A Settled Future For A Renamed Hunt

Capt Ian Farquhar finds history runs deep at the Cresselly — even though he was attending its inaugural opening meet

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BEING a bit oldfashioned, I always find it rather satisfactory when history repeats itself. With this in mind, I thought it would be fun to attend the inaugural meet of the Cresselly, recently renamed from the South Pembrokeshire.

In 1789, Capt John Bartlett Allen — the squire and colliery owner — formed the Cresselly, based in South Pembrokeshire, the westernmost peninsula of South Wales. The hunt country runs from the deep inlet of Milford Haven bordered by the A40, and on to the county boundary with Carmarthenshire.

It was an area that had been colonised by the Normans, followed by the Flemings at the expense of the native Welsh; it has remained English-speaking ever since and was known as Little England. A line of castles built by invaders and defenders mark this language boundary, known as the Landsker Line.

Capt Allen, an army officer in the First Foot Guards, upgraded Cresselly House from a manor house in 1769, to replace an older building that was too close to the coal mines. Victorian wings were added later, plus kennels for the hounds just half a mile away.

Except for a couple of five year absences, the Allens have remained as masters and owners of this private pack for over two centuries. There were changes over the years, and in 1929 Capt Hugh Allen, the grandfather of the present master, renamed the pack the South Pembrokeshire as a subscription pack, in a probably very necessary move.

Undoubtedly there were some characters in the Allen family, including Henry Seymour Allen, who hunted the country from 1893 for 30 years at his own expense. Being a fitness fanatic, he used to go to bed by climbing a rope from the ground floor to his bedroom on the second floor. The hook is still there today and apparently the rope is in the attic!