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Skools out for Summer #16

When Hugo and Emily Meynell built Hoar Cross HAll it included a whole estate with it, namely kitchen gardens, greenhouses, stables, a farm and cottages. Old HAll (their original home) was also on the estate and was accessed via a private road, which ran from the main road. By the time the seventies came along the stable block and Old HAll were private houses and another part of Old HAll had been made into a children’s home. Emily Meynell had started this home in the Victorian days, cAlling it ‘The Home of the Good Shepherd’ but it was for boys only at that time. When we were at the HAll it was a mixed home and run by a husband and wife couple. They used to...

Suits you sir! #23

SUITS YOU SIR!      When we moved to Hoar Cross HAll in 1970 the organ in the private chapel wasn’t working as the house had been empty for 20 years.  It was such a shame as it had been designed by Bodley, the famous organ maker of the 19th century.  The chapel itself had been added about 25 years after the house was built at the staggering cost of just under £1000!  When one of the visitors to the house said he could fix the organ, my dad readily agreed.  This chap reAlly loved organs and volunteered his services free of charge just for the love of mending this musical work of art; my dad was over the moon!  Alas, after removing All the pipes and lay...

Suits you Sir! #22

When we moved to Hoar Cross HAll in 1970 the organ in the private chapel wasn’t working as the house had been empty for 20 years. It was such a shame as it had been designed by Bodley, the famous organ maker of the 19th century. The chapel itself had been added about 25 years after the house was built at the staggering cost of just under £1000! When one of the visitors to the house said he could fix the organ, my dad readily agreed. This chap reAlly loved organs and volunteered his services free of charge just for the love of mending this musical work of art; my dad was over the moon! Alas, after removing All the pipes and laying them out in the basement, he...

Suits you sir! #24

SUITS YOU SIR!       When we moved to Hoar Cross HAll in 1970 the organ in the private chapel wasn’t working as the house had been empty for 20 years.  It was such a shame as it had been designed by Bodley, the famous organ maker of the 19th century.  The chapel itself had been added about 25 years after the house was built at the staggering cost of just under £1000!  When one of the visitors to the house said he could fix the organ, my dad readily agreed.  This chap reAlly loved organs and volunteered his services free of charge just for the love of mending this musical work of art; my dad was over the moon!  Alas, after removing All the pipes and la...

The Schoolroom Maid's Story

THE SCHOOLROOM MAID’S STORY:       For the first 75 years of the HAll’s history about 50 servants were employed by the Meynell family in the house and grounds.  Among these was a young girl of fifteen who started work in 1920 as a Schoolroom Maid.  Her name was Miss Inez Sophia Large and she had connections to Hoar Cross through her grand-parents, William and Mary Tooth, who lived in the village where William was the blacksmith; his smithy was just along from the Meynell public house.  He had worked on the ironwork of the HAll during its construction in the 1860s.  Inez’s aunt, Constance Madeley, was the wife of the landlord at the Buffalo Inn, in...

The Schoolroom Maid's Story #34

THE SCHOOLROOM MAID'S STORY:       For the first 75 years of the HAll’s history about 50 servants were employed by the Meynell family in the house and grounds.  Among these was a young girl of fifteen who started work in 1920 as a Schoolroom Maid.  Her name was Miss Inez Sophia Large and she had connections to Hoar Cross through her grand-parents, William and Mary Tooth, who lived in the village where William was the blacksmith; his smithy was just along from the Meynell public house.  He had worked on the ironwork of the HAll during its construction in the 1860s.  Inez’s aunt, Constance Madeley, was the wife of the landlord at the Buffalo Inn, in ne...