Six months after it vanished from Castle Square, Swansea’s Leaf Boat finally has a destination: the park where Dylan Thomas played as a boy.
The glass and steel sculpture, inspired by the poet’s work and a fixture of the square since the mid-1990s, is to be permanently installed at Cwmdonkin Park in Uplands, in the pond area close to Park Drive.
The move is planned within the coming few weeks, Swansea Council says.
The Leaf Boat was lifted out of Castle Square in January along with the square’s fountain, as the site was cleared for its multi-million-pound transformation, with its long-term future unconfirmed at the time.
Its new home could hardly carry more meaning. Thomas was born at 5 Cwmdonkin Drive, directly overlooking the park, and lived there for 23 years — writing two-thirds of his published work in the house, according to the museum that now occupies it.
Opened by the poet’s daughter Aeronwy in 2008 and restored to its Edwardian condition, the house offers tours, dining and even overnight stays, and the park below became the setting for The Hunchback in the Park — its own signs welcoming visitors to Thomas’s “world within the world of the sea-town”.
Cllr Elliott King, the council’s cabinet member for culture, said: “The artwork will be installed within an existing pond area close to Park Drive.
“We’re delighted that it’ll be in a highly visible location, in an attractive setting for residents and visitors to enjoy.”
The council says it has worked closely with the sculptor, Amber Hiscott, who supports the relocation, and her work will be recognised on site through new interpretation.
Once in place, the sculpture will be free for anyone to see.
Back in the city centre, the square it left behind is taking shape. The first foundations of the new Castle Square Gardens went in this month, with the greener, garden-filled space due to open in summer 2027.
There is no sculpture in the council’s published images of the finished gardens, which instead show lawns, planting, water jets and a big screen.
The move caps a good run for Cwmdonkin Park. Its pavilion café relaunched as a community venture this month, putting profits back into the park, and it kept its Green Flag among nine Swansea parks recognised this year.
Thomas put a boat on this park’s water long before the council did. In The Hunchback in the Park, he remembered “the fountain basin where I sailed my ship” — and within weeks, the park will have a ship again.
Related stories from Swansea Bay News
Leaf Boat sculpture removed from Castle Square as major redevelopment moves ahead
Our report from January as the sculpture and fountain were taken out of the square.
CASTLE SQUARE: First foundations go in for Swansea’s new city centre gardens
The new gardens are due to open in summer 2027.
UPLANDS: Free family party in Cwmdonkin Park as the pavilion café becomes a community venture
Dylan’s Coffee Shop is now a Community Interest Company putting profits back into the park.
SWANSEA: The poet and the oil giant — Dylan Thomas’s little-known journey through Iran
A free exhibition at the Dylan Thomas Centre, with the poet’s words voiced by Michael Sheen.
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