Bandstands: Pavilions for music, leisure and entertainment
By Paul Rabbitts
A beautifully illustrated history of bandstands and other pavilions built for music.
Publication date: Autumn 2018

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In 1833, the Select Committee for Public Walks was introduced so that ‘the provision of parks would lead to a better use of Sundays and the replacement of the debasing pleasures.’ Music was seen as an important moral influence and ‘musical cultivation … the safest and surest method of popular culture’. The eventual introduction of the bandstand became a significant aspect of the reforming potential of public parks.
However, music in public spaces, and the history and heritage of the bandstand has largely been ignored. In their heyday, there were over 1,500 bandstands in the country, in public parks, on piers and seaside promenades, attracting crowds of over 10,000 in the case of the Arboretum in Lincoln. Up until the beginning of the Second World War most of London’s parks held regular weekday and weekend concerts.
Paul Rabbitts tells the story of these pavilions made for music, and their history, decline and revival. He discusses their evolution as ‘orchestras’ in the early Pleasure Gardens and the music played within them, as well as the growth of the brass band movement; he examines the intricate and ornate ironwork of the bandstand and the great foundries that produced it; he looks at the worldwide influence of the bandstand, from their great decline post Second World War to their subsequent revival in the late 1990s.
Illustrated throughout with contemporary and archive images, drawings and postcards, this is a thoroughly engaging study of an often overlooked aspect of British architectural, cultural and entertainment history. Paul Rabbitts’ unique historical perspective is complemented by a gazetteer of all extant and demolished British bandstands.
Publishing Partner
Historic England is the public body that champions and protects England’s historic environment, from the prehistoric to the post-War. For further information go to HistoricEngland.org.uk
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