'Its always been called that'

Burghley’s iconic fences have remained since its fi rst running nearly 60 years ago. Catherine Austen traces the history of the Leaf Pit, the Trout Hatchery and more

- Catherine Austen

A LARGE part of the draw for spectators to a major horse trials is the chance to walk the crosscountry course, marvel at the size and complexity of the fences, and see what the course-designer has done this time at familiar and famous questions.

The Leaf Pit, the Trout Hatchery, the Dairy Mound – fans instantly associate those names with Burghley, in the same way that Huntsman’s Close and the Vicarage Vee mean Badminton. But, while Badminton’s adjustments to the course over the years mean that we no longer watch riders through Luckington Lane or Tom Smith’s Walls, Burghley’s iconic features have remained constant since day one. Most were created by Bill Thomson, Burghley’s first course-designer.

“That’s something Burghley has done that Badminton hasn’t,” says course-designer Mark Phillips. “I first rode there in 1967, and you had the Leaf Pit, the Trout Hatchery, the Dairy Mound, Capability’s Cutting…”

“I think that continuity makes people feel at home,” says Bill Henson, event director for 16 years until his retirement in 2003. He rode at Burghley in its very early days, admitting that he got eliminated at Capability’s Cutting.

“The Leaf Pit has always been called that – it was where the gardeners came to get rid of the leaves every year when they were cleaning up the park,” he says.

Philip Herbert has been closely involved with Burghley since 1981. He designed the course for five years in the mid-1980s and is still clerk of the course today.

He says: “There have been various incarnations of the Leaf Pit step, but it has always been a two-metre drop and always in exactly the same spot.”