Earliest Meeting: Saturday 3rd February 1866
Final meeting: Saturday 3rd February 1866
The small civil parish of Knockin, in north-west Shropshire, is located 5 miles south-east of Oswestry. It celebrates a rich history, formerly being called Cnukyn, and is surrounded by rural countryside and historic buildings. Knockin Castle, a motte and bailey castle constructed by Guy le Strange in about 1154, no longer exists, although the grass mound on which it stood is now covered by large trees. For a long period of its history the land around Knockin formed part of the estate of the Earls of Bradford. One former member of the wealthy family, John Bridgeman, was Bishop of Chester, and when he died in 1652 he was buried in Knockin church. The local Inn is called the Bradford Arms and still displays the Bradford family coat of arms.
To the south of Knockin is the village of Kinnerley which has its own motte and bailey castle known as Belan Bank. The village no longer has a public house, because the Cross Keys closed in 2014, but had its own railway station as part of the Shropshire and Montgomeryshire railway line, operating between 1866 and 1960.
I am grateful to Ordnance Survey (© Crown Copyright) for permission to use the 1836 map shown below.
Lord Bradford, the 3rd Earl of Bradford, Orlando George Charles Bridgeman, styled himself as Viscount Newport, and was a Conservative politician. He was also a prominent owner of racehorses, with colours of white, scarlet sleeves and black cap. He was a lucky owner, winning the 1865 Cesarewitch with Salpinctes, and won it again in 1879 with Chippendale, who had finished runner-up in two previous runnings of the same race. However, the crowning glory of his period of racehorse ownership was victory in the 1892 Epsom Derby with Sit Hugo (SR 2015), trained by Tom Wadlow at Stanton, and ridden by Fred Allsopp.
Lord Bradford owned extensive estates in the parishes of Knockin, Moreton and Kinnerley, and to mark the coming of age of his eldest son, George Cecil Orlando Bridgeman, born in 1845, a day of celebration was organised on Saturday 3rd February 1866 which included horseracing. The course was laid out in fields behind the Bradford Arms Inn, with the meeting organised by a race committee comprised of A.P.Lloyd, Mr J Hilton, Mr E Griffiths, Mr Richard Morris and Mr J Richards.
Saturday 3rd February 1866
Knockin Silver Cup Steeplechase
- Betsy Baker 6-year-old owned by Mr Ward
- Earl of Exey aged horse owned by Mr Pugh
- Volunteer 5-year-old owned by Mr A P Lloyd
- Victor aged horse owned by Mr Knight
Galloway Steeplechase
- Crucifix owned by Mr Wall
- Little Fan owned by Mr Rogers
- Ginger owned by Mr T Roberts
- The Dove owned by Mr T Jackson
Pony Hurdle Race
- Deceiver owned by Mr W Morris
- Wild Poppy owned by Mr Rogers
- Jerry owned by Mr Payne
After racing, at 6 o'clock, a dinner was served at the Bradford Arms Inn, attended by 70 gentlemen.
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
