A History of the Exmoor Foxhounds and Masterships

Early Days on Exmoor.

There is little evidence left of foxhunting on Exmoor before the 1800s, but it is likely that parts of the area were hunted by small, local packs of hounds, probably of west country harrier descent. The main area of Exmoor (The Exmoor Forest) was hunted as a Royal Forest in Queen Elizabeth I's time with hounds being kennelled at Simonsbath, but these were staghounds and the hunting and well-being of the Exmoor red deer has continued to be a very important feature right through to the present day.

In 1820 John Knight, a Worcestershire iron master, bought the Exmoor Forest from the Crown for £50,000, and spent a fortune on reclaiming the moor for very little return. All of his farms still remain, and much of the farming landscape that can be seen nowadays is a legacy from the work of John Knight, and his son Fredrick who took over from his father in 1850. Fortunately, the Knight's were very keen on hunting and when the estate passed to the Fortescue family on the death of Fredrick Knight in 1897 the future of the chase was assured.

From 1860 to the 2nd World War.

During the 1860's famous names such as Lord Portsmouth, Mr Luttrell, Mr Rayer, Mr Froude Bellew, and of course Parson Jack Russell, all hunted parts of the present Exmoor Foxhounds' country with their own hounds and at their own expense. The nearest hounds were probably those of Mr Phelps who had kennels in Parson Street, Porlock and he hunted hare in the vale and foxes on the moor with his west country harriers.

The real beginnings of the Exmoor Foxhounds began when Squire Nicholas Snow (an ardent Staghunter) collected a few hounds together and kennelled them at his home, Oare Manor, to hunt hare. The story goes that Parson Jack Russell persuaded him to draw for a fox one day from Brendon Two Gates and, after the fox had given a good hunt from Farley Water Combe, the Squire thereafter hunted only foxes with his hounds. As the seasons passed, he developed and bred a celebrated pack of mostly light-coloured hounds which gained the nickname of the "Stars of the West" and the Squire was renowned for good sport and the quiet way with which he handled his pack in the hunting field.

Following a bad fall the Squire was forced to give up the Mastership in 1889, though the hounds remained at Oare. It appears that the quality of sport declined dramatically until a young man, the Hon. Lancelot Bathurst, appeared on the scene to take on the Mastership during the winter. Although he came in for much criticism at the outset, with the support of Squire Snow and the help of the Squire's experienced servant George Barwick the young master began to show some sport. By the time he had to resign due to family commitments in 1894 he had become a popular figure on Exmoor and was presented with a large silver bowl as a memento of his Mastership at a party held in his honour at Oare Manor.

The Mastership was now taken up by Sir William Williams who took the hounds to Upcott, near West Buckland in what is now Dulverton West country. Things didn't work out very well from the start and Sir William soon took them back to Oare and hunted them from there until he suffered a heart attack and died suddenly in 1903.

There now followed a shaky few seasons during which there were three short Masterships and after much bickering Mr Hubert Brunskill took himself and the hounds away to the South Devon country during the 1906 &endash; 07 season. A committee was immediately formed and the situation saved when Mr M H Salaman and Mr Ross purchased a pack and lent them to the committee. Later that season Mr Salaman agreed to become master, and the hunt prospered with this generous and popular man at the helm.

Hounds remained at Oare, and when Mr Sam Slater took over the Mastership from Mr Salaman in 1911 things were on a firm footing and sport was good. This stability continued throughout this period (despite the First World War years), with Mr Slater (later Captain Slater) as either the Master or serving on the committee until 1926. Mr A Y Thomson (1912 &endash; 13), Mr J L Newman (1921 &endash; 23) and Mr B C Wood (1921 &endash; 24) assisted during the Captain Slater's era.

