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Hoar Cross History #65

Hoar Cross Hall, where I grew up, is in the village of Hoar Cross, so small that it is almost a hamlet.  The only thing that defines it as a village is the fact that it has a place of worship which is The Church of the Holy Angels, built by Emily Meynell in the 1870s in memory of her husband, Hugo.  The name of the village was first recorded in 1230 and called ‘Horcros’ and may refer to a grey boundary cross which stood as a marker but is now long gone.  No-one is entirely sure if this cross is the point where the four wards of Needwood Forest once met, or whether it indicated the extent of the land owned by Burton Abbey.  Whatever the reason we shall ne...

DIY Stately Home #4

We moved into Hoar Cross Hall during the summer holidays and my parents quickly realised they had a lot of work on their hands to make the place habitable as well as to earn some money from it. As previously mentioned, there was an East Wing and a West Wing to the house. My dad decided to convert the first floor rooms of each wing into three separate apartments; he had done this at our previous house. This would generate income from rents until we got the main house open to the public. It wasn’t a big job to convert the rooms as the East Wing had four main rooms and two bathrooms already there, which would have been used as guest bedrooms in Victorian times. H...

Moving Out #32

And so the day arrived a month or so after our wedding when my dad had to leave Hoar Cross Hall. Ten years after moving in he was now moving out, leaving his dream home for my mum to live in alone. Gavin moved with him and Piers was away at school most of the time. It was a mammoth task as he had so much stuff to move, especially from the basement. He had some heavy machinery too that he’d brought with him from his alabaster days, including a band saw which we used to saw up logs for the huge fireplaces in the main rooms. He had bought a house in nearby Burton-on-Trent which had some outbuildings for a workshop and there he moved to start afresh. He carried o...

The Church of the Holy Angels #55

Many stately homes had churches built near them or even a chapel inside them, as was done at Hoar Cross Hall. However, the church that was built in the grounds of the Hall became known as 'The Cathedral of the Midlands' due to its magnificent structure and is generally regarded as one of the finest Victorian churches in the country. It resembles a cathedral in miniature, being more like an English minster than a humble village church. When Emily Meynell Ingram's husband, Hugo died in 1871 from a hunting accident, she wanted to keep his memory alive. They had only been married for eight years and she had no children to comfort her and so in 1872 she commissioned...

THE RENOVATIONS BEGIN #4

THE RENOVATIONS BEGIN: As previously mentioned, there was an East Wing and a West Wing to the house.  My dad decided to convert the first floor rooms of each wing into three separate apartments, as he had done at our previous house.  This would generate income from rents until we got the main house open to the public.  It wasn’t a big job to convert the rooms as the East Wing had four main rooms and two bathrooms already there, which would have been used as guest bedrooms in Victorian times.  He made these into two, one-bedroom apartments and made small kitchens in the spaces which connected the lounge and bedroom, probably once used as cupboard space. Th...

Moving Out#32

MOVING OUT:    And so the day arrived a month or so after our wedding when my dad had to leave the Hall.  Ten years after moving in he was now moving out, leaving his dream home for my mum to live in alone.  Gavin moved with him and Piers was away at school most of the time.  It was a mammoth task as he had so much stuff to move, especially from the basement.  He had some heavy machinery too that he’d brought with him from his alabaster days, including a band saw which we used to saw up logs for the huge fireplaces in the main rooms.  He had bought a house in nearby Burton on Trent which had some outbuildings for a workshop and there he moved to start a...