A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 



previously been no line between the L. & N.W. 

 Railway, and the G.W. Railway, the whole 

 country retaining its wild and primitive character 

 owing to its comparative inaccessibility. How- 

 ever, following the Metropolitan has come the 

 Great Central line through Denham, Gerrards 

 Cross, and Beaconsfield to Wycombe, opened in 

 1906, and much building has taken place round 

 the various stations on both lines. When sheep 

 were numerous on the Chiltern Hills the wattle 

 fences to the inclosures were well maintained, 

 but since the passing of agricultural prosperity 

 and the disappearance of many flocks the hedges 

 in most cases are little more than rows of bushes : 

 there is a tendency also to put land under grass 

 with its concomitant wire fencing : covert 

 shooting, too, has become greatly extended, and 

 game farms, to which the light soil is very suit- 

 able, are numerous : all being factors adverse to 

 the hunting interest. Nevertheless, there is a 

 fair stock of foxes, and the hunt remains a popular 

 institution in the country. 



In 1885, therefore, the whole country had 

 fallen vacant, and Mr. Harding Cox, who at 

 different times lived at Missenden Abbey, at 

 Harefield, and at Chorleywood House, succeeded 

 the two outgoing masters. The country was 

 hunted as one, and the Chorleywood kennels, 

 rented from Mr. Howard Gilliat, were again uti- 

 lized. Mr. Cox acquired Mr. Henry Chaplin's 

 famous Blankney pack, and drafts from Lord 

 Waterford's and the Croome were bought at 

 Rugby. W. Wilson and T. Goddard came 

 with the hounds from Blankney as kennel hunts- 

 man and second whippsr-in respectively, Mr. 

 Cox carrying the horn himself. Hounds were out 

 three days a week. Two good runs in Bucking- 

 hamshire are worthy of notice ; the first was from 

 Hodgemoor by Little Shardeloes, Pipers Wood, 

 Ley Hill Common to the hill above Boxmoor, 

 where scent failed. The other took place over 

 a similar line of country the reverse way, namely 

 from Cowcroft, near Ley Hill, by Chesham 

 Bois, Latimer, Rogers Wood, Hodgemoor, 

 Wilton Park, the fox being killed at Wasps 

 Wood near Hedger'ey. 



In May, 1888, a demand for more hunting on 

 the western side led to division of the country 

 once more, and separate establishments have 

 been maintained from that year up to the 

 present time (1907). Mr. Harding Cox con- 

 tinued on the eastern side, while Captain T. H. 

 Tyrwhitt Drake of Little Shardeloes, Amersham, 

 a cousin of Mr. T. T. Drake, the well- 

 known squire of Shardeloes, formed a new pack 

 to hunt the west or Buckinghamshire side. 

 Captain Drake, who had a life-long connexion 

 with the locality, enjoyed the support of all 

 classes concerned with the promotion of fox- 

 hunting. His pack was formed by a strong draft 

 of old and young hounds presented by Mr. 

 Harding Cox, supplemented by purchases from 



the Bicester, Brocklesby, and others. Kennels 

 at Shardeloes were lent by Mr. T. T. Drake, 

 who assisted very materially in starting the pack. 

 Although the stock of foxes in the country was 

 not great, this defect rapidly improved as seasons 

 went by, and good sport was enjoyed until 

 Captain Drake's retirement in 1895. For the 

 two previous seasons he had had as partner in the 

 mastership his cousin, Mr. T. W. Tyrwhitr 

 Drake, son of the gentleman above referred to. 



Among Captain Drake's good runs was one 

 from Rogers Wood, near Amersham, round the 

 Wilton Park estate, through Hodgemoor to Days 

 Wood across the Misbourn to Latimer where 

 the fox was killed. Another was from the Box 

 Wood at Chequers Court through the Hampden 

 Woods past Speen, through the Bradenham 

 Woods to West Wycombe where hounds were 

 run out of scent. A remarkable day's sport took 

 place one frosty day when hounds met at Penn 

 Street attended by a field of only half a dozen 

 riders. A fox from Penn Wood led them through 

 Shardeloes crossing at the head of the lake to 

 Piper's Wood and Amersham Rectory, thence to 

 the Vache where they met the O. B. H. (East) ; 

 the two packs ran on together and killed their 

 fox close to Chalfont St. Giles. In the afternoon 

 of the same day a fox from Hailacre ran by 

 Peterley to the edge of Chequers Big Wood 

 where hounds were stopped at dark. Both of 

 these runs were six-mile points. 



Meanwhile the Eastern Division had in the 

 spring of 1889 passed from the hands of Mr. 

 Harding Cox into those of a committee. The 

 Earl of Clarendon was chairman with Mr. R. B. 

 Webber to supervise the kennels, which were once 

 again at Shendish. This arrangement terminated 

 in the spring of 1891, when Mr. Webber took 

 the mastership, and hounds returned to the 

 Chorleywood kennels. Mr. Webber still con- 

 tinues to hold office to the satisfaction of all 

 concerned. 



Any historical sketch of the hunt would be 

 incomplete without reference to the late Mr. 

 Harvey Fellows of Rickmansworth, who from 

 boyhood was a follower of these hounds and who 

 held the secretaryship of the hunt from 1864 to 

 1889. 



In the spring of 1895 Colonel Alfred Gilbey 

 of Wooburn House, was elected master of the 

 O.B.H. (West), on Captain Drake's retirement. 

 The latter gentleman's hounds were purchased 

 and lent to the country by Sir Edward Lawson 

 (the present Lord Burnham) of Hall Barn, Mr. 

 W. Christie Miller of Britwell Court, Burnham, 

 and Mr. Henry Gold who lived first at Formosa, 

 Cookham, and afterwards at Hedsor. Mr. 

 W. H. Grenfell (now Lord Desborough) lent 

 his old harrier kennels at Taplow Court. Charles 

 Lowman was engaged as huntsman from the 

 Goodwood, which pack was being given up by 

 the Duke of Richmond. The following runs 



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