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Gardeners' World at Hoar Cross

GARDENERS’  WORLD AT  HOAR CROSS:         In it’s heyday Hoar Cross Hall had around 28 people employed to keep the 20 acres of grounds tidy and weed free.  In Victorian England the most common of all male servants was the gardener.   At Hoar Cross the head gardener had numerous under-gardeners known affectionately as ‘digging slaves’!  They were responsible for producing fruit, vegetables and growing luxury items in and out of season, much of it under glass.  Adjacent to the house was the carp pool and greenhouse area along with a palm house; next to these was a walled kitchen garden.  This supplied the house with all its fruit, vegetables a...

The Tax Man Cometh! #26

THE TAX MAN COMETH:      My parents’ court case was finally over and my dad had six months to leave the family home of Hoar Cross Hall. In the meantime my mum had to find the funds to buy him out and he had to find another house to live in. He also had an awful lot of stuff to move too! He eventually found a house in nearby Burton-on-Trent but as it was obviously a lot smaller he had to get rid of quite a few of his possessions and one of the first things to go was his Lotus Elite. He advertised it in the local paper but instead of getting a phone call from a likely buyer, the first call was from the local tax office! Back in those days they used to check a...

Gardeners' World #38

In it’s heyday Hoar Cross Hall had around 28 people employed to keep the 20 acres of grounds tidy and weed free. In Victorian England the most common of all male servants was the gardener. At Hoar Cross the head gardener had numerous under-gardeners known affectionately as ‘digging slaves’! They were responsible for producing fruit, vegetables and growing luxury items in and out of season, much of it under glass. Adjacent to the house was the carp pool and greenhouse area along with a palm house; next to these was a walled kitchen garden (see header picture). This supplied the house with all its fruit, vegetables and herbs. The palm house produced palms an...

"He's Behind You" #22

“HE’S BEHIND YOU!” During the 1970s the Hall was used from time to time for local community activities and one such event was the production in 1978 of a traditional pantomime, ‘Midnight and a Journey back to Happiness’.   It was written by local people, Robert Leighton from Yoxall and the Hon. Alexandra meynell, daughter-in-law of Mrs Jean meynell whom we had purchased the Hall from.  The words and music were written by local songwriter, David Matthews, who had written songs for quite a few pop artists during the 1960s, his most famous being Matt Munro’s ‘We’re gonna change the world’.  So off to a good start there! For those of you who d...

The haunting of Hoar Cross Hall #15

THE HAUNTING OF HOAR CROSS HALL:       (Based on a true story)   The typewriter keys clattered away as Viv wrote her story.  It was coming along nicely and she was feeling pleased with herself.  The attic room that she and her brothers had made into their ‘den’ was ideal for getting away from everybody and having some peace and quiet and she quite forgot about the time as she lost herself in the plot.  Suddenly she looked up and realised how dark it was getting; the December nights were pulling in and it was already quite dusky by 3.30pm.  Quickly she packed her books and folders away and prepared to go downstairs.  How she hated being up in the a...

Midnight pool parties #21

MIDNIGHT POOL PARTIES:        After leaving school I spent a year at Burton-on-Trent Technical College studying to be a secretary but my year at college had come to an end - now to find a job!  It didn’t take too long as there was plenty of employment around in those days and I was soon offered a position with a small engineering firm in Burton.  As I didn’t drive there was still the problem of me getting to work and dad managed to talk the residents of the apartments into taking me, as they were going to Burton every day as well, and it would save him coming out twice a day (no doubt he was thinking about the petrol he would save too!) Kev and the ba...