Game Hunting in Winstanley

Game hunting on Winstanley Estate has been a tradition for hundreds of years. 

Starting about 1790, the Bankes family, who purchased Winstanley Hall and Estate from the Winstanley family in 1595, became wealthy from the lease of land for coal mining. With their new wealth, the Bankes family extended the hall, landscaped the estate and bought new lands outside of Winstanley, including a large estate in Scotland. They also fished for salmon in Iceland.

Like many landowners, the Bankes family had a sizeable staff to look after the estate and provide for their sports, food and entertainment. A gamekeeper bred game birds and organized game shooting for the Squire and his guests. Here, I summarized the Game Book for the period 1932 to 1947, kindly provided by Joan Hill to Jim Waring, who lives on the estate. The game keeper was Tom Hill, Joan’s father. A total of 5,570 game were bagged over this period.

The average number of game caught each season, typically September through February, was 371, with a high of 557 in 1941. After 1941 the numbers declined steadily during World War II and in 1944 they were desperately shooting hens.

 Hook from Birch Tree Farm used for hanging pheasants.

Names of the invited shooters accompanying the Squire and the gamekeeper are included in the book and provided by the daughter of Mr. Farrimond, a gamekeeper at Island Dam. During World War II the shooters included Sir John Thursby, Major Pennyfather, Admiral Sir Berkley Milne, Colonel Anderson and Lord Trenchard. After a shoot, the shooters would retire to the Hall for dinner and beverages. 

During World War I units of the army had been stationed on Winstanley Estate, including the Royal Engineers and the 16th and 17th Battalions R.A. who went to Gallipoli. It was also a training and transit camp for the 6th Battalion of the Manchester Regiment. Squire Bankes also offered the British Red Cross Society accommodation for wounded soldiers or sailors.

Derek Winstanley

Champaign, Illinois, USA