HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Berkeley Hunt is a foxhound pack in the west of
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Its country lies in the southern part of
Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...
, between
Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
and
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
.


History

The Berkeley Hunt's establishment is said to have been, in its (18th century) day, one of the largest and most important the world has ever known.Charles Richardson, ''The Complete Foxhunter'', Methuen & Co, 1908 Hounds have been kept at
Berkeley Castle Berkeley Castle ( ; historically sometimes spelled as ''Berkley Castle'' or ''Barkley Castle'') is a castle in the town of Berkeley, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. The castle's origins date back to the 11th century, and it has been desi ...
since the 12th century, at first to hunt the stag and the buck, and since the 18th century, to hunt the fox. The Berkeley family of Berkeley Castle (which lost its titles of
Baron Berkeley The title Baron Berkeley originated as a feudal title and was subsequently created twice in the Peerage of England by writ. It was first granted by writ to Thomas de Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley (1245–1321), 6th feudal Baron Berkeley, in 12 ...
and Earl of Berkeley in 1882 and 1942 respectively) still owns the Berkeley hounds and the kennels.


Country

The "hill country" above
Dursley Dursley is a market town and civil parish in southern Gloucestershire, England, almost equidistant from the cities of Bristol and Gloucester. It is under the northeast flank of Stinchcombe Hill, and about southeast of the River Severn. The t ...
and
Wotton-under-Edge Wotton-under-Edge is a market town within the Stroud district of Gloucestershire, England. Located near the southern fringe of the Cotswolds, the Cotswold Way long-distance footpath passes through the town. Standing on the B4058, Wotton is ab ...
is hunted mainly in March and early April, and adjoins the Duke of Beaufort's estate. The "vale country" comprises the Vale of Berkeley, largely dairy and stock farms with much permanent pasture, although the use of this land for growing crops is increasing.


Relationship with the Old Berkeley Hunt

At one time the Berkeley Hunt's hounds were kennelled at Berkeley and at Cheltenham,
Nettlebed Nettlebed is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire in the Chiltern Hills about northwest of Henley-on-Thames and southeast of Wallingford. The parish includes the hamlet of Crocker End, about east of the village. The 2011 Census recor ...
,
Gerrards Cross Gerrards Cross is a town and civil parish in south Buckinghamshire, England, separated from the London Borough of Hillingdon at Harefield by Denham, south of Chalfont St Peter and north bordering villages of Fulmer, Hedgerley, Iver Heath and ...
and Cranford,
Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...
. It should have been possible to hunt from
Berkeley Castle Berkeley Castle ( ; historically sometimes spelled as ''Berkley Castle'' or ''Barkley Castle'') is a castle in the town of Berkeley, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. The castle's origins date back to the 11th century, and it has been desi ...
to
Wormwood Scrubs Wormwood Scrubs, known locally as The Scrubs (or simply Scrubs), is an open space in Old Oak Common located in the north-eastern corner of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London. It is the largest open space in the borough, ...
, 100 miles as the crow flies, although not on a regular basis without disturbing other hunts. This wide range of activity may have begun by the Berkeleys taking their hounds to London each year. In the late 18th century, the fifth Earl of Berkeley lost most of his land in and around Middlesex. The country around Cheltenham and
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
became Cotswold, North Cotswold and Cotswold Vale Farmer's Hunt. Gerrards Cross and Cranford retained the old livery and became known as the Old Berkeley Hunt. They were later divided into East and West.


After the Hunting Act

Although "hunting wild mammals with a dog" was made unlawful in
England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...
by the
Hunting Act 2004 The Hunting Act 2004 (c 37) is an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which bans the hunting of most wild mammals (notably Red fox, foxes, deer, European hare, hares and American mink, mink) with dogs in England and W ...
, which came into effect in 2005, a number of exemptions stated in Schedule 1 of the 2004 Act permit some previously unusual forms of hunting wild mammals with dogs to continue, such as "hunting... for the purpose of enabling a bird of prey to hunt the wild mammal". The Berkeley stresses that its present-day hunting is within the exemptions permitted by law and the death of any fox is absolutely accidental and coincidental to its legal activities and definitely not the purpose of said activities.


Lending a name

: The Old Berkeley Hunt developed a large following among the prosperous London middle classes: * The slang term " berk" is a contraction of "Berkeley Hunt", which in turn refers to the English
vulgarity Vulgarity is the quality of being common, coarse, or unrefined. This judgement may refer to language, visual art, social class, or social climbers. John Bayley claims the term can never be self-referential, because to be aware of vulgarity is to ...
" cunt" (the usage is dated to the 1930s).Jonathon Green, ''Cassell's Dictionary of Slang'' (Cassel & Co.) . It is an example of
Cockney rhyming slang Rhyming slang is a form of slang word construction in the English language. It is especially prevalent among Cockneys in England, and was first used in the early 19th century in the East End of London; hence its alternative name, Cockney rhymin ...
. The "berk" in Berkeley is pronounced , but in
Cockney Cockney is an accent and dialect of English, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by working-class and lower middle-class Londoners. The term "Cockney" has traditionally been used to describe a person from the East End, or ...
it is pronounced , as in
American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and in most circumstances i ...
. * The Hunt-class
mine countermeasure vessel A mine countermeasures vessel or MCMV is a type of naval ship designed for the location of and destruction of naval mines which combines the role of a minesweeper and minehunter A minehunter is a naval vessel that seeks, detects, and destr ...
HMS ''Berkeley'' was named after the hunt. *
Berkeley Square Berkeley Square is a garden square in the West End of London. It is one of the best known of the many squares in London, located in Mayfair in the City of Westminster. It was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architect William Ke ...
in London is named after the family. Berkeley House in Piccadilly was sold in 1696 to the Duke of Devonshire, who demolished it to build
Devonshire House Devonshire House in Piccadilly, was the London townhouse of the Dukes of Devonshire during the 18th and 19th centuries. Following a fire in 1733 it was rebuilt by William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire, in the Palladian style, to designs ...
.


References


External links

* ** {{cite web , url= http://www.berkeleyhunt.co.uk/history.htm , url-status= dead , archive-date= July 8, 2008 , archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080708222826/http://www.berkeleyhunt.co.uk/history.htm , title= Berkeley hunt history Fox hunts in England Fox hunts in the United Kingdom South Gloucestershire District Sport in Gloucestershire