Harking back

Visiting beautiful stately homes is one of eventing’s unique selling points, and different locations have come and gone. Catherine Austen takes a nostalgic tour and catches up on plans for two venues that return to the fixtures list in 2020

EVENTING in Britain is known worldwide for its palatial venues. Castles, palaces, stately homes – ever since the Duke of Beaufort gave the sport its first home in this country at his house, Badminton, in 1949, competitors and spectators have had privileged access to some of the finest sporting locations possible.

While Badminton has remained a constant, other equally beautiful events have come and gone over the decades. Who now remembers Harewood in Yorkshire, which ran a major three-day event for four years in the 1950s? However, sometimes historic venues return to the calendar – such as Osberton and Chatsworth, which ran in the 1950s, then as a three-day event in the 1980s, and from 1999 in its present form as a highly prestigious one-day.

This year, both Cornbury House and Cirencester Park will host horse trials for the first time in many years. Both replace “little” Gatcombe fixtures, Cirencester in the spring and Cornbury in the autumn.

David Howden, who rents Cornbury House from its owner, Lord Rotherwick, says: “My family and I have a passion for horses, but as soon as I discovered that so many people had such fond memories of eventing at Cornbury, I thought bringing it back to such a magnificent setting would be a wonderful thing to do.”

Mike Etherington-Smith and his wife Sue ran a novice and advanced event at Cornbury for “six or seven years” in the 1990s.

“Robin Rotherwick evented himself [as the Hon Robin Cayzer, he completed Badminton] and when he took the estate over from his father, he wanted to run an event,” Mike explains. “Cornbury has glorious unspoilt parkland that isn’t open to the public. All the riders came – it was like a Who’s Who of eventing with a great atmosphere, and it’s a pleasure to see it returning.”