The Old Surrey, Burstow and West Kent Hunt is an English foxhound pack, [1] with hunting country covering around 42 miles east to west and 30 miles north to south, within the counties of Surrey, Sussex and Kent. [1] [2] [3]
The Old Surrey, Burstow and West Kent Hunt is an English foxhound pack, [1] with hunting country covering around 42 miles east to west and 30 miles north to south, within the counties of Surrey, Sussex and Kent. [1] [2] [3]
The hunt was formed by the merger of three separate foxhound packs: the Old Surrey, the Burstow and the West Kent. [1]
The first recorded pack on the Surrey country was in 1735 at Lovells Grove, Croydon, where the Earl of Onslow lived, and by 1800 a pack for members of the merchant class (as opposed to the aristocracy) was hunting the country. [4] In 1808 is found the first evidence of the Old Surrey pack, based in Godstone, and retaining the merchant membership. [5]
The Burstow pack dates from around 1866, having previously been a harrier pack. Having been originally based at Poundhill, the pack moved to Felbridge in 1909. [5]
In 1915, the Old Surrey and Burstow hunts amalgamated, and took the Felbridge base of the Burstow as their home. [5]
The West Kent hunt dates back to 1776, and did not join with the Old Surrey and Burstow until 1999. [5]
The hunt covers three territories, as a result of the merger of the three former hunts, which gives the hunt a large country, although a large portion is not huntable due to urbanisation, roads and railway lines. [2] The country runs from the M23 motorway in the west to Hadlow in the East, and from the Isle of Grain in the North to Fletching in the south.
Settlements within the hunt's country include Edenbridge, Horsted Keynes, Penshurst and Mereworth. [6]
The hunt is linked to branches of The Pony Club including an Old Surrey and Burstow Branch.
The Harrier is a medium-sized dog breed of the hound class, used for hunting hares by trailing them. It resembles an English Foxhound but is slightly smaller, though not as small as a Beagle. The breed has been used since the mid 13th century.
Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, normally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds", follow the hounds on foot or on horseback.
A foxhound is a type of large hunting hound bred for strong hunting instincts, a keen sense of smell, and their barking, energy, drive, and speed. In fox hunting, the foxhound's namesake, packs of foxhounds track quarry, followed—usually on horseback—by the hunters, sometimes for several miles at a stretch; moreover, foxhounds also sometimes guard sheep and houses.
Beagling is mainly the hunting of hares and rabbits by beagles using their strong sense of smell. A beagle pack is usually followed on foot, but in a few cases mounted. Beagling is often enjoyed by 'retired' fox hunters who have either sustained too many injuries or lost the agility to ride horseback, or who enjoy the outdoors and the camaraderie of the hunt. It is also traditionally a way for young men and women to learn how to handle hounds on a smaller scale before they go on to hunt with foxhounds.
The Duke of Beaufort's Hunt, also called the Beaufort and Beaufort Hunt, is one of the oldest and largest of the fox hunting packs in England.
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Horne is a rural village and civil parish in the District of Tandridge in Surrey, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Newchapel, where the British Wildlife Centre is situated. Eastern fields forming a narrow part of the parish are split by the A22 road, a main road to East Grinstead.
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The Staghound, sometimes referred to as the English Staghound, is an extinct breed of scent hound from England. A pack hound, the breed was used to hunt red deer and became extinct in the 19th century when the last pack was sold.
The West Country Harrier, sometimes called Somerset Harrier, is a breed of scent hound from the south west of England that is used to hunt hare in packs. The West Country Harrier is often considered to be a variety of the more common Harrier breed, which is sometimes referred to as the Studbook Harrier.