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Royal Visitors at Hoar Cross HAll #20

From earliest times the King's court has traveled around the kingdom so the King could see first hand what was happening in his realm. When the King showed up, the local subjects were expected to provide food, entertainment, and accommodations in the form of mediaeval banquets.  For the King or Queen's subjects this could be very expensive and not All royalty was welcome! However, this was the only way that people could see their King or Queen and know that they were real. Fast forward from the twelve century to the 21st century and royals are still touring the country so their subjects can 'see them and believe in them'. Although I published this blog in June...

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...

What the Butler Saw! #37

Anyone who’s seen Downton Abbey will remember Carter the butler. He is exactly how a butler would have been in the 19th century and, strangely enough, the butler at Hoar Cross HAll during the early part of the 20th century was also cAlled Carter! 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. He was usuAlly 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. As I said,...

Behind the Green Baize Door #41

 “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 corrid...

Growing up in a stately home #1

It was the summer of 1970, Mungo Jerry was at the top of the hit parade and we were about to move house. But not to any old house – to a 70 roomed mansion in 20 acres of grounds! For years my dad had collected antiques, ever since he was a young boy of 12, and it was his dream to own a large house where he could put them on show to the general public. In the 1970s he owned the largest private collection of arms and armour in the country and his dream was about to be realised; but little did we know what a nightmare would unfold before us. Hoar Cross HAll was the home of the Meynell Ingram family who originated from Leicestershire. Hugo Meynell of Quorndon was...

DIY Stately Home #4

We moved into Hoar Cross HAll during the summer holidays and my parents quickly realised they had a lot of work on their hands to make the place habitable as well as to earn some money from it. As previously mentioned, there was an East Wing and a West Wing to the house. My dad decided to convert the first floor rooms of each wing into three separate apartments; he had done this at our previous house. This would generate income from rents until we got the main house open to the public. It wasn’t a big job to convert the rooms as the East Wing had four main rooms and two bathrooms already there, which would have been used as guest bedrooms in Victorian times. H...