Story Search Results

Moving on - the end of an era #33

MOVING ON - THE END OF AN ERA:          And so I come to the end of my story.  After ten years of living in a stately home,  my parents’ divorce agreement meant that my dad had to be bought out by my mum and he had to leave his dream home forever.  He and Gavin moved out to live in Burton-on-Trent and my mum carried on running Mediaeval Banquets for a few more years.  She and the singer eventually got together much to my dad’s chagrin.  The singer spent a lot more time at the Hall helping my mum run the banquets; however, Piers didn’t really get on with him.  When he was about 14 years old my dad received a phone call from Piers – he had run...

The Schoolroom Maid's Story #34

THE SCHOOLROOM MAID'S STORY:       For the first 75 years of the Hall’s history about 50 servants were employed by the Meynell family in the house and grounds.  Among these was a young girl of fifteen who started work in 1920 as a Schoolroom Maid.  Her name was Miss Inez Sophia Large and she had connections to Hoar Cross through her grand-parents, William and Mary Tooth, who lived in the village where William was the blacksmith; his smithy was just along from the Meynell public house.  He had worked on the ironwork of the Hall during its construction in the 1860s.  Inez’s aunt, Constance Madeley, was the wife of the landlord at the Buffalo Inn, in ne...

The Kitchen Maid's Story #35

THE KITCHEN MAID’S STORY:      If you were young, free and single – oh, and very well-to-do – the 1920s was the decade to live in!   The upper classes had lots of time on their hands and enjoyed post-First World War delights such as the theatre and jazz clubs. Not so for the lower classes, in particular a young girl who was to become the kitchen maid at Hoar Cross Hall in the 1920s.  The ‘depression’ after the First World War brought stark poverty to her home and many like her.  Her name was Jean Rennie, and she was extremely intelligent having won a scholarship to Glasgow University to study French and music.   However, the £5 bursary she g...

What the Butler saw!

WHAT THE BUTLER SAW!       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 the 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...

Gardeners' World at Hoar Cross #36

GARDENERS’  WORLD AT  HOAR CROSS:       In it’s heyday Hoar Cross Hall had around 28 people employed to keep the 20 acres of grounds tidy and weed free.  In Victorian England the most common of all male servants was the gardener.   At Hoar Cross the head gardener had numerous under-gardeners known affectionately as ‘digging slaves’!  They were responsible for producing fruit, vegetables and growing luxury items in and out of season, much of it under glass.  Adjacent to the house was the carp pool and greenhouse area along with a palm house; next to these was a walled kitchen garden.  This supplied the house with all its fruit, vegetables and...

Aristocratic travels # 39

ARISTOCRATIC TRAVELS:   Emily Charlotte Meynell, the original owner of Hoar Cross Hall, was probably one of the wealthiest independent women of the late 19th century in Britain.  Her property included country estates around the Midlands, a London house in Eaton Square and a villa in Florence.  For many years she owned a yacht, the latter a fully-crewed schooner of 380 tons.  The family had large financial resources in addition to their estate income, through which they were sustained until well into the 20th century. Emily cruised the Mediterranean every springtime in her yacht and occasionally crossed the North Sea to the Netherlands and Germany in the su...