GOODWOOD
enjoyed a bonanza of other sports: deer stalking,
grouse shooting and salmon fishing.
Meanwhile, horse racing on the South Downs went
from strength to strength, particularly during the time of
the 5th Duke of Richmond. “Glorious Goodwood” – as
the press dubbed the annual fixture – became an integral
part of the summer season; a final fling before everyone
departed for their holidays. King Edward VII loved
Goodwood, calling it “a garden party with racing tacked
on”. He was a keen race-goer and racehorse owner and a
regular guest at Goodwood House, along with his mistress,
Alice Keppel, and her long-suffering husband, George.
Golf was introduced at the turn of the 20th century and
continued through the First World War, despite the tragic
losses of the 7th Duke of Richmond’s son and grandson.
During the Second World War, a former farm on the
estate was flattened to create RAF Westhampnett,
a satellite station for nearby RAF Tangmere. After the
end of the war, it was turned into the Goodwood Motor
Circuit and became the spiritual successor to Brooklands
as the home of British motor racing. When it closed down
for safety reasons in 1966, some of the greatest names in
British motorsport had raced there, including Stirling
Moss, John Surtees and Bruce McLaren.
Today, Goodwood is the home of the 11th Duke of
Richmond and his family. Building on the sporting
Below: A party at
Goodwood House
during raceweek
in 19 07
Bottom:
Horseracing took
o under the 5th
Duke of Richmondheritage of his predecessors, he has introduced the annual
Festival of Speed and Goodwood Revival, two of the
most important motorsport events in the world, attracting
around 350,000 people each year between them.
The motor circuit has been reopened and the Kennels
made into a club house for all of the sports memberships.
Visitors come from all over the globe to visit the estate,
not only for the headline events and the different sports
on offer but also to visit the house and enjoy the beauty
of the place. There is a hotel, sporting lodge, several
restaurants and cafés, and an organic Home Farm.
At the heart of it all, sits Goodwood House, presiding
over the landscape and witnessing the ebb and flow of
visitors, as it has done for hundreds of years. n
James Peill is curator of the Goodwood Collection.
His new book, Glorious Goodwood: A Biography
of England’s Greatest Sporting Estate, is published
by Constable. http://www.littlebrown.co.ukSTEPHANIE O’CALLAGHANKing Edward VII loved racing at
Goodwood, calling it “a garden
party with racing tacked on”