Welcome To My Life Story: Growing Up In A Stately Home

My Name is Viv Wilson (née Bickerton-Jones)

...and I grew up in a 70 roomed stately home in Staffordshire called Hoar Cross Hall. I've always been an avid diary writer and in my blog I'm going to be using extracts from the diaries I've kept all my life. I will be posting on a weekly basis, so subscribe and see what life was like living in a house like this - not quite like Downton Abbey!

How it began...

It was the summer of 1970, Mungo Jerry was at the top of the hit parade and we were about to move house, but not to any old house – to a 70 roomed mansion in 20 acres of grounds! For years my dad had collected antiques, ever since he was a young boy of 12, and it was his dream to own a large house where he could put them on show to the general public. In the 1970's he ran a motor racing team and owned the largest private collection of arms and armour in the country and his dream was about to be realised; but little did we know what a nightmare would unfold before us.

Click here to read from the beginning, and don't forget to subscribe to get the weekly instalments of my story, published every Monday.

Viv Wilson (Bickerton-Jones

*If you visited, or worked at the hall during the 70's, have any interesting facts about Hoar Cross in general, or came to any of our events (or parties!), please get in touch through the contact form below!

from the album

My Home

Hoar Cross Hall

This was my home throughout the 1970's until I left in 1980 to get married.

Me and my Brothers

ON THE TERRACE

I had an unusual young life surrounded by antiques and fast cars.

Hoar Cross Hall

in its heyday

The hall was originally built for the aristocratic Meynell-Ingram family.

Life At The Hall

Latest Posts View All

Ghostbusters! #7

By Viv Wilson in Life at The Hall, Growing Up In a Stately Home | 27th July 2020

GHOSTBUSTERS! People were always coming to Hoar Cross Hall to either hire the place or to have a look around. In 1973, because of all the media interest in our ghosts, we had a couple of professional ghost hunters asking to stay over one night to try and find the source of the noises. They brought cases full of recording equipment and set it all up in one of the attic rooms. Rather them than me I thought! Then I had a brilliant idea and went off to tell my brother Gavin all about it. As mentioned in my first blog the attic and basement had a row of bells which the family used to summon the servants. Before the three men arrived we spent all day trying out all the bells to see which ones were which. We found that one of the bell pulls in the Chase Dressing Room made one of the bells in the attic ring. We also found that the bell pull in the Morrey Bedroom rang a bell in the basement and a bell in the attic rang a bell in the Long Gallery! Gosh, these people must have been hearing bells ring all day long! Anyhow, the plan was that we would ring one of the bells right outside their room and when next day they told us about the noises we would tell them that the room for that bell was no longer there – it had been knocked down when the old kitchens had been demolished! Then they would realise that it must have been a ghost ringing the bell and listen to their recordings quivering in fear! Gavin and I were so excited we could hardly sleep that night. Before we went to bed we rang the bell quite a few times until we were satisfied that they had heard it then went to sleep. Next day we went up to see them expecting to hear all about the ringing bells but all they said was that they’d seen a fox running across the fields but nothing else! What a disappointment – our trick had failed even though they had all that fancy equipment to record any eerie sounds - perhaps they just fell asleep and forgot to switch it on. We still thought it was a good trick to play thou...

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Calendar Girls and Front Covers #6

