Three murals, bearing a striking resemblance to the work of Banksy, have mysteriously popped up in North Wales over the past 24 hours. The high-quality monochrome artworks depict a cow, a knight, and an owl, and have been freshly painted across Denbighshire and Flintshire.
The first to appear was a dairy cow on the former Tafarn Derwen pub in Mold town centre, followed by an owl reported in a bus shelter in Trefnant. Last night, a mural of a knight on horseback appeared in a car park in Ruthin.
Calls have already been made for local authorities to preserve these eye-catching pieces. Since the appearance of the artwork in Mold, locals have been snapping pictures of themselves “milking” the newly painted cow.
The mural in Ruthin appeared overnight in the council-run Crispin’s Yard car park near Cae Ddol Park. It portrays a knight on horseback wielding a sword, possibly referencing rebellion leader Owain Glyndŵr, a Denbighshire landowner who looted English-controlled Ruthin in 1400, reports North Wales Live.
One man, upon seeing a photo of the mural on social media, described it as an “absolutely stunning and superb piece of art”, adding: “Owain Glyndŵr rises again, as he always said he would.”
Ruthin resident Jenny Plumb came across the mural on Wednesday, January 15. “My daughter spotted it through the car window at 8.30am,” she said. For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsletter
“It’s exciting to think it may be a Banksy. But even if it’s not it’s a nice piece of artwork and I’d like to think efforts will be made to protect it. I used to live in Reading where a Banksy mural appeared on the prison. Nothing was done to protect it and it was soon defaced by graffiti.”
This refers to Banksy’s “Create Escape” mural from 2021. The artwork, interpreted as Oscar Wilde escaping from Reading Gaol with his typewriter, was defaced with red paint within two weeks, allegedly by supporters of a rival graffiti artist.
The Mold dairy cow mural was the first to appear
The knight on horseback mural was found in a carpark
(Image: Jenny Plumb)
As the recent artwork in Ruthin is located on a private building being converted into a US-style diner, Denbighshire Council has said it can’t intervene. Banksy, who remains anonymous, is renowned for his spray-paint street art, none of which is signed, adding to the enigma surrounding his work.
His pieces can fetch high prices if removed from walls. Last summer, Banksy revealed his “Beastly London” series featuring monkeys, wolves, pelicans, goats, cats, and elephants. This recent focus on animals has fuelled speculation that the murals in Mold and Trefnant could be his work.
Some locals have suggested their new cow mural, first spotted on Tuesday morning, might be a nod to Mold’s town centre livestock market. The mural depicts a cow seemingly grazing on a grass verge next to the semi-derelict Tafarn Derwen Inn on Wrexham road.
“Whoever did that is very talented,” commented one local. “Keep ’em coming! “.
A third mural has been spotted in the village of Trefnant, nestled between Denbigh and St Asaph. Discovered on Tuesday morning in a bus stop shelter, it is said to depict an owl.
Last year, a spray-painted pigeon, rabbit and pair of ants mysteriously appeared on buildings and inside a tunnel in Denbigh. Banksy was initially suspected, but the style of work differed from that of the globally renowned artist.
Ultimately, these pieces were claimed by graffiti artist Artist DNZ, who is originally from North Wales but now lives in London.
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