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The Long Gallery #67

I thought that a little series on the different rooms in Hoar Cross Hall might be quite interesting, taking a deeper look at what these rooms were used for <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> a bit of history surrounding them.  The main ground floor rooms were open to the public during the 1970s when people w<Span class='highlight'>andSpan>ered around our home admiring the fine paintings <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> furniture followed by a walk in the grounds trying to imagine how it looked in days gone by.  The house was entered through two huge oak doors which led into an Entrance Hall - this was our cafe area <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> the Butlers Pantry just off there was what we used as a kitchen to bake scones <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> sell snacks <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> ice creams.  Leading off the E...

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 <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> saw immediately how popular they were <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> so decided to start their own br<Span class='highlight'>andSpan> of banquets.  The Coombe Abbey banquets were very traditional <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> had minstrels playing lutes etc while people ate their meal.  The entertainment too was typical of mediaeval amusement of the times <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> I remember my parents saying it was an enjoyable night out but not terribly lively!�...

Meet the Neighbours - Alton Towers #82

When you say the name ‘Alton Towers’ most people in the UK will think of the theme park with spectacular rollercoaster rides.  It really has changed beyond all recognition to the days when I used to go there back in the 1970s.  In those days it was a lovely house set in beautiful grounds with a few fairground rides to one side of the car park!  Well, it still is a lovely place to visit but the rides have taken over now so that people only think of it as a theme park with fantastically themed <Span class='highlight'>HotelSpan>s <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> an enchanted village! However, this estate started life as an Iron Age Fort built on Bunbury Hill. Then later on in the 11th century, Alton Castle was bui...

The Chinese Room #71

The Chinese Room is the last in the series of the rooms that were open to the public at Hoar Cross Hall during the 1970s.  It had three doorways <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> was entered from the Ballroom, the Long Gallery <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> the Entrance Hall <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> was originally the Dining Room of the house when the Meynell family lived there.  The centrepiece of the room is the 18th century carved wood mantelpiece, incorporating classical figures <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> floral decorations, with a carved <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> painted armorial overmantel.     As you can probably guess from the name of the room, the main theme was oriental  armour, tapestries <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> furniture, including a Burmese Palace Chair.  The oriental armour was a...

Victorian Fashions #95

The Victorian era was roughly from 1830 – 1900 <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> saw many changes in fashion styles.  This was the era of technological advancement <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> the mass production of sewing machines in the 1850s <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> the advent of synthetic dyes introduced major changes in fashion.  This, coupled with the printing of fashion magazines, allowed the masses to become more fashion conscious – the middle classes were rising up thanks to the Industrial Revolution! Clothes were an expression of your place in society, therefore upper-class women, who didn’t need to work, could wear more elaborate dresses over layers of petticoats with tightly laced corsets.  Men would wear long froc...

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 <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> weed free. In Victorian Engl<Span class='highlight'>andSpan> 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 <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> growing luxury items in <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> out of season, much of it under glass. Adjacent to the house was the carp pool <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> greenhouse area along with a palm house; next to these was a walled kitchen garden. This supplied the house with all its fruit, vegetables <Span class='highlight'>andSpan> herbs. The palm h...