Anna Hartz
Walking along a beach, you don’t usually expect to see hundreds of old shoes washed up on the shore. But that is exactly what has been happening in the small Welsh coastal town of Ogmore-by-Sea.
Since September 2025, nearly 400 black leather shoes have appeared on the sand. About half of them showed up in just one week, writes Historienet.
The shoes immediately caught the attention of locals. They look old, worn, and unlike the footwear people wear today. Most seem to belong to men and children. Their sudden appearance sparked curiosity and a bit of mystery.
Victorian-Era Shoes
Beach Academy, a nonprofit organization that studies and cares for the coast, discovered the shoes while restoring rock pools and removing debris from the beach.
In late December, they posted pictures of the shoes on social media, asking for help in figuring out where they came from. The post revealed that locals had spotted similar shoes along the coast in the past.
Two main explanations have emerged. The first traces the shoes back to the Victorian era. Around 150 years ago, a trading ship called the Frolic sank after hitting rocks. It was carrying a load of shoes and other goods from Italy. Some experts think the shoes could be leftovers from that shipwreck, slowly washing ashore over the decades.
Another Theory
The second theory involves a shoe manufacturer from the 1960s. The company reportedly produced more than 50,000 shoes and boots each week. Damaged or unsellable shoes may have been dumped into the Ogmore River, eventually reaching the sea.
Beach Academy says the Victorian shipwreck theory is currently the strongest. But they also note that no professional examination has confirmed the exact age of the shoes.
