Racing
was first recorded at Aylsham in 1805 and continued until 10th October 1810, although there is no evidence of a meeting taking place
in 1809. The course was situated on the Blickling Estate in Norfolk, about a mile and a half North West of Aylsham off the
B1354 Aylsham to Saxthorpe Road, mid-way between Aylsham and Corpusty, and
Beryl Griffths has discovered that the park around Blickling Hall was extended in the 1770s
to provide the room for the racecourse. Between 1810 and 1888 there is evidence that
racing continued between local landowners, and D.J. Lyons has found a reference to the
Aylsham Derby. This event included a number of horse races as well as athletic
competitions. It was attended by people far and wide, with cheap day excursions from Lowestoft, Yarmouth, Cromer and Dereham. The towns archives contain a
poster advertising the 1886 event and a photograph showing the finish of one of the 1883
horse races. The estate itself was owned by Lord Lothian, but since 1940 has become a
National Trust property. Philip Kerr, the 11th Marquis of Lothian, died in 1940
of blood poisoning. He had been His Majestys Ambassador in Washington and was indeed present at the 1937 Coronation when he
drove an Austin 7 in the Coronation procession. When he
inherited the Blickling Estate in 1930 he had to sell some of the artefacts to pay for
death duties. As he had no direct heirs he was instrumental in helping to bring in the
Country Houses Act whereby part of your estate can be passed to the crown in lieu of death
duties, and the crown subsequently passed the estate onto the National Trust. Sue Prutton
remembers her husband being billeted in Blickling Hall while he was a WW2 RAF flight
engineer, and later the estate was used for the filming of the Wicked Lady
which starred Margaret Lockwood. The meeting was revived for a 2 year period in 1888 and
1889, the final meeting taking place on 22nd April 1889. While the old
racecourse is now lost amongst the large area of lowland farmland, the Aylsham Show takes
place there in August, and there still remains a viewing tower well known to the locals,
which was used as an ideal racing grandstand because its flat roof made it an ideal
viewing point. Beneath the flat roof was a reception room together with ancillary
accommodation, making it a superb place to entertain racing guests whilst having the
viewing facility above. The Tower was restored in 1950/51 by T.H.Blyth &
Sons Ltd. when Mr N. De. B. Corbin was the agent for the National Trust.
I am indebted to
Philip R. Williamson, now 72, who provided a map of the racecourse (shown below) based on
his memory of the course when taken there as a youngster. |
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