Image ID: 14754

The Grove and Rufford Hunt at Rufford Abbey

Rufford Abbey
Rufford
England

The Grove and Rufford Hunt hunts fox in a country extending some 30 miles east to west and 40 miles north to south in Nottingham and South Yorkshire. It is bordered by the Trent to the East and the M1 to the West and extends from Newark to North of Doncaster. The Grove and Rufford Hunt was formed by the amalgamation of the Grove and the Rufford Hunts in 1952. The Grove country area was constituted in 1827 by Mr. George Savile Foljambe. From 1832 to 1837 Mr. Foljambe hunted the sand and clay portion of the country, while Colonel Fullerton, of Thryburgh Park, hunted the limestone portion, with kennels at Sandbeck. In 1837 Mr. Foljambe resumed Mastership ofthe whole Grove country. In 1860 a portion of the Grove county, east and south of the Rivers Rother and Don was lent, with defined boundares, to the 6th Earl Fitzwilliam, and this arrangement was continued to the present Earl Fitzwilliam until May 1929, when Lord Fitzwilliam's (Wentworth) having been given up, the country reverted to the Grove. By a fresh arrangement a portion of the county previously lent to Earl Fitzwilliam is now lent to the Barlow Hunt. The Grove kennels were first stablished at Bilby, but were shortly afterwards moved by Mr. Foljambe to Grove, where the hounds remained until 1887, when Viscount Galway built new kennels at Serlby. When Viscount Galway resigned the Mastership in 1907, Earl Fitzwilliam bought the entire Grove pack, and bulding new kennels at Barnby Moor, he placed the hounds and these kennels in the hands of trustees, to be used by himself and further Masters of the Grove Hounds, for hunting the Grove Country. Prior to the amalgamation with the Rufford, the name of the Hunt has reverted to its old one of the Grove Hounds instead of Earl Fitzwilliam Grove Hounds. The Rufford country with Lord Harrington's formed part of the tract hunted by the 4th Earl of Lincoln in 1667. Lord Castleton hunted it in 1709, as also did Lord Scarbrough and Mr. F. Foljambe after him. The hunt is seen here at Rufford Abbey, one of the grand houses of the North Nottinghamshire 'Dukeries' area. The 12th Century Rufford Abbey was founded by Cistercian monks and later transformed for the Talbot and Savile families into a grand country house. The Cistercian order was noted for its spartan way of life and its strict religious beliefs. The monk's lives consisted of work, study and prayer. By the middle of the 14th Century, the abbey was struggling to continue because of the dwindling number of monks. Rufford was one of the first to go when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries around 1536 because of its poverty and run down state. Later the Crown granted the abbey to the Talbot family, one of England's richest and most powerful families. George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, transformed it into a grand country house. In 1626, the Saviles, a rich Yorkshire family took over the house and Sir George Savile rebuilt the house and landscaped the gardens, making it his country seat. Many changes were made over the next 300 years by a long line of Saviles including a stable block, a classic Bath House/Orangery and the creation of the present day lake and mill buildings. In 1931, following the death of the 2nd Lord Savile the estate was sold and, in 1938, the doors of Rufford closed. The remains of the abbey were acquired by Nottinghamshire County Council and the badly damaged north and east wings were demolished and the rest put in the care of English Heritage. The Jacobean wing, which formed the kitchen and servants quarters, was restored in 1997 and now houses a Restaurant. The rest of the gardens and lake are now open to the public as a country park.

Date: 1902

Organisation Reference: NCCN001161

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