installation.
How it’s installed
On installation day, the pre-cast concrete block was exposed again, so that the metal base for the shell could be fixed to it. The trailer was first dug down into the beach next to the base.
Steel plates were welded together to fill the space between the base and the trailer. Next, an expert JCB driver pulled the sculpture gently off the trailer.
Then it’s placed into position in a perfectly executed manoeuvre. As you can imagine, this was all watched by a crowd of onlookers, including us at Visit Cleveleys!
Take a look at this clip. Sorry about the quality, don’t forget that it’s from the days before iPhones!
Designing and Making
In the Sea Swallow storybook, Mary’s Shell is a golden shell.
Stephen Broadbent designed the shell which rests on the beach at Cleveleys, based on the Mythical Coast book image of Mary’s shell. It was created offsite by Chris Bramall of CB Arts at their factory in Ulverston. It’s made from stainless steel rolled sections.
These are the very first artists illustrations, dating back to when the Mythic Coast artwork trail was first conceived and planned out.
More about Cleveleys Mythic Coast
First, Wyre Council secured funding to rebuild the sea defences at Cleveleys, to protect the coast from flooding and erosion. The fabulous new, multi-award winning design of the sea defences certainly increased the popularity of this much loved seaside town. It attracts people from near and far to enjoy the spectacular views and great access to the beach.
While the new sea wall was underway, the Council then secured additional funding from other places. This paid for decorative lights, seats and other niceties to finish the engineering project with a flourish. Together the new sea wall and decorative features have had a transformative effect on Cleveleys, helping to turn a tired seaside town into a popular and thriving place.
The ‘Cleveleys Mythological Coastline’ project was funded through the national Sea Change project. The aim of Sea Change was to regenerate the UK coast through the Arts. This project created a legacy to follow the sea defence works, and a story that’s Cleveleys very own for the future.
Mythic Coast Merchandise
If you love the story and the characters from the Sea Swallow, why don’t you call into the Care for Cleveleys Shop at Princess Road. There you’ll find a wide range of attractive products, from fridge magnets to your very own 3D printed Ogre, watercolour paintings and framed photographs.
There’s much more information about each of these pieces at the following links:
- Shipwreck Memorial
- Sea Swallow
- The Ogre’s Paddle
- The Ogre
- Mary’s Shell
- In 2023, a huge mural was painted at Jubilee Gardens, by street artist Seca One, aka Christian Fenn
- And in 2024 Christian was back with Hayley Garner to produce another stunning piece of work in the town centre Bus Station.
The next video is a walk through of the Mythic Coast trail, to find all of the pieces of sculpture –
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While you’re here…
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Mary’s shell is a beautiful thing – but who designed and made it??? And how was it made?
Who designed this wonderful thing? I can’t see a credit to an individual anywhere.
What a criminal waste of money.
That’s all a matter of opinion. It’s certainly attracted people from far and wide and is a much loved local landmark. What is missing is a sign to tell people what it is and why it’s there!