Rievaulx Estate (N.Yorks)

Owned and managed by Justin Birkit as Rievaulx Sporting Ltd, and a short distance from Helmsley, the shooting hub of the North York Moors National Park, the Rievaulx Estate is described as “a renowned North Yorkshire high bird shoot, with the Estate benefiting from over 5,000 acres of prime shooting topography”. Just as on pretty much every other overblown website dedicated to violence against birds, copywriters breathlessly assure shooters that “this impressive ground allows the estate to boast some of the finest driven pheasant, partridge and duck shooting in the UK.” The nearby Rievaulx Abbey is not run by the Estate and is managed by English Heritage, but a supporter mailed us to say that last year would be the last time they went “after witnessing shooters there two consecutive years before opening, having breakfast there and being allowed to pose in front of the abbey ruins before being picked up and guided out to the shooting grounds and then having to endure hours of guns blasting in this otherwise peaceful spot we can no longer visit the place”. Which is an entirely understandable reaction…