Southwick Estate (Hants)

“Southwick Estate is situated in the south east corner of Hampshire…With picturesque Southwick village at its heart, our thriving estate includes homes, farms, businesses, shops, public houses, churches and woodland…The Estate forms part of the ancient Forest of Bere, a royal hunting park.” In other words, a place where the wealthy and privileged came to kill deer. Which is ironic (in a grim sense) because in December 2024, South Hampshire Hunt Sabs recorded a deer kill on the estate by the Hursley Hambledon Hunt – a hunt kenneled at Droxford, just a short drive to the north. The hunt had been served drinks by the Golden Lion pub just hours before. Illegal under the Hunting Act, the sabs say that the kill was “immediately reported to the police, and footage of the incident is with the wildlife crime team.” The estate says on its site that they “actively manage our woodland for the benefit of the natural landscape and ecosystem” – if allowing a hunt to kill the forest’s wildlife is part of that ‘management’, we are highly unimpressed…