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Lest We Forget #28
Posted by Viv Wilson on 11th November 2022 in Growing Up In a Stately Home | Meynell,hoar cross hall,second world war,first world war,Al Alamein,London,Red Cross,War Office,Military Cross,Hitler,Gestapo,Remembrance Day,RASC
During the two World Wars the Meynell family of Hoar Cross hall served their country alongside many others from all walks of life. After each war there was huge social upheaval, especially for women, who had been doing what was traditionally 'mens work' during the war and weren't prepared to go back to domesticity. At the time of the First World War Frederick Meynell and Lady Mary Meynell were living at the hall with their five children. Their four sons all served in the war and their daughter Margaret served in the Red Cross as a volunteer.
Their eldest son Francis was a Major but was wounded in action in 1917 with severe wounds to his back. He was moved...
Behind the green baize door #47
Posted by Viv Wilson on 23rd March 2023 in Growing Up In a Stately Home | hoar cross hall,Meynell,servants,baize,snooker table,England,bays,my dad bought a mansion,the crown,downton abbey
"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...
Mediaeval Weaponry #84
Posted by Viv Wilson on 27th September 2024 in Growing Up In a Stately Home | hoar cross hall,hoar cross hall spa hotel,barons eden,History,mediaeval banquets,mediaeval weaponry,swords,halberds,suits of armour,daggars,Tudors,stately homes,downton abbey,aristocracy,middle ages,my dad bought a mansion
When we moved to Hoar Cross hall in the 1970s, my father owned the largest private collection of arms and armour in the UK at that time! He owned about 20 suits of armour and numerous items of ‘arms’, which is another word for weapons. The word ‘arms’ comes from the Latin ‘arma’ which means ‘tools of war’; this word passed into the English language from the French in 1200.
Mediaeval weapons consisted of halberds, double-edged swords, daggers, battle axes, crossbows and longbows to name but a few, these being the most common. Knives were also used but mainly for eating and repairing, although I’m sure they got to be used as weapons too...
Things That Go Bump In The Night! #3
Posted by Viv Wilson on 1st August 1970 in Early Days | hoar cross hall,ghost,attic,living in a stately home
THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT: Going to sleep in a big old house is quite scary when you’re young but going to sleep in a big old house that’s haunted is even more scary!! That first winter at the hall was like that. Every time there was a windy night I could hear a window banging in the attic – all night long it kept me awake. The next day I would go upstairs to close it but there would be no windows open or even loose. They were all tightly shut as they had been for 20 years. I remember standing there in the attic rooms, the hairs prickling the back of my neck and quickly legging it back downstairs! On other nights I would hear peopl...Things that go bump in the night! #3
Posted by Viv Wilson on 28th October 2018 in Blogging | hoar cross hall,ghost,Meynell,ghoulish,suits of armour,mysteries
THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT! Going to sleep in a big old house is quite scary when you’re young but going to sleep in a big old house that’s haunted is even more scary!! That first winter at the hall was like that. Every time there was a windy night I could hear a window banging in the attic – all night long it kept me awake. The next day I would go upstairs to close it but there would be no windows open or even loose. They were all tightly shut as they had been for 20 years. I remember standing there in the attic rooms, the hairs prickling the back of my neck and quickly legging it back downstairs!
On other nights I would h...
Things that go bump in the night #3
Posted by Viv Wilson on 8th September 2019 in Growing Up In a Stately Home | hoar cross hall,ghost,meynell,apparition,ghoulish,attic
THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT! Going to sleep in a big old house is quite scary when you’re young but going to sleep in a big old house that’s haunted is even more scary!! That first winter at Hoar Cross hall was like that. Every time there was a windy night I could hear a window banging in the attic – all night long it kept me awake. The next day I would go upstairs to close it but there would be no windows open or even loose. They were all tightly shut as they had been for 20 years. I remember standing there in the attic rooms feeling a tingling down my spine and goose bumps all over as I felt the atmosphere closing in on me - and...