Earliest meeting: Wednesday 6th April 1870
Final meeting: Tuesday 26th March 1878
Malmesbury, the oldest Borough in England, was created in 880 AD around Malmesbury Abbey. Today it is a small market town, but racing first took place on nearby Charlton Park in 1870 under the direction of the Beaufort Hunt. Charlton Park House is a Grade I listed building within a large estate north east of Malmesbury in Wiltshire. The estate, owned by the Earl of Suffolk, was built in 1607, while the tiny village of Charlton lies to the east of the estate. The inaugural race meeting was held on Wednesday 6th April 1870 at Bishoper Farm on the outskirts of Charlton Park. The 2 ½ mile course consisted of 16 fences, the most difficult being a leap over 15 feet of water and then a fence, and the start was at Bishoper Farm House. The organisers were rewarded with a crowd of almost 6000 people, and a medical gentleman was also in attendance, which seemed quite advanced for the time. The Beaufort Hunt is known to have been in existence since at least 1786 when the then 5th Duke of Beaufort had a pack of hounds. However, it took almost another hundred years before the Hunt Committee organised its own steeplechase meeting. That inaugural 2 day meeting took place in Westbury on Tuesday 17th and Wednesday 18th December 1867 and then became a roving meeting for the next 11 years. The meeting was staged at various times at Dauntsey, Little Sodbury and Charlton Park before resting on Sherston and Alderton. The Beaufort Hunt organised further meetings at Charlton Park in 1871, 1876 and a final meeting in 1878 after which racing ceased for 9 years. The final meeting of the Beaufort Hunt under rules was on Saturday 14th April 1956 when a certain John Lawrence, later to become Lord Oaksey, rode at the meeting claiming 7 lbs.
Duke of Beaufort, Marquis of Worcester, Viscount Andover, the Earl of Suffolk
Beaufort Cup, Beaufort Sweepstakes, Consolation Stakes
Wednesday 6th April 1870
Beaufort Cup over 2 ½ miles
1. Little Tommy, bay gelding owned and ridden by Mr Hynam
2. Quiz, chestnut gelding owned by Mr F Poole and ridden by Mr B Lyne
3. Triangle, brown mare owned by Mr Cave
The article below is from the Wiltshire Independent Thursday 7th April 1870
Although there is little evidence of the previous course, the Beaufort Hunt still organises point-to-point meetings, although they are held at Oldbury on the Hill near Didmarton.
Much of the information about this course has been found using internet research and is in the public domain. However, useful research sources have been:-
London Illustrated News
Racing Illustrated 1895-1899
The Sporting & Dramatic Illustrated
Northern Turf History Volumes 1-4 by J.Fairfax-Blakeborough
The Sporting Magazine
A Long Time Gone by Chris Pitt first published in 1996 ISBN 0 900599 89 8
Racing Calendars which were first published in 1727
