When there was a traditional Boxing Day Hunt in Amersham

Many were sorry when the Meet moved to Cholesbury in the 1980s.

The Tyrwhitt-Drakes and Hunting Lord of the Manor

Thomas Tyrwhitt-Drake is credited with being the first of the family to become obsessed with fox hunting at the end of the 18th century.

Historian Julian Hunt believes this was the start of the decline in the family fortunes as brides were chosen for how well they sat on a horse, rather than the size of their inheritance, as in previous generations.

Initially the family hunted in Oxfordshire, with a hunting estate in Bucknell, near Bicester. Thomas’s son, another Thomas, also became Master of the Bicester Hounds.

Painting of the Old Berkeley Hunt at Shardeloes with the Master and huntsmen in their distinctive tawny yellow jackets. This painting was presented to T H Tyrwhitt-Drake in 1894 and is displayed in the Amersham Town Council offices. (Image: Amersham Museum)

In 1888, Thomas’s cousin, another Thomas, which is rather confusing, although this one is Thomas Henry Tyrwhitt-Drake, brought hounds and hunting to Amersham.

A captain in the Indian Army, then living at Little Shardeloes on the High Street, Thomas Henry formed a new pack to hunt the western side of the Old Berkeley.

His cousin built new kennels for the hounds at Coldmoreham Farm and the local tradition of foxhunting with hounds was established with many men in the town employed to support the hunt.

As this was such an expensive pastime the Tyrwhitt-Drakes started to pay for their hunting commitments by selling off land on Amersham Common for the railway, and as building plots.

The family finances were so precarious by 1928, that the then squire, Edward Thomas Tyrwhitt Drake, who was also Master of the Old Berkeley Hunt, was forced to auction a large part of his property in the town.

In 1933, Edward’s cousin, another Thomas, inherited Shardeloes. Thomas was paralysed from the waist down after being injured in a hunting accident in Iraq.

The Hunt

Whilst the hunt was based at Shardeloes and its farms, it hunted over a wide area including Aston Clinton, Great Missenden, the Lee, Latimer, the Chalfonts, and Bovingdon.

The hunt’s proximity to London meant that many travelled out for ‘meets’ in the Chilterns. The Metropolitan Railway even laid on ‘specials’ which brought horse, rider and tack to the station.

Sometimes the Meet would be outside the Station Hotel in Amersham-on-the-Hill to accommodate the travellers. All the local landowners, such as the Wellers and Cavendishes were members of the hunt, but it wasn’t just the preserve of the local gentry.

The Boxing Day Meet in Amersham in the 1950s with St Mary’s Church in the background. (Image: Amersham Museum)

Many farmers, farm workers and shopkeepers joined. In the 1930s, George and John Brazil, who had one of the main butchers’ shops in the town and had just established their sausage factory, were keen members.

John explained in his memoir: “George and I were both keen on horses and hunting. I bought my first horse from Mr Pope, a knacker man at Maidenhead for £15.

I rode him home from Maidenhead to Amersham that very day. Halfway home he lost a shoe, and we cemented our new relationship on the walk to the blacksmith in the next village where he was re-shod on the spot. Although not very tall, Bobby turned out to be an extremely good jumper.

From then on George and I started hunting one day a week”. John Brazil eventually became Master of Foxhounds, a position he held for 24 seasons.

When the traffic became too much for the Boxing Day Meet to be held in Market Square, John had it moved to his farm at Mantles Green.

But he looked back with great fondness to the earlier days: “The Boxing Day Meet at Amersham drew many people just to watch and the streets were lined with all age groups.

In the setting of the picturesque old town, the hounds milled about among gleaming horses and scarlet coats and black caps added to a Christmas Card Market Square.

The atmosphere was wonderful”.

Hunt Saboteurs

Hunt saboteurs did not impact foxhunting in our area until the 1960s.

However, in 1963, Amersham made the national news when it was reported that around 100 members of the League Against Cruel Sports left London at dawn to hold a demonstration at the Boxing Day Meet of the Old Berkeley Hunt at Amersham.

They also crossed the anticipated route laying false trails, and “members of the league paraded in procession with sandwich boards and posters bearing anti-hunt slogans” down the high street.

End of an Era

In 1983, it was reported that: “It will be a Happy Christmas for the foxes of Amersham” because the hunt had switched venues for the December 26 Meet.

Apparently, the decision was taken to move the Meet to outside the Full Moon pub on Cholesbury Common because of the wet ground and large amount of corn planted around Amersham.

Despite the introduction of the Hunting Act in 2004, the tradition of the Boxing Day Meet at Cholesbury continues.

Mounted riders follow the hounds as they pursue a laid scent trail as an alternative to hunting a live fox, which was banned under the legislation.