Paul Rabbitts To Give Talk About the History of British Parks

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The Arts Society South West London's next lecture

Paul Rabbitts

The next talk to be presented by The Arts Society South West London is entitled Is entitled ‘A Concise History of our Great British Parks’.

It is a lecture by Paul Rabbitts taking place via Zoom on Monday 8 February at 8pm.

This talk illustrates the origins of our great British public park. It examines the need for parks, their Victorian heyday, what makes a great park, with examples of lodges, lakes, bandstands, fountains and floral displays. Following a great decline in the sixties and seventies, interest in our parks has revived and again.

Paul Rabbitts graduated at Sheffield University with a BA Honours in Geography followed by a Master’s Degree in Landscape Architecture at Edinburgh. He is a qualified landscape architect and park manager and has worked for several local authorities across the UK. He is a passionate advocate for public parks and in particular the Victorian and Edwardian bandstand and is a prolific author on the subject.

His first of 14 books were published in 2011 on the iconic bandstand and was followed rapidly by books on the Royal Parks, our Great British Parks and most recently on ‘Parkitecture’, as well as some of our greatest park designers.

He is now working on a biography of Sir Christopher Wren. As a UK leading expert on bandstands he has been asked to assist in localised restoration projects nationwide and has been a regular and popular speaker on bandstands and public parks for many years.

Non-members will be welcome to watch it for a donation of £5. For more information email info@theartssocietyswlondon.org.uk or visit its website.

The Arts Society South West London promotes the appreciation and study of decorative and fine arts through lectures and visits. It also encourages heritage volunteering and support of Young Arts.

February 2, 2021