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Hoar Cross Hall - a bit of history #14

Hoar Cross was part of Needwood Forest, the 11th century lands of Henry de Ferrers. The land was passed down to Henry’s son and subsequent various people over the course of 500 years ending with the Webb family, around the 1730s, who bought the land and house known as the Manor of the Cross. This was quite a large house built on a hill near Yoxall (which is the village next to Hoar Cross). In 1740 the manor house was demolished and later the Hon. Charles Talbot bought the estate for £17,000. Eventually it was sold to Hugo Meynell, who already owned huge amounts of property all over the county. This branch of the Meynell family originated from Leicestershire,...

DIY Stately Home #4

...g off the Chapel Corridor – yes, this house boasted its own Chapel which the Meynell family and their servants used every morning for prayers at 9am sharp. There was a Damask Room, a Hessian Room and Colonel Hugo Meynell’s old bedroom and dressing room. This was where he lived after his riding accident which had left him an invalid. There was a large wooden board from the window sill to the stone balustrade (see picture below) and he would sit by the window and wait for squirrels and birds to cross the board and eat titbits from his hand – what a charming picture this conjures up albeit in tragic circumstances. This room became our lounge and the dressing...

THE RENOVATIONS BEGIN #4

...g off the Chapel Corridor – yes, this house boasted its own Chapel which the family and servants used every morning for prayers at 9am sharp.  There was a Damask Room, a Hessian Room and Hugo Meynell’s old bedroom and dressing room.  This was where he lived after his riding accident which had left him an invalid.  There was a large wooden board from the window sill to the stone balustrade and he would sit by the window and wait for squirrels and birds to cross the board and eat titbits from his hand – what a charming picture this conjures up albeit in tragic circumstances.  This room became our lounge and the dressing room next door became our new kitc...

Hoar Cross Hall - a bit of history #17

...If you love to read up on the history of old houses then you'll love to hear about all the generations of people that lived at Hoar Cross Hall.  Hoar Cross was part of Needwood Forest, the 11th century lands of Henry de Ferrers. The land was passed down to Henry’s son and subsequent various people over the course of 500 years ending with the Webb family, around the 1730s, who bought the land and house known as the Manor of the Cross. This was quite a large house built on a hill near Yoxall (which is the village next to Hoar Cross). In 1740 the manor house was demolished and later the Hon. Charles Talbot bought the estate for £17,000. Eventually it was sold t...

Hoar Cross Hall - Life below stairs #45

...ld in the Chapel in the house. They were also expected to attend services at the church which had been built in the grounds; however, they weren’t allowed to walk down the drive to the church but had to make a detour around the perimeter of the grounds so that they wouldn’t be seen by the family! In the Victorian days a lowly housemaid earned about £10 a year compared to the house-keeper who earned the princely sum of £52 a year! The staff at Hoar Cross were well treated it seems. The family showed their concern towards the female members of staff if they wanted to leave the house to attend a local dance, and always made sure they were escorted to and fro...

WHODUNIT IN THE LIBRARY? #25

...down the Chapel Hall and into the Library – I really hoped a visitor didn’t see it!  In an attempt to kill them off my dad poured rat poison down the holes in the floorboards in the kitchen and our lounge.  Within a couple of weeks we knew they were dead – because of the awful smell!  So even when we didn’t have to worry about rats in the house, we had to contend with the stench of them decaying under the floorboards!  Then my dad had a brilliant idea – he poured bleach down the holes.  It did sort of have the desired effect but we’ve never forgotten that awful smell of dead rat mixed with bleach!  Eventually we had to get the floor boards up...