A Short History of the Rec | Paul Jackson & Mark Wilson-Jones, Tuesday 31 October 2023, Queen Square, Bath.

Bath’s Recreation Ground lies in the heart of the city – and of the World Heritage Site. In 1956, the Rec was bought by the Council for the people in Bath, but its ownership and purpose have changed since. Bath Rugby leases about a third and wants more to build a new stadium, but others also use the Rec. Why was it never built on, who owns it now and how did that come about? What next? Is the proposed stadium the best option? This talk provides a context that might answer some questions, but it might also pose more.

Paul Jackson is a freelance financial journalist with an interest in Georgian history and convenes the Heritage talks at BRLSI. He will be joined by Mark Wilson-Jones, an architect and architectural historian expert in the classical tradition, who taught at the University of Bath for over 20 years and is a past trustee of the Bath Preservation Trust. Mark chairs the Traditional Architecture Group and directs his own architectural practice, Apollodorus Architecture.