A modern day mecca - Elveden Estate, Suffolk

Google the word ‘mecca’ and the second definition you will find (after reference to a holy city in western Saudi Arabia) is ‘a place that attracts people of a particular group or with a particular interest’.

In the world of fieldsports there are many such places. They might have a link to a particular quarry – the Test and its mayfly hatch, for example, or Cordoba and its doves – but they’re just as often associated with celebrated characters, too... Those interested in Jim Corbett’s exploits, for instance, will be well-acquainted with Kumoan in Northern India, just as anyone well-versed with stories of Kenzie Thorpe will be drawn to the Wash on the east coast of England.

And so it was with a sense of excitement that I pointed my car towards the Elveden Estate in Suffolk last December – a place renown for its sporting history, and definitely a mecca for the avid game Shot.

Elveden was put on the map good and proper by the Maharajah Duleep Singh, last ruler of the Punjab and head of the Sikh faith, when he purchased the then 17,000-acre estate in 1863. Fourteen years earlier – at the age of 11 – he was persuaded to sign over the sovereignty of his homeland, the Koh-i-Noor diamond and all state property to the British Government.

Moving to England in 1853, the young Maharajah was subsequently granted the rank of European prince, received an annual pension of £50,000, and was accepted as part of the British aristocracy, becoming a court pet of Queen Victoria. So when an appetite for driven game shooting was sparked in his early 20s, Elveden – which already had a reputation as a top-quality sporting estate – was not an unwonted acquisition.

The East Anglian estate’s Georgian hall was transformed into lavish accommodation for high profile guests such as the Prince of Wales and Lord Walsingham, whilst acres of game coverts were planted and thousands of pheasants were released. Before long, Duleep Singh and his guests were shooting a bag of 10,000 pheasants a season, and he quickly became renown as one of the greatest Shots of his era.

Alas, after seasons of poor farming in the 1870s, a downturn in the Maharajah’s personal fortunes and political tensions in government, Duleep Singh left Elveden and England in 1886. After his death in 1893, his executors sold the Hall to Edward Cecil Guinness, whose family (of ‘the black stuff’ fame) still own the estate to this day.

Given its past, it’s hardly surprising that an Elveden gamecard is still a sought-after addition to many people’s gamebook. But modern Britain is a world away from the second half of the 1800s, and maintaining a reputation as a premier sporting estate must be achieved in a different fashion.

Where Duleep Singh’s Elveden majored on luxury, volume and eccentricity, the current owner – the 4th Earl of Iveagh, Arthur Edward Rory Guinness – nurtures a focus on diversity and sustainability. In fact, as a model for a multifaceted rural enterprise, it’s not gushing to say they’re excelling at what they do.

On the day I joined proceedings, the Guns – a team of local friends (farmers, haulage contractors, gardeners and plumbers amongst them) – met for breakfast in the estate’s own pub, the Elveden Inn. We were greeted by our host and estate forestry and conservation manager James Holliday, pegs were drawn, and everyone clambered into the Gunbus.

It was a driven day and the expected bag was around 100 head; typical of the smaller days Elveden offer which, at just £30/bird, are seriously good value for money.

“The estate now covers an area of 23,000 acres,” explained James after lining the Guns out for the first drive in classic Breckland heathland. “And we shoot over 14,000 acres. So we can also offer walked-up days for teams of 2–6 Guns, without affecting the main areas we’d visit on one of the 10 driven days we have each season.” The walked-up days are relaxed affairs, charged per Gun rather than per bird, and often include an al fresco picnic lunch. Guests are more than welcome to work their own dogs, too. “They fit in well with the layout of our ground as we have a lot of narrow pine belts,” added James. “And the bag, which is usually somewhere between 15 and 30 birds, is always very mixed and often includes pheasants, ducks, pigeons and even corvids.”

The ground screams shooting despite being so flat, and the birds fly admirably. Rough corners, pockets of gorse and conservation grassland lie between the pine woodlands. Wildlife abounds.