Mr J L Newman, who had been a hard working secretary since 1919, and Master in 1921, took on the mastership for one season when Captain Slater resigned in 1926, and then Colonel R E Negus took up the reins until 1935. This was another period of stability for the Exmoor Foxhounds with a popular man at the helm, but it was tinged with sadness when the Colonel's young son died while at Harrow School. He had been very keen on the hounds and spent as much time as possible helping at the kennels. A memorial to the young man was placed at Chapmans Barrows, overlooking Swincombe, and is dedicated to "Master Robin".

On his retirement in 1935 a committee ran the hunt with Colonel Negus and Colonel R Alexander acting as field masters on hunting days, then in 1937 Colonel Alexander became Master, having been secretary since he had retired from the army in 1928. During the season 1938 &endash; 1939 the Hon. Peter Wood joined the Mastership and hunted hounds with great skill for one season but he was later to became one of the many young men who lost their lives during World War II.

During Colonel Alexandra's Mastership, on May 1st 1939, hounds were moved from Oare to a new kennels at Balewater. The property had initially been built to house workers who were employed by the Knight family to quarry and work slate, and to burn lime for the use in the agricultural reformation of Exmoor. More recently it had become a small-holding on the Fortescue estate. Conditions at the kennels were very basic and although new stables were built and a stud groom's house added to the accommodation, there was no electricity, or few modern amenities. Mrs Martin, Victor's wife, worked hard providing lodgings in the huntsman's house for the whipper-in, plus cooking, washing, and cleaning and also doing various tasks to help around the kennels, especially on hunting days when the staff were off the premises for most of the day and often much of the night.

Miss Mabel Faulkner came to office when Colonel Alexandra retired in 1940, and she saw the hunt through the very difficult war years when the huntsman, Victor Martin, was called away on war duty. With only a tiny guarantee from the committee, Miss Faulkner carried the financial responsibilities and made the most of local help to look after and hunt the hounds. She was highly thought of by the local Exmoor people, and through her devotion to the hounds and horses the hunt was on a secure footing when Colonel Guy Jackson joined the Mastership in 1946. She was looking forward to enjoying the hunting following the end of the war but was tragically killed when a new horse she was trying fell and rolled over her while hounds were hunting near Codsend on 9th September, 1946.

Post War Years.

Colonel Jackson was to be Master from 1946 &endash; 1960. He was a most remarkable man having had a distinguished army career as Commander of the Warwickshire Yeomanry, saw action at Alamein and in Italy and he was awarded the DSO. Then, after the fighting had ended, he lost both of his legs in a minefield explosion. Having spent quite a lot of time on Exmoor before the war, hunting with the Staghounds and Foxhounds, he returned to Oare Manor and his family to convalesce. He was determined to carry on living his life as normally as he possibly could, and so before too long he had taught himself to ride again and was soon hunting. During his Mastership, he gained a very high reputation as a man of integrity, kindness and fun and it was another golden era for the Exmoor Foxhounds.

Mr J B Hosegood was invited by Colonel Jackson to join the Mastership from 1956, and until the season of 1961 Mr Hosegood hunted hounds two days a week while Victor Martin continued to hunt the hounds on the remaining day. During this time, Mr Hosegood was also largely responsible for bringing the kennels at Balewater into the 20th century when electricity was installed by means of a generator and the water supply, drainage and storage areas were brought up to date. With Mr Hosegood's business connections with the local farming community the Exmoor Foxhounds continued to enjoy great popularity from the locals, plus ever more numbers of hunting visitors during the springtime.

In April 1960, Colonel Jackson died suddenly at his home in Exford. With arrangements having already been made for the following season, Mrs Jackson said she would take her husband's place and join the Mastership.

Mrs Jackson then carried on as sole master from 1961 &endash; 1964 with Victor Martin continuing as her huntsman, and when they both retired at the end of April, 1964, Mr J B Hosegood returned to take up the reins with Andy Fairington as his new kennel-huntsman. This was the situation at Balewater for ten good seasons, until Andy Fairington retired and was replaced by Alfred Dyer. Mr Robin Pugsley now joined the Mastership for three seasons.

