Amazing picture postcard sent in by Doris Chambers from 1900 of the terrace of six four-story Regency style houses built on the Undercliff Parade by Dr. Thomas Compton, the founder of ‘Southbourne-on-Sea’. Dr Compton bought 230 acres of land in 1870 upon which to develop a rival resort to Bournemouth.

Confident in his idea of building so close to the sea he lived in one of the villas himself but unfortunately, he underestimated nature, they managed to survive the storms of 1897 but the great storms of Christmas 1900 and early 1901 lead to the villas being abandoned.

The six villas were so severely damaged that they had to be demolished along with the nearby pier.