For the past three months, ‘Skymaze’ — the Park’s hugely popular adventure playground — has been completely rebuilt. Fully modernised, the wooden-themed play area has reopened in time for the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, coinciding with the Park’s 56th anniversary.
The new “Skymaze” designed in collaboration with the Park’s Grounds team
Set within the grounds of Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens, the enhanced adventure playground now offers an immersive experience across three levels of interconnected treehouses. Younger visitors can explore a network of wooden walkways, rope bridges, crawl tunnels and slides, alongside new features including climbing walls and a “Wonky Walkway”. Designed and delivered by leading playground specialists CAP.CO (Creating Adventurous Places), in collaboration with the Park’s Grounds team, it is the biggest ever investment in the Park’s playground.
Demolition of the old ‘Skymaze’
The building of the New ‘Skymaze’
Head of Grounds at Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens, Paul Edwards, said: “As you may know, the original ‘Skymaze’ was built 12 years ago. After a decade of immense popularity and heavy use, the structure had begun to deteriorate. The decision was made to completely rebuild it from the ground up, designing a future-proof version of the much-loved adventure playground. Over the next few months, with invaluable consultation with RoSPA (The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents), we collaborated closely with CAP.CO – the company that constructed our original ‘Skymaze’ – and plans started to emerge. The new structure would be built using materials that weren’t around 12 years ago, including a new wood called Robinia – a denser, harder wood without sap – which significantly slows the decay of the upright posts, prolonging the life of the new equipment further”.
Demolition of the old ‘Skymaze’
Paul added: “With the designs finalised, we scheduled the demolition of the old ‘Skymaze’ (pictured above) and reconstruction of the new one to take place during winter, ensuring the project would be completed in time for the Easter holidays – a huge undertaking. Disposing of the old ‘Skymaze’ was a mammoth task on its own. Our Grounds team, alongside CAP.CO, worked tirelessly to complete the work in time. In total, more than 600 individual pieces of timber make up the new adventure playground, along with 120 Robinia structural poles, each anchored securely one metre deep in concrete. After months of intense building, the new ‘Skymaze’ is now complete. It’s great to know that it was replaced due to its enormous popularity over the past 12 years. We are sure the updated version will be enjoyed for many years to come! We hope you enjoy the new upgrade”.
Testing out the New ‘Skymaze’
Playground facts:
The playground has existed on the same spot since the Park opened in 1970 (pictured above).
- The first piece of equipment was a slide purchased from Burford Primary School in 1970.
- Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, a handmade Trojan Horse* was the highlight of the playground.
- The Park’s swings* remain in their original location, on the same frame from 1970. Though the chains and seats have been replaced, they’ve seen millions of joyful swings over the years.
- The highest section of the new ‘Skymaze’ is a viewing platform which gives a bird’s eye view of the Park and stands at over 20 feet high.
- Younger children can explore the Park’s wooden-themed ‘Mini-Manor’. Designed for children aged seven and under, it features interconnecting treehouses, slides and a mini zip wire.