By Viv Wilson in Life at The Hall, Growing Up In a Stately Home | 19th July 2020

CALENDAR GIRLS AND FRONT COVERS: During our time at Hoar Cross Hall people would occasionally hire the house for a day’s filming or whatever. During the summer of 1973 a photographer from London hired the place for a day and he brought two models with him, one English and one German, and they were taking photos for a glamour calendar. We were told to keep right out of the way as they were taking photos in the gardens as well as the house. Naturally we wanted to see everything that was going on and my younger brother Gavin especially was very keen to watch – so much so that he found a pair of binoculars to follow all the proceedings! We managed to find all sorts of hiding places eventually settling in our attic room to keep tabs on everything. From the attic we could access the roof which was flat in places and meant that we could view all the grounds at the front of the house and the back. We often came up here to run around and explore and in the summer it was a great place to sun-bathe in private - not sure if our parents were aware that we did this! The girls wore wigs and hair pieces and were being photographed in military jackets with swords and other accessories from the house. They posed either topless or scantily clad in the gardens and in front of a pair of wrought iron gates (by Robert Bakewell, renowned Derbyshire ironsmith) right at the bottom of the garden. These gates linked the Ha-Ha wall. This was a wall which bordered the grounds and had a small ditch on the other side – the reason was that the ditch stopped the deer from jumping the wall; for on the other side was a deer park, although the deer had long since run off and it was just a field when we were there. The Ha-Ha wall is a French invention, the idea being that the recessed design element gives an uninterrupted view of the landscape beyond, so a small wall above ground and the rest below ground next to the ditch which also stopped animals jumping into the garden. It was so calle...

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Huntin', Shootin' and Fishin' #6

By Viv Wilson in Life at The Hall, Growing Up In a Stately Home | 13th July 2020

HUNTIN’, SHOOTIN’ AND FISHIN’: Most stately homes have the obligatory hunting, shooting and fishing and Hoar Cross Hall was no exception during the Meynell family’s time there. We participated in none of these but the Meynell and South Staffs Hunt used to meet locally to do a spot of fox hunting. They would all gather at different venues around the area and enjoy a drink before setting off. One of their usual places was the Meynell Ingram Arms Public House at the bottom of the village. In February 1972 they had their ‘meet’ at the Hall. We, as the host family, got all dressed up to meet and greet them and local helpers served drinks, usually sherry. I had no interest in horses (unusual for a girl my age!) but the horses with their scarlet coated riders did look very impressive. The pack of hounds were everywhere, sniffing and panting and waiting for the off. My dad tried to make conversation with the Master of the Hounds by asking “So these are the dogs are they?” to which he received a curt “They’re hounds Mr Bickerton-Jones, not dogs!” Oh dear, mustn’t go upsetting the local gentry! We hated the idea of a little fox being terrorised by a pack of dogs – sorry, hounds - and being ripped to pieces. Gavin and I were actually playing in the woods once when the hunt went by quite near to us – the fox literally ran right past us at such a speed it was incredible! We hoped he would get away and tried to think up all sorts of plans to divert the hunt away from the fox, finally pointing them in the wrong direction as they got near to us! Years later someone we knew rode in the hunt for the first time and came home with blood on her forehead – this was her initiation into joining up; the blood of the fox daubed all over her brow to show it was her first time! It seemed so barbaric. Me and my family at the Meynell Hunt The other ‘sport’ was shooting pheasants. This was something that was started by Henry VIII when guns becam...

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More memories

Memories

Hoar Cross Hall
My Dad with the Ferrari
The Long Gallery Hoar Cross Hall
Me and my brothers Gavin and Piers on The Terrace
Stepping Stones
Me and Kev on the staircase
About to fly from Silverstone
Racing Driver Chris Meek
Chris Meek with his plane at Silverstone
Me and my brother Gavin on the lawn
Stepping Stone Pond
Hippy Days at Hoar Cross Hall
Family Photo
Cadwell Park Race Track
My mum and my two younger children, Lee and Hannah, visiting the Hall in 2005
Mum at the grave of the child who's ghost was seen at the hall
Hoar Cross Hall circa 1920

Hoar Cross Hall Today

Hoar Cross Hall is a Grade II listed building situated in 50 acres of countryside in Staffordshire, not far from The National Forest and about 30 minutes’ drive from Stafford.

After my family sold the hall it was turned into a Luxury Spa Resort and hotel in the 1990's. It now offers a range of spa breaks and treatments and can be hired for weddings and conferences.

Many of the old servants quarters have been converted into the spa facility and look a lot different to when I lived there. If you want to see what it looks like now, take a look at the current Hoar Cross Hall website: https://www.hoarcross.co.uk

Google Map — Maker Ln, Burton-on-Trent DE13 8QS, UK