Story Search Results

The Schoolroom Maid's Story #33

...ristmas. Servants had little time for leisure, but occasionally a dance was held at Hoar Cross School, although there were very few young people in the village as most had to leave to find work. Inez left Hoar Cross for a better position with the Earl and Countess of Bradford at Weston Park. She worked again as a schoolroom maid for their two young daughters, but without the responsibility of serving meals. Various posts followed but not all of them in service. Eventually she retired to Skegness where she spent her time tending to her garden but still doing a part-time job - in her eighties! Accustomed to a life of hard work, there was no stopping Inez and ma...

Gardeners World at Hoar Cross #36

...party or Servants Ball – well, you couldn’t have the Servants peeking into the family’s private rooms could you? Although they must have been curious to see them! Other outdoor staff included the chauffeur who had been employed for many years by the Meynell family. They had owned a motor car since the very early years of the century and many more cars were owned subsequently. Mrs Ellen Fisher, widow of the then chauffeur, Albert, recalled how a Maudsley was delivered just after the First World War. This would have cost around £200, nearly four times the annual wage of the housekeeper and 20 times the annual wage of the housemaid! During the 1920s the ch...

Gardeners' World at Hoar Cross #39

...party or Servants Ball – well, you couldn’t have the Servants peeking into the family’s private rooms could you? Although they must have been curious to see them! The Long Gallery where the Servants' parties were held Other outdoor staff included the chauffeur who had been employed for many years by the Meynell family. They had owned a motor car since the very early years of the century and many more cars were owned subsequently. Mrs Ellen Fisher, widow of the then chauffeur, Albert, recalled how a Maudsley was delivered just after the First World War. This would have cost around £200, nearly four times the annual wage of the housekeeper and 20 tim...

What the Butler Saw! #37

...ce at the Servants’ Ball at Christmas time – most large houses had one and Hoar Cross Hall was no different. The Ball was held in the Long Gallery and this was the one time when the family mixed with the Servants. With mulled wine flowing freely and mistletoe hung here about, the young ladies would be very excited to be standing near to a young, good looking footman!  But it wasn't just the young ladies of the house - the story goes that when the butler went down to the wine cellar to fetch more wine for the party, he heard a lot of giggling.  When he peeked  through the door he saw one of the young gentleman of the house in a passionate embrace with one...

Moving On #35

...n the old Servants Hall which in turn became my dad’s workshop and the treatment rooms are in other parts of the old Servants’ quarters – it was barely recognisable! In 2005 we went back again with my mum and two of our children, Lee and Hannah. Again, it was great fun to explore the house and grounds and show my children where I had lived as a child. I was particularly fascinated to see the attic rooms as these had always looked so spooky and were obviously haunted – how strange to see those dusty old rooms decorated and carpeted! Lee, Hannah and my mum in 2005   In 2018 we were back again to make the video for the tour of the house to accompan...

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...