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Hickleton Hall and The Meynells #43

This lovely Grade II listed Georgian house in South Yorkshire was once The childhood home of The Honourable Emily Charlotte Meynell who married Hugo Meynell of Hoar Cross and who, togeTher with Hugo, built Hoar Cross Hall to be Their family home in 1873. The original house was called Hickleton Palace and had been built for Judge Francis Rodes in The 16th century but in 1745 Hickleton Hall was built just to The south of this house after The estate was bought by Godfrey Wentworth in about 1730. Thirty years later he extended The house and added two low wings, one eiTher side, and a servants wing. Emily's faTher, Charles Wood, 3rd Baronet, inherited The house in...

More Tea Vicar? #12

During The long summer holidays it was easy to get bored. As There was no public transport from Hoar Cross and no children living nearby, we three children had to make our own entertainment and we were always having adventures and getting up to mischief – a bit like The Famous Five but without The dog! We would roam around The village or explore The basement. My dad was a hoarder and had kept all sorts of stuff over The years including gas masks and field phones from World War 2. The old Servants Hall was now my dad’s workshop and he spent a lot of time down There restoring antiques to sell. He had one of The field phones in his workshop and The oTher one w...

The life and times of an upper class family #44

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...

The GRAND OPENING #5

The GRAND OPENING: And so into 1971 and The preparation of The house so 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 arms and armour that he already had.  This furniture was now set out in all The rooms.  The Long Gallery 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 m...

Skools out for summer! #14

SKOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER!       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 There it was a mixed home and run by a hu...

Rags to Riches #16

...ocal pub, The Meynell, started having a disco every week which my friend and I went to but which my dad soon put a stop to when he saw The type of ‘long haired yobbos’ that went to it!  I was furious.  These were different times now and my dad, being so much older than me, couldn’t cope with it.  He always dressed in a shirt, tie and waistcoat every day and hated The new look for men of jeans, tee-shirts and long hair!   He certainly didn’t want Them chasing his daughter.  One such long haired suiter rode up The drive on his motor bike one day to see me (we’d been meeting at The disco) and my dad chased him away yelling and shouting at The top of...