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Victorian Society #93

Victorian society was built around Queen Victoria’s reign, loosely between 1820-1914.  It was characterised by a class-based society and Britain being the most powerful empire in the world. hoar cross hall was built in 1870, at the height of the Victorian era, and boasted up to seventy rooms, twenty-five of them for the servants, approximately fifteen for the kitchens and utility areas, leaving around thirty rooms for the family and their guests.  During this time a lot of people, particularly women, went into domestic service and the Housekeeper at the hall earned about £50 a year, while a housemaid earned £15 a year – quite the difference!  By all ac...

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...

Meet the Neighbours - Blithfield hall #78

This month I start a brand new series on stately homes local to hoar cross hall and the first one is Blithfield hall, which was probably the nearest stately home neighbour to hoar cross hall and had been privately owned by the Bagot family since the 14th century.  The house, which is Grade I listed, is situated between Rugeley and Abbots Bromley and is about 6 miles from the hall.  I remember calling round with my parents once to see Nancy, Lady Bagot, and admiring the goats they had roaming around the nearby fields.  Blithfield hall is known as the home of a breed of goat, the Bagot goat, which for several hundred years have lived semi-wild on the estate....

What the Butler Saw! #42

Anyone who’s seen Downton Abbey will remember Carson the butler. He is exactly how a butler would have been in the 19th century, a grand, authoritarian figure, commanding respect and awe and most of the servants would have been scared to death of upsetting him! He was dressed like a gentleman of the period and generally ran the household with an iron fist. Although most big houses had a house steward who was in charge of accounts and general running of the household, a butler was more commonly engaged by the wealthy. They usually started as footmen and worked their way up fro there.  Most butlers stayed at the same household until they retired and probably...

hoar cross hall - Life Below Stairs #35

This week I’ve done a history blog about the servants who lived at hoar cross hall from the 1870s to the 1950s when the hall became empty. They were an essential part of keeping a big house running but were often not appreciated by the aristocracy as they went about their day to day duties. The life of a servant in Victorian times was a hard one. They had to rise at 5am to clean and light all the fires and dust and polish the floors, then do a day’s work, often not getting to bed much before midnight. No wonder they didn’t live to a great age in those days! By the end of the 19th century there were nearly one and a half million servants; most young girls...

The War Years and Beyond #37

THE WAR YEARS AND BEYOND:     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 mu...