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Behind the green baize door #47

"The green baize door - dividing line betwix servant and master.” All stately homes had at least one green baize door and Hoar Cross Hall was no different. This was the door used by the servants to access the main part of the house unobtrusively and silently so they could go about their work without disturbing the family. The Hall had a spiral staircase at each end of the house for the servants to use and the green baize door on the ground floor opened onto the Garden Corridor which led to the Chapel and the main house, as well as the garden. The green baize door on the first floor opened onto the east wing corridor and guest bedrooms and from this corridor t...

The country house in society #48

...ur house, Hoar Cross Hall (see header picture) and saved it from further decline by opening it to the public in the 1970s at a time when nobody wanted to buy huge old houses to live in. So many country houses have been saved in this way by opening them up for ordinary people to gaze upon history and see how our ancestors lived in a time when life and society was so completely different to how we live today!    Don't miss next week's instalment:  'Royal visitors at Hoar Cross Hall' If you would like to follow my story from the beginning, click here and please feel free to share with your friends.Follow me on a personal tour of my childhood home on YouTube....

The Chapel #68

...Continuing our series on the rooms that were open to the public during the 1970s at Hoar Cross Hall, we find the Garden Hall and Chapel leading off the Long Gallery at the east end of the house.  This private chapel was a later addition to the Hall and was designed by G F Bodley, the gothic revival architect, and completed in 1897 at a cost of just under £1000.  The walls have a fine linenfold panelling and the ceiling is richly decorated.  Many houses in days gone by had their own private chapel and it seems that before the chapel was built, services had been held in another room of the house.  I would imagine that Emily Meynell wanted a proper consecrated...

The Library #69

...The Library at Hoar Cross Hall is a delightful room, not huge like the other rooms, but not too small either – a room fitted with mahogany bookshelves on three sides and a bay window overlooking the terrace and the gardens.  From this window, on a clear day, it is possible to see the “Three ladies of the vale” – the spires of Lichfield Cathedral.  Libraries have been around for centuries with evidence pointing to the Romano-British world when documents and manuscripts were stored in chests in special rooms where people could study them sitting at a table, not unlike today's libraries.   In the 15th century classical works were collected by men such...

Meet the Neighbours - Coombe Abbey # 81

...Although this house isn’t quite so neighbourly to Hoar Cross Hall as the others in this series, it is loosely linked to the hall as it was the inspiration for the Mediaeval Banquets that my parents ran in the 1970s.  They went along one night, to one of their banquets, to see what the format was and saw immediately how popular they were and so decided to start their own brand of banquets.  The Coombe Abbey banquets were very traditional and had minstrels playing lutes etc while people ate their meal.  The entertainment too was typical of mediaeval amusement of the times and I remember my parents saying it was an enjoyable night out but not terribly lively!�...

Meet the Neighbours - Alton Towers #82

...bit like Hoar Cross Hall – but I suppose they are big places!).  It also had similar rooms to the Hall, including a Chapel, Library, Long Gallery and Drawing Room and was renamed Alton Abbey, despite there being no religious connections.  After moving into the house in 1814 work began on the grounds, turning the farmland around the house into one of the largest formal gardens in Britain.  Several gardens were made including a rock garden, a Dutch garden and a water garden.  13,000 trees were planted all down the valley to the River Churnet and fountains and streams were created among the gardens that passed through various lakes and pools.  It really was...