The Modern Era.

In 1977, a huge change took place in the history of the Exmoor Foxhounds when Captain R E Wallace came down to Exmoor from Gloucestershire to join Mr Hosegood plus Mr R Pollock in the Mastership. Captain Wallace brought with him from the Heythrop many of the lovely hounds that he had bred to join the Exmoor pack, also Anthony Adams came from the Heythrop as kennel-huntsman. Captain Wallace and Mr Hosegood shared the hunting of the hounds, each hunting their own hounds once or twice a week. The kennels had also to be altered to accommodate this larger establishment, and Mr Hosegood had organised a large group of volunteers to build a new hound lodge and yard and had it all ready for May 1st 1977. Mr A Edgar joined the Mastership in 1980.

This partnership looked set to last for a long time, but Mr Hosegood suffered ill health during the autumn of 1981 and had to relinquish the Mastership. This brought to end a distinguished career as Master and Huntsman which had lasted for 32 years in the West Country.

On May 1st 1982 Mr T Finch joined Captain Wallace and Mr Edgar for a total of six seasons, Anthony Adams left to go as huntsman to the Warwickshire and was replaced by Tony Wright as kennel-huntsman. To start with the kennel-huntsman only hunted hounds when Captain Wallace was away on MFHA hunting business, but after a short time was gradually allowed to hunt the mixed pack on a more regular basis. In 1989 Mrs Charmian Green joined the Mastership for one season, renewing a link to the Exmoor of old as she was the daughter of Colonel Jackson.

Lady Caroline Gosling became Master with Captain Wallace from 1990 until 1994 with Miss F Busby joining the Mastership in 1993, and Mr J S Hosegood for two seasons from 1994. Captain Wallace relinquished the hunting of the hounds in 1997, allowing Tony Wright to hunt both the mixed pack and the bitches.

In 1999 Mr N Hawksley joined Captain Wallace and Miss Busby for four seasons, and Mrs E Verity joined the Mastership in 2001 which included the foot and mouth crisis of 2001 when hounds were confined to kennels from the late summer for twelve weeks while restrictions were imposed on the local area. Hounds were finally allowed to hunt again in early January, 2002 when they scored a five mile point from Limecombe to Old Scoresdown on their first morning

Captain Wallace was killed in a car crash on February 7th, 2002 and so ended the remarkable life of a dedicated hunting man. He had been Master of Foxhounds for a consecutive 58 seasons. Before that he had been Master and Huntsman of Beagles for 3 seasons, and during his foxhunting days had been Master and Huntsman of the Hawkstone Otterhounds for 24 seasons. While he was at Eton his holidays were spent with his family staying on the Brendon Hills from where he hunted with the Devon and Somerset Staghounds, the Exmoor Foxhounds and as many other local packs as he could fit in. His gift for hunting hounds was soon recognised from the earliest days, and by the time war was over and he went as Master to the Ludlow his name was already well known in the Hunting World. He left the Ludlow to go and hunt the Cotswold, and from there to hunt the Heythrop and it was while he was here that the 25 seasons producing unsurpassed sport wearing the green Heythrop livery and was to secure his place in the annuls of foxhunting forever. When Captain Wallace moved down to Exmoor in 1977 he brought with him some of the fruit of his 37 years of breeding hounds, and then with a doghound called Exmoor Fortescue'77 the tradition of hounds bred by Captain Wallace taking the top honours at the Royal Peterborough Foxhound Show continued once again, and the Exmoor had their first Peterborough Champion. Many more followed, both doghounds and bitches. However, the quality of the Exmoor pack wasn't just in their conformation because the Exmoor continued to show great sport, and catch a large number of foxes. While at the Exmoor, Captain Wallace introduced several new bloodlines into his hounds' breeding, using hounds from the Lake District, America, plus lines from the Old English roots of the Foxhound Studbook and also the nearly defunct West Country Harrier bloodlines. All of these will be of huge benefit to those people entrusted to the careful breeding of hounds far into the future.

