Cottesmore Hunt
Brass at Cottesmore with the Cottesmore Hounds, by John Ferneley, 1818
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| Hunt type | Foxhunt |
|---|---|
| Country |
 England
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| History | |
| Founded | 1666 |
| Hunt information | |
| Hound breed | Foxhound |
| Hunt country | Leicestershire, Rutland & Lincolnshire |
| Master(s) | Jenny Dale MFH, Bee Bell MFH, Nicholas Leeming MFH, Andrew Osborne MFH, Gemma McCormick MFH & Ashley Bealby MFH. |
| Whipper(s)-in | Robert Medcalf |
| Quarry | Fox |
| Kennelled | Ashwell, Rutland |
| Website | www.cottesmore-hunt.co.uk/ |
The Cottesmore Hunt, which hunts mostly in Rutland, is one of the oldest foxhound packs in Britain. Its name comes from the village of Cottesmore where the hounds were kennelled.
The Cottesmore Hunt's origins may be traced back to 1666 when Viscount Lowther made the long journey by a road with his own pack of foxhounds from Lowther Castle in Westmorland to Fineshade Abbey in East Northamptonshire. The Lowther family sold their pack to the Earl of Gainsborough.
From 1696 to 1779 there had been a joint arrangement between John Manners, 3rd Duke of Rutland, Master of the Belvoir, and the Earl of Gainsborough, Earl Cardigan, Lord Howe and Lord Gower, to hunt one pack on a shared basis in the huge area from Belvoir southwards into East Northamptonshire. Hounds were moved between three different kennels, including Cottesmore, each season. The Gainsborough family withdrew from this joint Hunt in 1732 and took 25 couple of hounds that began to hunt the country later known as the Cottesmore.
In 1776 Tom Noel made an agreement with Hugo Meynell, first Master of the Quorn, known as the "Father of Foxhunting". They agreed on boundaries between the Quorn and the Gainsborough pack, kennelled at Cottesmore, that enabled both packs to draw numerous coverts, including those at Owston, Launde and Tilton, nowadays well inside the Cottesmore country.
Sir William Lowther bought the pack from the Gainsboroughs and hunted the Cottesmore country from 1788 until 1802 when he became Viscount Lowther. At first he rented Stocken Hall, but later rented Cottesmore House where he kennelled the hounds, and from which the pack derived its permanent name.
Lowther made the Cottesmore Hunt more widely popular. "Earl William" and his staff wore hairy flat-topped hats, and it is believed R. S. Surtees depicted them as "The Flat Hat Hunt", with Lord Scamperdale as Master, in Mr Sponge's Sporting Tour.
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Wikipedia