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Hoar Cross Hall meets Downton Abbey #99

...r.   Servants wait on table in the 1950s at Hoar Cross   In 1907 the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, an enthusiastic Egyptologist, hired Howard Carter to search for the tomb of Tutankhamun - eventually, when they were about to give up, they found it in 1922!  And what a find!  Half the world queued up to see the beautiful artefacts discovered in the tomb and some of these items are on show at Highclere today in their basement rooms.  View website here. When my parents bought Hoar Cross Hall, we opened it to the public as my father wanted to display his collection of arms and armour, the largest private collection in the country in the 1970s.  We also had a...

Ghostbusters #8

...GHOSTBUSTERS! Later on in the year of 1973 a couple of professional ghost hunters asked to stay over one night to try and source the noises we heard in the attic.  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 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 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 th...

Ghostbusters! #8

...GHOSTBUSTERS!      People were always coming to the Hall to either hire the place or to have a look around.  In 1973 a couple of professional ghost hunters asked to stay over one night to try and source the noises we heard in the attic.  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 two men arrived we spent all day trying out all the bells to see which ones were which....

Things that go bump in the night #3

...THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT!     Going to sleep in a big old house is quite scary when you’re young but going to sleep in a big old house that’s haunted is even more scary!! That first winter at Hoar Cross Hall was like that. Every time there was a windy night I could hear a window banging in the attic – all night long it kept me awake. The next day I would go upstairs to close it but there would be no windows open or even loose. They were all tightly shut as they had been for 20 years. I remember standing there in the attic rooms feeling a tingling down my spine and goose bumps all over as I felt the atmosphere closing in on me - and I quickly leg...

Mediaeval Mayhem! #11

...It was the end of the summer season at Hoar Cross Hall in 1973 and rehearsals had started for the new venture of Mediaeval Banquets. All the cast would come round to the house each week for rehearsals and my mum and one or two other ladies were busy making the skirts and blouses for the wenches. My mum also made about 200 bibs which the guests were going to be wearing as eating five courses with a dagger can be quite messy! We had a King, a Jester, a Fire-eater, a Halberdier, an organist and various wenches and serving ladies. To launch the banquets my parents decided to hold a Press Reception about a month before and so we all gathered at the Hall one day in ea...

Summer Balls and Garden Parties #57

...s for the Servants Dance Supper for 200 persons including silver plate and dishes, glass, china and linen, and the services of three pantrymen! The liquid refreshment for this January 1913 event was provided by Thomas Mallorie & Co in Leeds. They invoiced 4 dozen bottles of fine claret, 3 bottles of port, one bottle of sherry, 6 bottles of scotch whiskey and 2 bottles of gin. The grand total 'less 10% discount' came to £13.13 shillings (£13.65). Delivery was made to Burton-on-Trent by Midland Railway and no doubt the chauffeur from the Hall would have collected it in the car in time for the supper. No nipping out to Sainsbury's in those days! Emily Meyne...