THE CLUMBER SPANIEL

Product Description

By Grayson & Furness: Publisher - The Boydell Press

The beginnings of the Clumber spaniel are uncertain. That they were bred on the Clumber Park estate at Worksop, home of the dukes of Newcastle, is undisputed, but where they first came from and exactly what breed or breeds were used to secure their individual appearance is still a matter for conjecture.

The Clumber has been described as the "spaniel of aristocrats and the aristocrat of spaniels" and over a period of 200 years it has been promoted by dukes and favoured by kings and princes. The interest and enthusiasm shown for the breed by Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) and, in the 1920s, by George V, resulted in a period of popularity for the breed, but with the death of George V and the subsequent dispersal of the royal Clumbers there came a decline in numbers.

By the 1960s a revival of interest was taking place, since when the white spaniel has become increasingly successful. Much of the present-day success the breed enjoys is attributed to Rae Furness' breeding programme in her Raycroft Kennels, from where top-quality stock has made its way to entusiasts for the breed both in the UK and overseas.