The History of the Royal Parks by Paul Rabbitts – 9th January 2025

Londons’ Royal Parks are beautiful spaces with a grand history, some royally owned as far back as the Norman Conquest, others acquired by henry V111 during Reformation. Paul Rabbitts, a landscape architect, tells the story of all eight parks, including the major historic moments and events with which they are associated.

Paul Rabbitts is currently studying for a PhD at the University of East Anglia on the subject of music and entertainment in public parks from the 1830s onwards. He is a qualified landscape architect and celebrated parks and open spaces manager and has worked for several local authorities across the UK, including Carlisle, Middlesbrough, Watford, Southend-on-Sea and is currently Head of Parks at the City of Norwich. He is a passionate advocate for public parks.  His first of now 34 books was published in 2011 on the iconic bandstand and was followed rapidly by books on the Royal Parks, Great British Parks and ‘Parkitecture’, Grinling Gibbons and Sir Christopher Wren.