Nocton Bits and Pieces

The Green

The chestnut tree on The Green was planted by Lord Ripon’s one son, Earl de Grey in 1873. This was to commemorate his 21st birthday.

Nocton Estate

Nocton Estate was once owned by a company - Agricultural Estates Ltd. F. Le Neve Foster advised on 9th July 1962 (in a letter to one Mr Ireson), “So far as I recollect, the Estate, with other large farms, was sold by Dennis and Sons to a public company floated by Hatry in 1920 to which the public were invited to subscribe on the basis of a valuation by Knight, Frank and Rutley. This flotation has particular interest because I believe it was the only occasion on which the Public were invited to subscribe to a purely farming enterprise. It was not a success and never paid a dividend.”

Ripon’s Gun Smashes Estimate

(Shooting Times and Country Magazine - 9th September 1999)

Lord Ripon’s shotgun fetched £40,000 at the recent Sotheby sale of modern and vintage guns and rifles at the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire.

The 12-bore hammer ejector was made for Lord Ripon by James Purdey & Sons in 1895. It was the No 2 gun of a pair, which went under the hammer along with the game book from Lord Ripon’s Yorkshire estate. The gun was originally given by Lord Ripon to his head gamekeeper at Studley Royal who passed it on to his son.

Lord Ripon was widely regarded as one of the finest and fastest Shots of his time. He died in 1923 with his gun in his hand on Dallowgill Moor. He recorded 556,813 head of game and, on one occasion, he is reputed to have had seven dead pheasants in the air at one time.