Quorn Opening Meet, October 21, 2011 / Nico Morgan photo
The famous Quorn Hunt, founded in 1696, is arguably the oldest hunt in England. It takes its name from the Leicestershire village of Quorn where hounds were kenneled from 1753 until 1904. Hugo Meynell, known as the Father of Foxhunting, served as Master from that date until 1800.
Meynell is credited with organizing foxhunting as we know it today. In his day, the Leicestershire country was open grassland. Meynell devised the system of planting small coverts within the pastureland in which foxes could lie.
At the same time, numerous Inclosure Acts were passed by Parliament to restrict common use of open space by local people for grazing and cultivating. Land parcels were being enclosed with hawthorn hedges, and to follow hounds across the country hunters were now required to jump these hedges.
This new style of hunting appealed greatly to the young swells from London. They flocked to High Leicestershire and rented or purchased hunt boxes in Melton. Referred to by the locals as Meltonians, they drank, caroused, and vied with each other in the hunting field, racing at the inviting hedges. They either proved their manhood or broke their necks.
It was after a day’s hunting with the Quorn that the then Prince of Wales (Edward VIII) met Wallis Simpson and changed British history forever. Prince Charles, the present heir to the throne, was a frequent visitor to the field before the hunting ban.
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Nico Morgan photos
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Posted December 26, 2011