Bathurst Estate/Cirencester Park (Glos)

“Sir Benjamin Bathurst purchased the current Cirencester Estate in 1695; it remains in the Bathurst Family today and is home to The 9th Earl and Countess Bathurst…The Grade I listed Cirencester Park sits at the heart of The Bathurst Estate and is open to visitors every day of the year for leisure activities to include walking, horse riding, events and more.” A huge 15000 acre estate in the Cotswolds, a ‘magical and exclusive’ wedding venue, and – as the website pushes repeatedly – with ‘miles of uninterrupted riding routes in Cirencester Park.’ An estate, the Cotswolds, miles of uninterrupted riding routes? We must of course be talking about fox hunting. Numerous Earls of Bathurst have been heavily involved with the Vale of the White Horse Hunt (VWH) – at one point the VWH was even known as Lord Bathurst’s Hunt. Without the support of the Bathursts (who brought hounds from across the country to purpose-built kennels now touted as ‘dog friendly; the perfect spot to bring your family and four-legged friends before heading into Cirencester Park for a walk’) there would be no VWH and those ancient links have never been broken. Alexander Bathurst (brother of the current Earl, Allen) is a Master of Foxhounds and laughably described as ‘responsible for trail hunting’ for the VWH (Lord Mancroft, a former master of the VWH, was the spokesperson in the infamous November 2020 ‘smokescreen webinars’ where he suggested that trail hunting was a perfect smokescreen for traditional hunting). The current Lord Bathurst is the founding Director of the annual Cotswold Show which regularly invites the VWH to parade. Groups including the Cotswold Hunt Sabs and Cirencester Illegal Hunt Watch have recorded many meets of the VWH on the Bathurst Estate. The Estate has started charging visitors £4/day to walk through Cirencester Park. Are the public unwittingly helping subsidise the family’s interest in hunting? We would also be very interested to know how much the Earl is charging the VWH to – ahem, ‘trail hunt’ across his land…