There's some serious monkey business going on in Swansea , as eye-catching new arrivals have brought some smiles to people walking through one of the city's parks.

Visitors to Morriston Park would have spotted something different while walking through the 47 acres of vast land, based off Harry Street.

Burrowing among sycamore trees are two new simian residents, Manaman and Mwnci, which have been sculpted into trees by Garry Turler, of Wildboar Carvings.

The wooden carving of two monkeys
They are an impressive sight
They definitely catch your attention as you're walking through the park

And they also have another companion not far away, as a sculpted badger can be spotted poking its nose out in clear sight to those walking by.  

The carving of a badger that has appeared at Morriston Park

It is the idea of Friends of Morriston Park, a voluntary group set up to support, maintain and develop the historically-significant garden.

The group wished to enhance the park with something that could engage the public of all ages, and decided to create sculptures for people to enjoy within the park, which dates back to 1700s.

Monkeys were chosen as they have significance in Morriston, with the area commonly given the name 'Morriston Monkeys'.

The origin of the name is cause for some debate in the area, but has been narrowed down to either being related to the monkey puzzle trees in Morriston Park, or an era in the 30s, 40s and 50s where after a visit to the cinema, there would be a parade, which would be referred to as the 'monkey parade', to somewhat disparagingly differentiate from something similar which would go in Swansea city centre.

The sculptures have already caught the eye and received great feedback.

And chairman of Friends of Morriston Park, Steffan Phillips, explained how it is going to be developed even further in the future.

"We've got 47 acres of the park in different parts," Mr Phillips explained.

"We're hoping to get many more signposts and information to explain the amazing history of the park.

"One of the ideas of the carving is to have each part of the park to have one, and we can create a 'Morriston Monkeys' trail.

"We would like there to be maybe a dozen sculptures or more over the next few years."

Sir John Morris, 1st Baronet of Clasemont, built a mansion in 1775 called Clasemont at Pengwern on the western slopes of the lower Swansea Valley. The mansion had a garden of extensive open grassland giving way to a wooded wilderness and panoramic vista.

There's some impressive new wood sculptures at Morriston Park


For several years, the park received investment and new facilities, hosting many popular activities, carnivals and musical performances. It once incorporated a large ornate bandstand, swimming baths, lido, aviary, cricket pitch, changing rooms, shop and even a nine-hole golf course.

But in recent years, all of these assets, and more, have disappeared. Gradually, the significance of Morriston Park has slipped from the collective consciousness. It suffered from severe drainage problems with many paths and borders becoming overgrown and in poor condition.

But the park is still a great example of a late Victorian, early Edwardian urban park, with 18th century picturesque, landscape garden features and magnificent views over the lower Swansea Valley.  

The goal of the Friends of Morriston Park is to rejuvenate what they describe as the "tarnished jewel in the crown of Swansea east", thereby enabling Morriston, once again, to "sit proudly in the premier division of the city’s parks and gardens".

Mr Phillips said: "We want to project the positives of the park, and its history, there's a lot of doom and gloom.

"We're putting together an engagement project and are having four schools coming to do open days and we'll have an outdoor classroom.

"With things like this happening we're hoping we'll start attracting people from all over Swansea to come to the park.

"The response has been tremendous. What we are seeing is people engaged, smiling and chatting about it and looking at the sculptures.

"Everybody is talking about it and it's even becoming a reference point, with people saying 'I'll meet you at the monkeys!'"