WARWICKSHIRE HUNT. 361 



WARWICKSHIRE! AS A HUNTING COUNTRY. 



( FEOM NEW SPORT. MAG., MARCH, 1832.) 



Descending Long Compton Hill, we enter the rich 

 Vale of Warwick.shire, — rich in agricultural productions, — 

 rich in historical recollections, — lavish of rural beauties, — 

 and renowned for the wealth and respectability of its inhab- 

 itants. As a hunting country, Warwickshire ranks third. 

 With some, this point has been disputed ; bvit that it once 

 Was the third-best hunting country in England, no Sports- 

 man, who knows it, can deny. Look first, at its dimen- 

 sions : — it commenced at Hook-norton, just on the confines 

 of Oxfordshire, and ended at the town of Birmingham. 

 So much for its length, at least forty miles. In breadth, 

 say from Wolford Wood to Ladbroke, within two miles of 

 Southam, not less than twenty-five. It comprises a very 

 large tract of grass-land, little inferior to that of Leicester- 

 shire, and bordering on almost the finest part of Northamp- 

 tonshire. It is a practicable country to ride over, although 

 a well-trained hunter is essential ; it is not subject to be 

 flooded ; and though the rivers Avon and Stour run through 

 part of it, foxes very seldom cross them. The Stour is 

 jumpable in some places, and fordable in many 3 and the 

 brooks not generally wide, — the Ladbroke and Walton pre- 

 haps the widest. 



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