By 1912, the council had turned the area into a sports recreation ground.[1] During the First World War the park was used as an army base for the Welsh Division and other army divisions and units. The Welsh Division included 16,000 men (of whom about half were billeted in houses in the town) and 7,000 horses. Waggons and field guns were parked on the Racecourse and the surface churned up.[4]