Mr Hawksley left the Mastership at the end of April 2004.

The Hunt Staff over the years.

George Barwick (1869 - 1923) He was Squire Nicholas Snow's personal servant who had a variety of duties while the Squire was alive. His main duties were increasingly with the hounds, and he continued after the death of the Squire as either huntsman or kennel huntsman until he was forced to retire following his bad fall in 1923.

Bob Ellis (1907 -1934) Bob Ellis joined the staff at Oare as assistant kennel lad/stable lad in 1907, became whipper-in in 1911, and huntsman when George Barwick was forced to retire. In 1934 a similar fate befell him when injury resulting from a fall forced him into retirement.

Victor Martin (1917 - 1964) Victor joined the kennel staff in 1917, got the sack shortly afterwards following the death of a horse out hunting, then was quickly re-instated when it was discovered that he wasn't to blame. When Bob Ellis became huntsman in 1923 Victor moved up to the post of whipper-in, and became huntsman in 1934 when Bob Ellis retired. He moved with the hounds to the new kennels at Balewater in 1939 but was called away on war duty from 1940 - 1945. He had a very strong constitution, was very popular with the farmers and shepherds, but numerous falls took their toll on Victor and in his later years he suffered a permanent lameness. His riding skills and knowledge of Exmoor were such that few riders could keep with him when his hounds were running hard. He is featured on his grey horse "Peter" in the Lionel Edwards painting of the Exmoor Foxhounds at Saddlegate and a memorial stone to him can found by those who know where to look.

Bill Langdon (1940 - 1945) Bill Langdon was Miss Faulkner's huntsman during the war years. When hunting and kennel duties where complete he worked on the Fortescue estate helping to produce food for the war effort. His whipper-in was another Fortescue estate worker, Eric Watts, who used to ride, carrying the terrier and a spade in a bag on his back.

Andy Fairington (1964 - 1974) Andy joined Mr J B Hosegood as kennel-huntsman having hunted the Mendip Farmers for 10 seasons, spent many years before that with hounds in Ireland, and previous to that been in service to the Western Foxhounds in Cornwall for 16 seasons. He was seventy when he retired, but had the energy of many half his age. He collected the car caps from foot followers for a further 12 years and was a wonderful ambassador for the Exmoor Foxhounds.

Alfred Dyer (1974 - 1977) Alfred had served as whipper-in to Victor Martin for the 1960 - 1961 season and moved on to work for the Devon & Somerset Staghounds, so was well acquainted with Exmoor when Mr Hosegood engaged him as kennel-huntsman. He hunted hounds on the days when Mr Hosegood was busy with his work commitments.

Anthony Adams (1977 - 1982) Anthony had worked for the VWH, been whipper-in at the Ledbury, was with Captain Wallace as 2nd Whipper-in at the Heythrop and moved down with the Captain and the hounds from Chipping Norton. He had the difficult job of working for two forthright bosses at the same time while at the Exmoor, but such was his cheerful nature he performed his duties seamlessly in a most professional way. He was much liked by the Exmoor community and deservedly went on to reach the top of his profession, firstly with the Warwickshire and then as huntsman to the Heythrop.

Tony Wright (1982 - to the present day) Tony followed his father, Sam, into hunt service and started his career at the Heythrop, riding second horse to Captain Wallace and Tony Collins in the winter and working in kennels during the summer for three seasons. A move to Leicestershire saw him riding top class horses while being whipper-in to the celebrated Quorn huntsman, Michael Farrin for three seasons as 2nd whipper-in and then for four seasons as 1st whipper-in. While Anthony Adams was with the Exmoor Tony and his wife, Jill, used to stay at Balewater for a week every August for a hunting holiday. When, in August 1981, Captain Wallace offered him the kennel-huntsman's job Tony jumped at the chance to have a permanent paid holiday, something he has enjoyed ever since!