Everything you see here at Hickstead today is due to the vision and determination of one man: Douglas Bunn.
Born in Selsey in 1928, Douglas grew up on his family farm near the scenic Sussex coastline. He inherited his father’s love of horses and began riding at an early age, going on to compete in local gymkhanas and horse shows. His talent was obvious from the start, and he was undoubtedly bitten by the showjumping bug – an affliction he would never recover from.
The outbreak of World War II put Douglas’s equestrian ambitions on temporary hold, and the Army took all but four of the family’s 40 horses for the war effort. In 1944, Bunn returned to the showjumping ring, even during his law studies at Trinity College, Cambridge. Later he was called up to the bar, and it wasn’t unusual to spot him wearing white breeches under his barristers’ gown!
His legal career continued alongside his other career in the saddle, and in the 1950s he was a regular part of the British showjumping team. Trips abroad brought home the fact that Great Britain’s riders were not having the same sort of success on the continent that they were at home, and Douglas realised that if the Brits were to raise their game on the international stage, they would need a purpose-built showground on home soil. The idea for Hickstead was born.
Shortly after opening his first caravan park in Selsey – which would provide his main income and allow him to develop his equestrian pursuits – Douglas bought Hickstead Place and its surrounding 30 acres. A further purchase of a neighbouring farm took the total acreage of land up to 100 acres, and after a busy winter of preparations the All England Jumping Course was ready and open for business.
The showground first opened its doors in 1960, and plenty of what has made Hickstead such an enduring success was evident right from the very start. The huge International Arena, with its unique fences and gradients, was unlike anything ever seen in Britain. The ability to get close up to showjumping’s megastars – both human and equine – and to watch unforgettable sporting moments. The atmosphere that blended a stadium sport with a casual country setting, and its location in the beautiful Sussex countryside, accessible from London and close to the ferry ports and Gatwick airport.
The first fixture didn’t attract many entrants, due in part to a clash with Princess Margaret’s marriage to Anthony Armstrong-Jones as well as the FA Cup Final. After Douglas’s impassioned pleas for people to enter the show, he managed to get about 30 riders to compete. Somewhat concerningly, the first six horses to jump in the International Arena all failed to get round, which proved Douglas’s point that British horses were never going to shine on the world stage if they couldn’t perform well on home turf at Hickstead.
Despite this inauspicious start, Hickstead soon gained in popularity, and its second fixture began to attract entries from some of the names who would go on to dominate in the sport. It wasn’t just the addition of permanent fences that made the showground unique – Douglas also wanted to improve the quality of the design and structure of all fences, making them less flimsy, more of a challenge to clear, and more appealing to spectators. Crowd sizes were growing, and riders began flocking to West Sussex from all around the country and even the continent.
Following that initial first season, Douglas came up with the idea of holding a British Jumping Derby, having been inspired by seeing some newsreel footage of the Hamburg Derby at the cinema. On New Year’s Eve 1960, he flew to Germany during a snowstorm to measure the Derby course at the Hamburg showground, much to the bemusement of show officials. He then set about building his own Derby Bank at Hickstead, which ended up being some nine inches taller than its German counterpart. Perhaps this was down to the falling snow making for inaccurate measurements, or maybe it was simply Bunn’s desire to have the biggest and best of everything.
Around 60 entries came forward for the first ever British Jumping Derby. Seamus Hayes, one of Ireland’s best showjumpers, travelled over to West Sussex to take part, and announced to his fellow competitors that he had “come to show them all how to jump the bloody bank!” He did just that, going on to win with the only clear round on Goodbye III. The same year, as a measure of how much of success Douglas Bunn’s enterprise was proving to be, Hickstead hosted its first championships, with Sheila Barnes winning individual gold and Germany winning the team competition at the Junior Europeans.
To date the showground has hosted nine showjumping championships, including the men’s Europeans in 1971 (won by David Broome and Mister Softee) and the most recent Europeans in 1999, where Germany claimed team gold and Alexander Ledermann won individual honours.
In 1971 Hickstead also hosted the prestigious Nations Cup competition for the first time, albeit in an unofficial capacity, and it has been held here every year since 1975 with the only exception of 1997, where it was temporarily moved to Windsor. In 1992, Douglas was asked if Hickstead would host the Royal International Horse Show, the official show of the British Horse Society, and this five-star international event has been held here ever since.
The Master of Hickstead, as he was fondly known, was also a master of invention, and the creation of Hickstead was far from his only contribution to the horse world. He invented the sport of team chasing, and his Eventing Grand Prix is regarded as the forerunner to all arena eventing competitions. He introduced showing classes to Hickstead, and built the first purpose-built working hunter course here, and he brought dressage to a wider audience, firstly with the creation of the British Dressage Derby and later with the launch of Dressage at Hickstead. His launch of the National Schools Jumping Competition in 1964 led to countless other team format competitions, not just for schools but for universities, Riding Clubs and branches of the Pony Club.
No one has summed him up better than his friend Michael Clayton, former editor of Horse & Hound:
"Douglas was undoubtedly the greatest innovator in British showjumping in the post-war years. He succeeded in creating his personal vision virtually on his doorstep at Hickstead - and he made the horse world come to him in his native Sussex.
"Douglas had flair as well as originality in making horse sports fun for the spectator as well as offering a new challenge to the competitor. He relished controversy, and was never afraid to break new ground; his contribution was unique. Above all he was a true horseman, and loved the challenge of cross-country riding in the hunting field as much as the disciplines of showjumping."
Douglas died in 2009, at the age of 81, but his beloved Hickstead continues to flourish in his absence. Despite his fame, Douglas was happiest at home in Sussex, with his children and grandchildren, and they now carry his dream into the future.
To read more about Douglas, click on any of the below links:
The Telegraph
The Times
The Guardian
The Independent
