A HOUSE named Bodannerch may look like many other buildings in Rhyl but it has a ‘secret’ connection with slavery which has recently been uncovered

Research conducted by the HistoryPoints project and the Centre for the Study of Legacies of British Slave-ownership established that the house’s first owner, Rev Benjamin Winston, benefited financially from Caribbean estates which used slave labour.

As a vicar in Kent, he changed his name to inherit the estates and slaves from his grandfather, Charles Winston. In 1823 there were 179 slaves on Rev Winston’s estates in Dominica.

His son Thomas Winston became a local celebrity as Rhyl’s first stationmaster and a supporter of worthy causes.

Both men were esteemed members of the community in Rhyl, where the family appears to have kept quiet about its history of slave ownership.

There were no references to slaves in obituaries for Benjamin or Thomas.

Bodannerch, Rev Winston’s large house on Russell Road, has mostly been demolished and replaced by flats.

Christine and Michael Johnson rescued the remaining one-third of the house from planned demolition in the late 1990s and restored its interior, now home to Rhyl Foot Clinic.

The house’s remarkable story can now be read on the HistoryPoints.org website and the web page, about Bodannerch, can be accessed on mobiles by scanning the QR codes on the gatepost.

Christine said: “We’re proud to have saved this piece of Rhyl’s heritage for future generations.

“It’s wonderful that people can now read the fascinating story of our house as they walk past.”

Rhodri Clark, editor of HistoryPoints.org, said: “Rev Winston was far from alone as a member of the clergy who preached the Gospel while benefiting from ownership of slaves, but it’s unlikely that many vicars went as far as changing their names in order to inherit estates with slaves.”

HistoryPoints has created QR codes for over 1,700 places in Wales to give the public instant access to the stories of objects and places.

Rachel Lang, of the Centre for the Study of Legacies of British Slave-ownership, said: “HistoryPoints is an extraordinary resource with a wealth of stories, some well-known, many unexpected, about so many aspects of Welsh history. This includes sites with connections to slave-owners.

“The legacies of colonial slavery are all around us, from the houses built using the proceeds of slave-ownership to the challenges we face today in overcoming the deep-rooted racist policies we upheld for so long.

“This is a history we have all been shaped by, albeit unequally.”

Visit historypoints.org/index.php?page=bodannerch-rhyl