Duke of Westminster must stop illegal hunting on his land, demand Cheshire Monitors
And it's not just wildlife that hunts are harming
Cheshire Monitors are calling for hunts to be barred from Easton Estate in West Cheshire. Owned by Hugh Grosvenor, the seventh Duke of Westminster, the estate hosts a number of hunts including the Wynnstay Hunt and Cheshire Hounds. But the monitor group is asking Grosvenor to honour the words of his father and ban all hunting from his land.
Respecting the law
In 2004, the sixth Duke of Westminster Gerald Grosvenor told BBC Radio Five Live that he’d “respect the law” and ban hunting from his land if the pastime became illegal. Despite the Hunting Act coming into effect the following year, hunts continued using Eaton Estate.
Following the Hunt Saboteurs Association’s exposé of meetings appearing to show senior hunting officials encouraging hunts to break the law, Cheshire Monitors are now asking the seventh Duke to follow up on his father’s statement.
The group highlights two incidents on the Duke’s estate, which they claim involved illegal hunting. Notably, in February 2018, the Wynnstay Hunt allegedly chased a fox from the disused Poulton Airfield near Eaton Hall before killing the creature at Chapel House Farm, just outside Easton estate.
On a video taken by Cheshire Monitors, two workmen are heard recounting the scene. One says the hunt was “blowing their horn” as hounds “chased [a fox] right across the field” before going through someone’s back garden. The second workman then says the hounds “were wild” and “tearing [the fox] to bits”. Richard Tyacke, featured in the webinars, was the Wynnstay’s huntsman at the time.
Speaking to War On Wildlife, a spokesperson for Cheshire Monitors said:
We hear that the Duke is a good guy, and that he cares about the world and people around him, and yet we watch hunts and their thugs – under the guise of ‘trail hunting’, which we all know is just one huge scam to enable real fox hunting – repeatedly causing damage, disturbance and misery across his Estate.
But it’s not just wildlife that hunts cause misery to.
Spooked horses, spooked residents
The Citro spoke to an Eaton Estate resident about their experiences with hunting around their home. They described a number of run-ins with hunts, including one incident where terriermen intimidated them after hounds “knocked down fences and caused havoc” on their property.
They are also concerned about their horses during hunt days, saying the horses become “too upset by the hunt”. They emphasised this by referring to one shocking event where a horse, spooked by a hunt chasing a fox, “impaled itself on a fence and had to be shot”.
The resident also said:
I have witnessed them chasing foxes through the main centre of the village, passing the primary school when the children are being collected by their parents.
Despite this, the estate has taken little action. The resident spoke to The Citro on condition of anonymity. And this reflects how others on Eaton Estate feel:
Most of the new young tenants are horrified by the hunt, however, the tenants that have lived here for ages will not speak up. Unfortunately their jobs and homes depend on the estate and wouldn't rock the boat.
Licence and consent
The Citro contacted Eaton Estate about Cheshire Monitor’s campaign, particularly in light of the Hunting Office webinar leaks. A spokesperson for the estate said:
The Eaton Estate does not permit illegal hunting. If there is any suggestion of illegal activity it should be reported to the authorities and, as always, we will support them with any enquiries.
The estate allows non-lethal, trail and drag hunting with dogs, subject to a licence, and the consent of the farm tenants on any land that is let, during the season (autumn and through winter), within the prescribed parameters of the Hunting Act 2004 (c37).
The Citro also asked if the estate had received complaints from residents about hunting on its land but it chose not to add to the statement.
Responding, a spokesperson for Cheshire Monitors told The Citro:
The Eaton Estate may claim that legal hunting is taking place on the estate, but we would like to bring to your attention that the sordid truth about 'trail hunting' has now been revealed [by the webinars]…
Cheshire Monitors, along with numerous local residents including tenants of the Duke… have watched hunts chase and kill foxes countless times on land owned by the Duke. To give just two examples, in February 2018 the Wynnstay Hunt chased a fox from the Duke's private estate… Then in February 2020 a fox was torn to pieces in front of a local family, and some of its internal organs left on their lawn… in the village of Coddington.
Both these incidents were passed to Cheshire Police who created case files for the Crown Prosecution Service.
In light of the revelations [in the webinar leak]… We would be most grateful for confirmation that trail hunting, exempt hunting and hound exercise are no longer allowed on [Eaton Estate].
The Citro understands that neither of the two cases went to court.
Deferred accountability
Eaton Estate’s response is reminiscent of many large landowners’ responses before the webinars leak. Most famously, the National Trust issued variations of a reply saying that the charity ‘doesn’t allow illegal activity’ on its land for many years. The National Trust eventually suspended hunting on its land in November 2020 following the nationwide police investigation into the Hunting Office webinars. Many public landowners made similar decisions, as did some private landowners such as H&M owner Stefan Persson.
Stating that one is against illegal activity and would co-operate with police investigations feels like a cop out (no pun intended) given the well-known problems of the Hunting Act. Superficially, such responses outsource responsibilities of land use to members of the public. Beneath that, however, it acts as a way of letting hunts off the hook through an ‘unlimited semiosis’ of deferred accountability, a maze of pointed fingers receding infinitely into the horizon.
But Hugh Grosvenor can stop this by honouring his father’s words.
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Headline image via Cheshire Monitors
He's an ex junkie.
Probably does loads of coke now.
Bury him someone