Peoples Parks - Great Parks, Great Designers

People’s Parks are one of the finest legacies of the Victorian age. Designed and bequeathed to the masses as part of a movement encouraging green spaces and recreation, the public park came to symbolise one of the greatest contributions of the era.

Opened in increasing numbers in the industrious nineteenth century, by the end of the twentieth century many of our parks had become sadly neglected. But today they remain outdoor places for everyone to enjoy, acting as children’s play areas, sports grounds and even concert venues and have grown in popularity since the global pandemic. But what do we really know about them?

This series of talks explores some of these outstanding public spaces – from the Royal Parks of London to the great designers of the era, to what makes them great parks – their parkitecture, the bandstands that proliferated, to remnants of once great estates. A lively series of talks that tells this great story.

…..

This ticket is for this individual session and costs £8, and you may purchase tickets for other individual sessions via the links below, or you may purchase a ticket for the entire course of 6 sessions at a cost of £42 via the link here. [Gardens Trust members may purchase tickets at £31.50 for the series or £6 each talk].

Ticket sales close 4 hours before the talk.

Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk. A link to the recorded session (available for 1 week) will be sent shortly afterwards.

Apple users may no longer be able to purchase this ticket from the Eventbrite iOS app. Please use a web browser on desktop or mobile to purchase or follow the link here.

…..

Week 1. 17 April: People’s Parks - a Concise History. First in a series of 6 online lectures, £8 each or all 6 for £42 (GT members £6 each or all for £31.50)

Week 2. 24th April: London’s Royal Parks. Second in a series of 6 online lectures, £8 each or all 6 for £42 (GT members £6 each or all for £31.50)

Week 3. 1st May: Great Parks, Great Designers. Third in a series of 4 online lectures, £8 each or all 6 for £42 (GT members £6 each or all for £31.50)

Week 4. 8th May: Parkitecture – The Essence of what makes a Great Public Park. Fourth in a series of 4 online lectures, £8 each or all 6 for £42 (GT members £6 each or all for £31.50)

Week 5. 15th May: Cassiobury – The Ancient Seat of the Earls of Essex. Fifth in a series of 6 online lectures, £8 each or all 6 for £42 (GT members £6 each or all for £31.50)

Week 6. 22nd May: Bandstands – History, Decline and Revival. Last in a series of 6 online lectures, £8 each or all 6 for £42 (GT members £6 each or all for £31.50)

…..

Week 3. 1st May: Great Parks, Great Designers

Capability Brown, Humphry Repton, William Kent, great landscape gardeners we love and admire. They have designed some of the most impressive landscapes we can still enjoy to this day. Yet most of us will use our local park at some stage. There are 27,000 of them across the UK, and we take them for granted. They are designed landscapes and have emanated from the hands of such people as Joseph Paxton, JC Loudon, John Nash. Yet what about the great municipal designers, nurserymen, parks superintendents, landscape architects such as Sexby, Pettigrew, Sandys-Winsch, Vertegans, Mawson, Marnock, Milner, Kemp and Gibson – so many important parks delivered at their hands – from Birkenhead Park to Saltwell Park in Gateshead, Eaton Park in Norwich to West Park in Wolverhampton – these were great parks delivered to us by great designers.

Image: Engraving of the official opening of Birkenhead Park, from Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain

…..

Paul Rabbitts has over 35 years of experience in designing, managing and restoring urban parks across the UK. A landscape architect and current parks manager for Norwich City Council, he is also a a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and chair and founding member of the Parks Management Association. He is a director and trustee of the Gardens Trust and a member of its Conservation Committee.

Since his first book, Bandstands (Shire Publishing), in 2011, Paul has published over 34 titles, including further books on bandstands, public parks, the royal parks, park designers, parkitecture and biographies of Grinling Gibbons and architects Decimus Burton and Sir Christopher Wren. His latest book, People’s Parks – The Design and Development of Public Parks in Britain (John Hudson Publishing, 2023), is THE definitive book on public parks.

A frequent lecturer on public parks, the royal parks and bandstands for various universities, the U3A, Gardens Trusts, and National Trust associations, he has appeared on BBC4, Radio 2, local radio and has featured in many newspapers and magazines. Paul is currently studying for his PhD at the University of East Anglia on his favourite subject – the bandstand!

www.paulrabbitts.co.uk

.....