In fact, Elveden’s conservation credentials are something to shout about and testament to the passion of the Guinness family. Each of the estate’s 12 heathlands are designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest, home to speciality flora such as Breckland thyme and speedwell, Spanish catchfly and perennial knawel. A number of rare bird species are also present, including woodlark, nightjar and stone curlew – the latter benefiting enormously from the work done by keepers Gerald Magennis – who has been with the estate now for 30 years – and Josh Heffer.

“During the nesting season, the keepers will keep a vigil on the stone curlew nests from afar and work closely with the farm department to help safeguard the species under a special license,” explained James. “We can have 40 per cent of the Breckland stone curlew population here on the estate, and up to 10 members of staff and volunteers, including the keepers, will help with the ringing project and end-of-season counts.” Add to this pond restoration projects, well-positioned nectar and pollen mixes and even a bespoke, 30-metre long bat hibernaculum, and there’s no doubt the team at Elveden put back much more than they take.

“The main challenge for us is probably the size of the estate,” opined James. “That, and the fact that we are bordered on the north and south by commercial forestry blocks which are havens for predators, can make life difficult for our keepers.”

The second drive of the day saw the Gun line split by a long belt of pines which ran between a field of winter wheat and a block of root crops. And boy did the birds climb! Skies full there were not, but the steady singles and pairs tested the Guns in an almost cruel fashion. I stood with Keith Cook who brought down some stonking 40-yarders. The picking-up team, made up of Bob Feast, Linda Hudson and Ole Jensen, stayed well back, allowing the Guns with dogs to pick birds around their pegs before sweeping through afterwards.

Walking back to the Gunbus for refreshments, it was smiles all round. Our footprints joined those of fallow and muntjac in the sandy soil; James would later tell me that roe and red deer are also resident on the estate in good numbers, and two full-time stalkers are employed to manage them and accompany paying stalking guests.

Elevenses of port, pastries, pickles and chutneys were served from the Gunbus as the team reflected on their morning. It was warm for December which made the hustle and bustle of activity surrounding the estate’s sizeable Christmas tree operation seem a little bizarre. That said, the myriad of Elveden’s enterprises – which also include an instant hedgerow nursery, vegetable, cereal and livestock production, a courtyard shopping area, a restaurant, and onion and potato marketing businesses – feel a world away on a shoot day. Until the end of the day, that is, when all shot game is processed through the estate butchery before finding its way onto the menus of the restaurant and the inn.

We didn’t break for lunch but shot through, stopping for another bite to eat and a snifter in the afternoon to keep hunger at bay. There were seven drives in total, which allowed us to see a sizeable portion of the estate, and they were varied enough that I can remember each vividly even now. The 16 drives which make up the shoot are a rough split between woodland and game cover comprising maize, Kings Moir mix, winter cover, and pollen and nectar mixes.

Of particular note were the three drives in the afternoon. Tom Turner’s saw the line stand further back with several pegs beside a pond with well-established reed beds, which made for a stunning setting. Golf Course II, meanwhile, required quick reflexes as the partridges pinged over the Christmas tree plantations and zipped over the line in criss-crossing coveys. It was Young Curlew, though, regarded as Elveden’s signature drive, that spiked the team’s adrenaline more than any other. With their backs to a block of pine woodland, the whole line could watch their fellow Guns tackle the pheasants which launched themselves from the wide belt of trees way out in front, and crossed the field of winter stubble as their frantic wingbeats lifted them higher.

As the Guns convened to discuss the closing show, I wondered what Duleep Singh and his comrades would think about it all. But I also thought about how those in years to come would perceive the Elveden of 2016. With such a sustainable and forward-thinking approach, could the modern-day Elveden become a mecca for a different reason?

Bag: 104 head.

Guns: Keith Cook, Terry Gardiner, James Gardiner, Darren Gardiner, Horrace Friston, Jason Attridge, Chris Glass & Dennis Cook.