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The History
As the home to the most fashionable pursuit of its time, the Charlton Hunt, which attracted no fewer than fifty peers of the realm, there really was no other place for an eighteenth century aristocrat to be seen. The first Duke of Richmond enjoyed the surroundings of Goodwood so much that he decided to make it his home. His hounds and those that followed were treated like royalty, enjoying spacious living quarters, first at the Kennels and later at Hound Lodge.
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The Goodwood Hunt
Here the hunt would last for days at a time, with guests and hounds returning to Goodwood House and Hound Lodge in a state of excitement and elation.
Seven years after the death of the third Duke of Richmond, his nephew and heir, the fourth Duke of Richmond, gave the Goodwood pack of fox hounds to the Prince Regent; sadly, they subsequently died of rabies.
The Creation of Hound Lodge
In 1883, the sixth Duke of Richmond re-established the Goodwood Hunt with his son, the Earl of March, as Master. The Kennels were converted into dwellings for the huntsman and whippers-in, and entirely new kennels were built across the road for the hounds: Hound Lodge.
The new Kennels (Hound Lodge) were modelled on Lord Leconfield’s kennels at Petworth, with four draw yards in front. To their right a flinted house was built for the huntsman, with seven individual kennels adjacent for whelping.
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Restoration
Unfortunately, the agricultural depression of the later 1880s led to the hunt being disbanded in 1895, after only twelve years. The lower part of the building was eventually converted into accommodation in the mid-twentieth century.
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