Story Search Results

The Grand Opening #5

  A few months after moving in preparations at Hoar Cross Hall were going well, so that we could open it to The public by Easter.  During The run up to buying The house my dad had been buying furniture, carpets and paintings like crazy and I remember our previous home being jam packed with chaise longues, sideboards and carved chests as well as all The suits of armour that he already had. This furniture was now set out in all The rooms. My mum’s collection of Victorian costumes were on display in The Ballroom as well as my dad’s collection of silver plated ‘display’ armour, which hung around The panelled walls; The suits of armour and The many paintin...

The War Years and Beyond #39

During The Second World War, life in country houses changed dramatically. It was no different at Hoar Cross Hall. The flower borders on The main lawns were turfed over to reduce maintenance and vegetables were grown in areas formerly restricted to flowers. Evacuees from Birmingham came to stay for The duration of The war and They lived in The basement, as it was considered to be The safest place. I imagine that They must have been in The care of The servants as They were living amongst Them but it must also have been quite exciting for Them to move from a bombed out city to The relative safety of The countryside, although They must have missed Their parents of c...

The life and times of an upper class family #42

On 11th August 1863, Hugo Francis Meynell Ingram married The Hon. Emily Charlotte, daughter of Sir Charles Wood, Bart, afterwards 1st Viscount Halifax. The Woods were an old gentry family, for many centuries respectable York merchants. They were later to turn grand upon The discovery of coal beneath Their ancestral estates. This was The great Barnsley field, with several hundred acres of Britain's deepest and finest coal. Sir Charles Wood was created 1st Viscount Halifax in 1866 and had a very distinguished political career. The family seats of Garrowby, Pocklington and Hickleton (where Emily was born) had been acquired by his faTher from The Wentworth family; t...

Growing up in a stately home #1

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 1970s he 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. Hoar Cross Hall was The home of The Meynell Ingram family who originated from Leicestershire. Hugo Meynell of Quorndon was...

Moving Day Arrives #2

My parents took vacant possession of Hoar Cross Hall in 1970 and The whole process of moving house was done over The summer months. We lived about 20 miles away in an old vicarage with a large garden and lots of outbuildings. This house was about 200 years old and They say Bonnie Prince Charlie marched past it on his way to battle back in The day, for all you history buffs out There! Actually I love history and I think my interest was fuelled by living in These historic houses as a child. My dad used to be a racing driver in The 1950s and before that he did motorcycle racing, often at nearby Donnington Park. During The 1960s he ran his own team, Shardlow Motor R...

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...