The Albrighton Hunt is a

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

foxhound pack, with hunting country of around 30-35 miles by within

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

and

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

History

The Albrighton Hunt was preceded by two hunts in the North and South country, called the Shifnal and Enville respectively. There are records of the Enville hunt from 1792, while the Shifnal country was frequently hunted by Sir Richard Puleston from the neighbouring Wynnstay country. The hunt itself came into existence in 1825, with the country then covering from Newport down to

Bewdley Bewdley ( pronunciation) is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District in Worcestershire, England on the banks of the River Severn. It is in the Severn Valley west of Kidderminster and southwest of Birmingham. It lies on the River Sev ...

and

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it had ...

. The existing hunt came into formal existence in 1830, under the patronage of the

Earl of Stamford Earl of Stamford was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1628 for Henry Grey, 2nd Baron Grey of Groby. This Grey family descended through Lord John Grey, of Pirgo, Essex, younger son of Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, ...

Country

The hunt country lies in Shropshire and Staffordshire, with key centres including

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...

and Newport. At the time of the passing of the

Hunting Act 2004 The Hunting Act 2004 (c 37) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which bans the hunting of most wild mammals (notably foxes, deer, hares and mink) with dogs in England and Wales, subject to some strictly limited exemptions; the ...

, which heavily restricted hunting with hounds, the chief constable of Staffordshire Police was John Giffard, also squire of Chillington Hall and direct descendant of the first hunt master, Walter Giffard. Despite this direct link, the officer banned the hunt from his land for hunting.

Point-to-point

The Albrighton hosts an annual point-to-point race, traditionally at

Weston Park Weston Park is a country house in Weston-under-Lizard, Staffordshire, England, set in more than of park landscaped by Capability Brown. The park is located north-west of Wolverhampton, and north-east of Telford, close to the border with Sh ...

, although held at

Bangor-on-Dee Bangor-on-Dee ( cy, Bangor-is-y-coed or Bangor Is-coed) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, on the banks of the River Dee. Until 1974 it was in the exclave of Flintshire known as the Maelor Saesneg, and from 1974 to 19 ...

in 2009 due to damage at Weston Park from a music festival.

References

{{Reflist Sport in Shropshire Sport in Staffordshire Fox hunts in the United Kingdom

History

Country

Point-to-point

See also

Further reading

References