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Hoar Cross Hall - Life below stairs #45

...hatchers, carpenters, a joiner, a plumber and an electrician. They looked after the Hall and the workers’ cottages and all tenanted properties. The head gardener had a lot of authority outside the house and even the mistress would have to seek his permission first before entering the nursery gardens! The mower at the Meynells' Temple Newsam estate   Around Christmas time, all the staff and local trades’ people who supplied the house, were invited to a party held in the Long Gallery. However, they were only allowed to stay in this area, although they may have had a peep though the huge double doors into the drawing room. When Hugo Meynell married in 1...

Change and the Country House #61

...Hoar Cross Hall was clearly a very different house in the Victorian era compared to today.  Like other country houses it has not been immune from the social and economic changes affecting all walks of life over the last hundred years. At the beginning of Queen Victoria’s reign in 1837 the local landowner with his country house and estate was the focal point of the community, often dispensing law, charity and education.  The estate would also provide employment for the local people and over fifty locals were employed on the Hoar Cross estate in the house and grounds plus many more on Home Farm along with carpenters, electricians and plumbers to keep the esta...

Moving Out #31

...mbers and carpenters. When it was all finished they put in their bills only to find out that the band were planning to leave the country – without paying anyone! The builders were none too pleased about this and went round to the newly finished house to take back anything they could find that was theirs – they also slashed the tyres on the Ferrari. These were not people to mess around with! Kev decided there and then not to do any more work with my dad’s friends and we moved on to other things. About a year after we got married Kev set up his own electrical and plumbing business with a colleague and I joined the team a few months later when I was made red...

Gardeners World at Hoar Cross #36

...hatchers, carpenters, a joiner, plumber and an electrician. They looked after the maintenance of the house and workers’ cottages, and also the tenanted properties. If the butler was an important figure inside the house, the head gardener had as much authority outside. Even the mistress from the house was unable to enter the nursery garden without his permission, and to help herself to his produce would have been unthinkable. Only the head gardener had the key and the door was always kept locked outside working hours! Around Christmas time, all the local trades’ people who supplied the house, were invited to a party held for them in the Long Gallery. They w...

Moving Out #34

...mbers and carpenters. When it was all finished they put in their bills only to find out that the band were planning to leave the country – without paying anyone! The builders were none too pleased about this and went round to the newly finished house to take back anything they could find that was theirs – they also slashed the tyres on the Ferrari. These were not people to mess around with! Kev decided there and then not to do any more work with my dad’s friends and we moved on to other things. About a year after we got married Kev set up his own electrical and plumbing business with a colleague and I joined the team a few months later when I was made red...

Gardeners' World at Hoar Cross #39

...hatchers, carpenters, a joiner, plumber and an electrician. They looked after the maintenance of the house and workers’ cottages, and the tenanted properties. The carp pond with greenhouses in the background    If the butler was an important figure inside the house, the head gardener had as much authority outside. Even the mistress from the house was unable to enter the nursery garden without his permission, and to help herself to his produce would have been unthinkable. Only the head gardener had the key and the door was always kept locked outside working hours! Lady Mary's Garden Around Christmas time, all the local trades’ people who suppli...