Bledisloe Lecture - Wednesday 24 June 2026 | Royal Agricultural University

Bledisloe Lecture - Wednesday 24 June 2026

Join us for our annual Bledisloe Lecture at the Royal Agricultural University. We are delighted that this year the lecture titled 'The Fight for Beauty and why it matters more than ever' will be delivered by Dame Fiona Reynolds.

About Dame Fiona Reynolds

Dame Fiona Reynolds is widely recognised as one of the UK’s most respected leaders in conservation, public service, and education. Over several decades she has shaped national thinking on heritage, landscape protection, and rural policy, and continues to play an influential role across public and charitable institutions.

She is currently Chair of the National Audit Office, the Governing Council of the Royal Agricultural University, the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England and Cambridge University’s Botanic Garden. She was previously Director-General of the National Trust and is the High Sheriff of Gloucestershire for 2026-2027.

Fiona has lived in Coates, near Cirencester, since 2002 with her husband Bob Merrill and with their three daughters, who grew up there. She is Patron of New Brewery Arts in Cirencester and President of the hugely successful Cirencester History Festival which was founded in 2024. She is President of the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust and a Vice-President of CPRE nationally and its Gloucestershire Branch.

About the Bledisloe Lecture

This prestigious lecture is named after eminent RAU alumnus Charles Bathurst, the first Lord Bledisloe (1867-1958), who was deeply interested in agriculture and forestry and was one of the staunchest supporters of the then Royal Agricultural College. As we celebrate our 180th anniversary year, we can reflect that our University – the very first agricultural college in the English-speaking world – is as relevant today as it always has been.

Founded in 1845 to help meet a national emergency – how to feed the country at a time of burgeoning urbanisation and industrialisation – we are immensely proud of the contribution our world-wide family of 18,000+ alumni have made as leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators in agriculture and the land-based sector.