The Bluecap Memorial stands in the yard of the Cheshire Hunt Kennels in Kennel Lane,

Sandiway Sandiway is a village in the civil parish of Cuddington, Vale Royal, Cuddington, Cheshire, England. It lies to the southeast of and is contiguous with the village of Cuddington. Sandiway was the birthplace of John Douglas (English architect), ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, England. Bluecap was a Cheshire

foxhound A foxhound is a type of large hunting hound bred for strong hunting instincts, a keen sense of smell, and their bark, energy, drive, and speed. In fox hunting, the foxhound's namesake, packs of foxhounds track quarry, followed—usually on hor ...

that was famous for winning a race against the hounds of

Hugo Meynell Hugo Meynell (June 1735 – 14 December 1808) was an English country landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1762 and 1780. He is generally seen as the father of modern fox hunting, became Master of Fox Hounds for the Q ...

of the

Quorn Hunt The Quorn Hunt, usually called the Quorn, established in 1696, is one of the world's oldest fox hunting packs and claims to be the United Kingdom's most famous hunt. Its country is mostly in Leicestershire, together with some smaller areas of ...

in 1763. The memorial is in

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

and consists of an

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...

standing on a plinth, with a brass plaque inscribed with a poem. It is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, an ...

as a designated Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

Bluecap (or Blue Cap) was a foxhound owned by John Smith-Barry, son of the 4th

Earl of Barrymore Earl of Barrymore was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created for David Barry, 6th Viscount Buttevant, in 1627/28. Lord Barrymore held the subsidiary titles of Baron Barry (created c. 1261) and Viscount Buttevant (created 1541) in the ...

, and was a member of the first pack of foxhounds to be founded in Cheshire. The pack was housed in Forest Kennels, Speedwell Hill. In 1763 Smith-Barry was challenged to a bet by Hugo Meynell of the Quorn Hunt, one of the most influential men in the development of fox-hunting, to a race between two of each other's hounds. The race was held over a four-mile course at Newmarket. Meynell's hounds were favourites at odds of 7–4, but Bluecap won easily, and Bluecap's daughter, Wanton, came second. Bluecap became a legend in northwest England, outstripping the rest of the pack, and died at the age of 13 in 1772. Smith-Barry arranged for the memorial to be made, and it was initially erected at Speedwell Hill, being moved to its present position in the yard of the Cheshire Hunt Kennels in 1959. The sculptor of the memorial is unknown.

Description

The memorial is constructed in buff and pink sandstone, and stands high. It is surrounded by a low wall and railings. The memorial has square base, and consists of a square

pier image:Brighton Pier, Brighton, East Sussex, England-2Oct2011 (1).jpg, Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century. A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of ...

with a moulded plinth and

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

, which is surmounted by an obelisk. On the north face of the pier is a brass plate inscribed with details of the foxhound and its owner, followed by a poem, all in

copperplate script A copperplate script is a style of calligraphic writing most commonly associated with English Roundhand. Although often used as an umbrella term for various forms of pointed pen calligraphy, Copperplate most accurately refers to script styles r ...

. The inscription reads as follows:

Other memorials

Bluecap was a great favourite locally, and was painted at least twice. One of the paintings was commissioned by the

Tarporley Hunt Club The Tarporley Hunt Club is a hunt club which meets at Tarporley in Cheshire, England. Founded in 1762, it is the oldest surviving such society in England.

, and hangs in the Swan Hotel in

Tarporley Tarporley is a large village and civil parish in Cheshire, England. The civil parish also contains the village of Rhuddall Heath. Tarporley is bypassed by the A49 and A51 roads. At the 2011 census, the population was 2,614. History Tarporle ...

. Another painting was executed by

Francis Sartorius Francis Sartorius (1734 – 5 March 1804) was an English painter of horses, horse-racing and hunting scenes, of the celebrated Sartorius family of artists. Also known as Francis Sartorius the Elder to distinguish him from his grandson Franc ...

in 1774. The foxhound is also commemorated in ''Ballads and Legends of Cheshire'', written by Egerton Leigh in 1867, and the Blue Cap Inn in

is named after it.

Appraisal

The memorial was designated as a Grade II listed building on 18 July 1986. Grade II is the lowest of the three grades of listing and is applied to "buildings of national importance and special interest".

References

Citations Sources * * * {{coord, 53.22436, -2.60254, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Monuments and memorials in Cheshire Grade II listed buildings in Cheshire Buildings and structures completed in 1772

History

Description

Other memorials

Appraisal

See also

References