Work has started on Swansea’s permanent memorial to the pandemic, on the stretch of promenade where many people first saw friends and family again once they were allowed to.
Fencing is going up around the grassed area near the Slip Bridge while the memorial is built and landscaped, Swansea Council says, ahead of a formal unveiling later this month.
Designed by Welsh artists Catrin Jones and Angharad Pearce Jones, it is built from sculpted steel and coloured glass in the colours of the peacock butterfly, chosen as a symbol of hope and community spirit, with seating, wildflower planting and new accessible paths joining it to the promenade.
The seats face two ways, so that people can look out across Swansea Bay or back towards the city.
The council put the cost at £130,000 in March, when it expected work to begin in April. The memorial is being fabricated at a metal workshop in the Amman Valley.
Its shape was decided by the people it is for. The design followed engagement with residents, organisations and groups affected by the pandemic, and the council says it reflects community spirit, remembrance and hope.
Cllr Elliott King, the cabinet member for culture, human rights and equalities, said the pandemic’s impact was still felt by families and communities across Swansea.
“The people have helped shape the memorial and it will provide a lasting place where anyone can pause, reflect and remember,” he said.
“It will recognise those who lost their lives, those whose lives were changed and the key workers, volunteers, neighbours, and communities who supported one another with kindness and compassion.”
The artists have said the work is built on the city’s collective memories. Catrin Jones described it as a place “that holds people’s stories with care”, bringing together light, colour and nature by the sea.
Angharad Pearce Jones said the engagement had brought out grief, resilience and small acts of kindness, and the design reflected “the distances we had to keep, the connections we tried to maintain, and the hope that carried us forward”.
“Visitors will be able to sit and reflect, looking out to sea or inland towards the landscapes and continuing bustle of the city,” she said.
The two artists were appointed in March last year, on the eve of the UK’s Covid Day of Reflection, when council leader Rob Stewart said Swansea had promised to honour everyone the pandemic affected. Catrin Jones made the sea-life murals on the Mumbles seawall; Angharad Pearce Jones’s tubular steel work stands on the railway sidings at Clydach.
The memorial joins those already created at Morriston and Singleton hospitals by Swansea Bay University Health Board.
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