Wells is a place full of history, whether that be going back hundreds of years or a handful of decades.

Today we launch a new Back In Time feature, where Wells Nub News looks at people, places and events that have shaped our city.

In the first article, Lavinia Byrne examines the history of Wells Recreation Ground.

1887 was a good year for Wells.

The whole country was celebrating the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria.

She marked the 50th anniversary of her accession to the throne on June 20 with a banquet to which 50 kings and princes were invited. Most of them would have been her relatives and known her as their mother, grandmother, aunt or cousin.

Caught up in the general spirit of celebration, Bishop Hervey of Bath and Wells made a decision. He would give the Bishop's Barn and surrounding land to the local people of Wells, thereby creating the Recreation Ground.

He had already secured a special name for himself in the history of Wells by encouraging one of his daughters to train the swans in the moat at the Bishop's Palace. She taught them to beg for food by pulling strings to ring a bell.

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Bishop of Bath and Wells from 1869 to 1894, Bishop Hervey had a vision for the Rec. There are 27 Victoria Parks in the United Kingdom all dating from 1887.

Hervey wanted the people Wells to identify their park as a recreation and sports ground, not a genteel promenading park with ornate flower beds as in Bath.

He advocated, "Summer evenings passed in the beautiful open air... perhaps with a band of music occasionally", claiming these "would promote innocent cheerfulness of spirit which is almost a step towards godliness".

The bandstand would have given a welcome outdoor home to Wells City Band, which had been formed back in the 1840s.

The bowls club was founded in 1914 and moved to its present site in 1915. Before then that part of the Rec had been the home of Wells City Quoits Club.

There was a Somerset Quoits League with teams from many towns and villages, notably Radstock, which produced sportsmen who played for England. Wells and Mendip Museum has a quoit used in championship games held at Wells in 1900.

Other sports played include cricket. The celebrated W G Grace only managed three runs before he was bowled out in a game on the Rec back in its inaugural year, in 1887.